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Private Collection/Bridgeman Art Library

One interpretation that strongly influenced Haggadah illustrations is a “mixture” of wild things—especially beasts of prey. But another possibility, more popular in Christian tradition and depicted in this illustration from a printed 15th-century Old Testament, is swarms of insects. (Also depicted is the fifth plague, cattle or livestock disease.) In the accompanying article, Gary A. Rendsburg explains why he thinks that bugs, not beasts, are what the ancient author of Exodus had in mind.