"Did God kill all the Egyptian cattle in the sixth plague?" (Alleged Contradiction #E4833)
Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
Exodus 9:3-6
Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.
Exodus 9:19
And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Exodus 12:29
If all the cattle died in Exodus 9:6, how are more killed in verse 19 and then in Exodus 12:29?
Response
First, the Bible never says how much time elapsed between these plagues. It is entirely possible that the Egyptians restocked their cattle by purchasing from surrounding nations or from the Hebrews. 1 Furthermore, the Bible never says all the cattle died in these plagues, just the cattle “which is in the field” (Exodus 9:3) and “which shall be found in the field” (Exodus 9:19). Cattle kept in barns or stalls during either of these plagues would not have necessarily died.
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