The plagues on Egypt are traditionally thought to be ten, but they map the the 13 tribes when we share the wind/locust plague with two tribes and add the plundering of Egypt of gold and silver and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. The following table explores.
| Tribe | Sign | Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| Judah | Blood |
2 Exodus 7:14-24
|
| Reuben | Frogs |
2 Exodus 8:1-15
|
| Gad | Gnats |
2 Exodus 8:16-19 |
| Asher | Arabs (Flies) |
2 Exodus 8:20-9:0
|
| Naphtali | Livestock |
2 Exodus 9:1-7 |
| Manasseh | Boils |
2 Exodus 9:8-12 |
| Simeon | Hail |
2 Exodus 9:13-10:0
|
| Levi | Wind |
2 Exodus 10:1-13
|
| Issachar | Locusts |
2 Exodus 10:13-20 |
| Zebulun | Darkness |
2 Exodus 10:21-11:0 |
| Joseph | Firstborn |
2 Exodus 12:29-30 |
| Benjamin | Plunder |
2 Exodus 12:31-36
|
| Dan | Sea |
2 Exodus 14:24-28
|
Judah as the plague of blood is still a little muddy to me.
Reuben fits nicely with the plague of frogs in that the plague includes the detail that the frogs went into pharoah's bed. Reuben is known for defiling the bed also.
Gad as the plague of gnats is unclear to me.
Asher as the plague of "arabs" (aka flies) maps to Asher and his modern nation of Austria, the headquarters of OPEC. Remember Asher's feet were to be bathed in oil. All the arab oil is traded at OPEC. In Hebrew the word "flies" does not exist but "swarm" is spelled ayin, reysh, bet and sometimes translated Arabia. Quite literally this scripture is saying Egypt was plagued with a great arab, but apparently it was not any more politically correct to say such things in 1611 than it is now.
Naphtali as the plague on livestock is wonderful because it's actually the "decree" or "word" on livestock (debar in Hebrew). Naphtali would have "beautiful words" according to Jacob in Genesis 49, so this is a nice match.
Manasseh as the plague of boils from soot from a furnace is good. Elsewhere in scripture Manasseh is the altar of burnt offering, which has plenty of ashes. One of his books is Job, who throws ashes on his head as Moses and Aaron did to Egypt.
Simeon as the plague of hail is a good match because the uniqueness of the plague fits Simeon. Only the plague of hail comes with counsel ahead of time, which some Egyptians hear, but many do not. They are told to shelter their servants and animals because it is going to hail. Simeon is the one who did not listen to his father's counsel in Genesis.
Levi takes the first part of the plague of locusts, which is a wind that eventually drives the locusts from the sea into the land of Egypt. Not exactly sure why this would be Levi, but the plauges around this match the tribes well so this match is more or less right even if unclear at this time.
Issachar then takes the second half of the plague of locusts, the part where the locusts actually show up en masse and consume everything in Egypt that was not destroyed by the hail. Issachar's holiday is Tabernacles, which is actually a trade fair, a time when everyone descends on Jerusalem, sets up their booths, and buys, sells and trades anything and everything for a week. By the end of Tabernacles everything is consumed like when the locusts where done with Egypt.
Zebulun as the plague of darkness needs more thought. I don't get this one yet.
Joseph holds the firstborn promise for his generation, so he's a natural fit with the plague on firstborn.
Benjamin was the one who plunders in Genesis 49 and here he maps to the "plundering" of Egypt's gold and silver. When the list of apostles are mapped to the tribes Judas goes with Benjamin. Judas, of course, had his hand in the money bag.
Dan goes nicely with the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Later in time Dan would settle "by the sea" when Israel took Canaan. The modern day Danites, Netherlanders, have also pushed back the sea with an extensive system of dikes.