Plague! (Gen 12:17)
Down to Egypt
17 Then YHWH afflicted Pharaoh with great afflictions, and his household too.
וַיְנַגַּ֨ע יְ׳הוָ֧ה ׀ אֶת־פַּרְעֹ֛ה נְגָעִ֥ים גְּדֹלִ֖ים וְאֶת־בֵּית֑וֹ
Here are some of the questions we’re going to want answered in order to understand this verse and its function in our story:
Why did YHWH afflict Pharaoh?
When did YHWH afflict Pharaoh?
How did YHWH afflict Pharaoh?
To start with the how, let’s look at the word נְגָעִ֥ים n’ga’im ‘afflictions’ — “great plagues” in the King James translation. Absent any other indications (as we say in the medical biz), I presume that these are the נגעים discussed in Leviticus 13–14, where the néga is supposed to be diagnosed by a priest. The first time we see the word in that section is in Lev 13:2. Here’s how that word appears and how it is translated in a handful of English versions:
לְנֶ֣גַע צָרָ֑עַת (MT)
the plague of leprosy (KJV)
a scaly affection (NJPS)
a defiling disease (NRSVue)
an affliction of tzaraat (Everett Fox)
An “old version of Rashi” makes this same connection, saying of ביתו beito ‘[Pharaoh’s] house’:
