Boils; Festering Sores
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Exod. 9:8-11)—the sixth plague of Egypt. Moses and Aaron took soot from a kiln; Moses threw it toward heaven before Pharaoh, and it became fine dust that produced boils breaking out in sores on people and animals. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. The source proposes that soot from the furnace symbolized Israel’s harsh bondage and that the plague exposed Egypt’s oppression; this is a theological reflection rather than an explanation stated in Exodus. Deuteronomy 28:27 later names “the boils of Egypt” among covenant curses.