outraged that the Egyptians would rejoice with the plagues that God had brought upon them. And immediately (as reported in ), "the Lord turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts." And the Midrash interpreted the words of , "there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt," to teach that the wind blew away even the locusts that the Egyptians had pickled in their pots and barrels. A Midrash taught that God brought darkness upon the people in because some Israelite transgressors had Egyptian patrons, lived in affluence and honor, and were unwilling to leave Egypt. God reasoned that bringing a plague and killing these transgressors publicly would cause the Egyptians to conclude that the plagues punished Egyptians and Israelites alike, and thus did not come from God. Thus, God brought darkness upon the Egyptians for three days, so that the Israelites could bury the dead transgressors without the Egyptians seeing them do so. Reading the words "even darkness that could be felt" in , the Sages conjectured that it was as thick as a denar coin, for "even darkness that could be felt" implied a darkness that had substance. Rabbi Abdimi of Haifa interpreted the words "thick darkness" in to teach that the darkness was doubled and redoubled. The Rabbis taught that there were seven days of darkness. During the first three days, one who wished to arise from sitting could do so, and the one who wished to sit down could do so. Concerning these days says: "And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; and they did not see one another." During the last three days, one who sat could not stand up, one who stood could not sit down, and one who was lying down could not rise upright. Concerning these days says: "neither rose any from his place for three days." During the three days of thick darkness, God gave the Israelites favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, so that the Egyptians lent the Israelites everything. An Israelite would enter an Egyptian's house, and if the Israelite saw gold and silver vessels or garments, and when the Israelite asked for them the Egyptian replied that the Egyptian had nothing to lend, the Israelite would say where the goods were. The Egyptians would then reason that had the Israelites desired to deceive the