What, exactly, was the plague of Arov?
Rashi and Targum Yonasan: It comprised a mixture 1 of wild animals, including snakes and scorpions, which killed the Egyptians.
Rashbam: It was a mixture of different species of wolves, which generally attack in packs at nighttime. 2
What is the significance of the phrase, "u'Mal'u Batei Mitzrayim Es he'Arov"?
Oznayim la'Torah: In spite of the fact that the Egyptians fled to their homes and bolted all the doors, the wild animals found way to break into their houses. 1
Oznayim la'Torah (citing Sefer ha'Yashar): Hashem sent sirens from the sea to open the doors.
What is the significance of the phrase, "v'Gam ha'Adamah Asher Heim Alehah"?
Seforno: It means that the ground upon which the houses stand will be filled with snakes and wild creatures that dwell underground. 1
Divrei Eliyahu and Kol Eliyahu: It hints at the Yide'oni, a ferocious beast attached to the ground by means of a sort of umbilical cord. It too, appeared in Egypt, together with the earth to which it was attached. 2
Oznayim la'Torah: It means that the distinction that Hashem will make between Yisrael and the Egyptians will extend to the ground - inasmuch as, whereas the very ground of Egypt will produce wild animals, that of Goshen will not.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'Mashli'ach Becha' (dispatching against you) - [I.e., I am] inciting against you; as in Devarim 32:24." How else might I have translated the term "Mashli'ach"?
Gur Aryeh #1: Our verse cannot mean "sending" in the normal sense, because then it would say 'Mashli'ach Lecha,' to you; rather than "Becha," against you. Rather, it means "inciting against you."
Gur Aryeh #2: Sending a Shelichus (a message, or a mission) requires a Shali'ach with intelligence, such a term is not relevant to animals.
Rashi writes: "The Midrash has a reason for each Makah, why this particular one" [was appropriate in the sequence of the ten Makos]. Why does Rashi wait until the fourth Makah, Arov, to tell us this?
Gur Aryeh: The first two Makos struck the Nile, and the third struck the earth; both of these were in close proximity to the Egyptians, and therefore readily available to be used in punishing them. But why did Hashem now bring upon them wild animals, which are uncommon (in inhabited areas)? Therefore, Rashi now must point to the Midrash. 1
