The Abarbanel (Shemot 7:8, D"H Ve'omer) innovated the idea that each of the ten plagues had both a natural cause and a providential cause. This is his wording:

"I say that the ten plagues with which the Holy One, blessed be He, smote Egypt had a natural order and a providential order.

The natural order can be seen in two respects:

Firstly, the first five plagues came from the heavier elements close to us, and afterwards the next five plagues came from the lighter elements. Hence, the first plague was the turning of water to blood, which caused great distress to the Egyptians because drinking water is essential to cool internal heat and to digest food and pass it through the narrow passages in the body. With the water turning to blood, the Egyptians could not drink water. Also, the aquatic life, which was essential food for the Egyptians, as it is said (Numbers 11:5), 'We remember the fish we ate in Egypt,' died.

Not only did the beneficial aquatic animals die, but the frogs increased greatly and caused much harm and distress to the Egyptians. These two plagues, namely blood and frogs, were in the element of water.

After them came three plagues in the element of earth: lice, where all the dust of the land turned to lice; wild beasts, which were a mixture of harmful creatures brought by the Holy One, blessed be He, into Egypt; and pestilence, which killed the beneficial domestic animals necessary for human life. Thus, it is clear that the first five plagues were from the heavier elements, water and earth.

After them, the next five plagues came from the lighter elements, air and fire: boils, which were made from furnace soot, as it is said (Exodus 9:10), 'Moses threw it heavenward, and it became boils'; hail, which was also from the element of fire, as it is written (Exodus 9:23), 'Moses stretched out his staff toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along the ground'; locusts, which are flying creatures of the air; darkness, which was also a plague in the air, where the air became thick and dark, preventing sunlight from passing through; and the plague of the firstborn, which came through the corrupted air, suddenly snatching their breath and life. In this way, the last five plagues were from the lighter elements. Thus, the natural order of the ten plagues was preserved in one way.

The second way in which the natural order appears in them:

The plague of blood preceded and was first among all the plagues because it caused the plague of frogs. The rotting of the Nile's water from the dead fish and their stench caused the frogs to swarm and flee to dry land, entering the houses in Egypt.

Because of the rotting blood and the rotting frogs that died and were piled in heaps, the dust became lice.

And when the rotting was general throughout the land, the earth itself became corrupted and brought forth various swarming creatures, insects, and wild animals, called wild beasts.

Due to all that rotting, the grass and plants were destroyed, and pestilence struck the livestock - cattle, sheep, horses, and camels, for the carcasses of the animals (frogs, lice, and wild beasts, which humans surely killed many of) caused pestilence among the domestic animals, similar to how human corpses cause pestilence among humans.

But even amidst that rotting, humans were afflicted with boils, erupting into blisters. Although the rotting of animal corpses wasn't sufficient to bring about pestilence and plague among humans, it caused severe boils, which erupt after festering, akin to the general boil disease known as smallpox. This disease is a general corruption of the bodily fluids without ruining the spirits, hence causing boils instead of pestilence.

Because of the vapors and smoke rising from the rotting earth into the upper air, hail formed. Hence, there was rain, due to the corrupted vapors, and fire, due to the foul smoke. The thunder was because of the dry smoke's entanglement within the damp vapors, trying to escape and rise by nature, which causes thunder and lightning amidst the rain and hail, as explained in natural science.

After the heavy rain and hail, clear winds came, purifying the water and clearing the air, as happened in the flood, as it is written (Genesis 8:1), 'God made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.' These clear, steady winds come from the east, hence after the hail came the plague of locusts, driven by that wind. The locusts were also removed by an opposing wind, a sea wind, which carried them away from Egypt to the eastern and southern direction, towards the Red Sea. This weakened the east wind because of the increasing heat in that area over its source.

Because the sea wind is very moist, due to the wetness of its source and its western direction (as the west wind is the moistest in Egypt), when it was very strong, it brought thick clouds over all of Egypt. These clouds did not turn into rain because Egypt's climate and heat prevent rain, leaving a thick, dense darkness for three days. The wind did not pass the Red Sea for the mentioned reasons. Thus, it is clear how the darkness over Egypt for three days with thick darkness was caused by the sea wind that brought the locusts.

As for the plague of the firstborn, the darkness prepared for it, as the thick, foul air is a strong cause of pestilence, as doctors have written. Thus, it is also evident in this second way that the plagues came in a natural order, according to these causes and effects.

However, the divine providence order we see in the plagues of Egypt is that they came measure for measure against the Egyptians for the evils and troubles they inflicted on Israel, which were ten kinds of evils:

The first, the death of their children in the Nile, as it is said (Exodus 1:22), 'Every son that is born you shall cast into the Nile,' making it seem as if the Nile of Egypt was filled with the blood of their children. In response to this evil, the plague of blood came [as Lekach Tov also wrote (Exodus 4:9)]. The fish in the Nile died, symbolizing that the Nile was considered bloodshed, just as the children died in it, so the fish in the Nile died.

The second plague was the frogs, corresponding to the cries and tears of the daughters of Israel on their cheeks for their children killed in the Nile, mourning for the Nile destroying the fruit of their womb. In response, the frogs came, crying, as some commentators say, like the cries and wails of the daughters of Israel. They came from the Nile because the cries and wails emerged from there.

The third plague was the lice from the dust of the earth because the Egyptians embittered the lives of the Israelites with mortar and bricks and all kinds of labor in the field. Because they caused their suffering and toil in the dust of the earth, God commanded to strike the dust of the earth, which had been toil and anger for Israel, turning it into lice, which were like thorns in the Egyptians' sides.

The fourth plague was the wild beasts, which entered the Egyptians' houses, biting, tearing, and robbing their children. This was because each Egyptian would enslave Israel as they pleased, entering their houses and taking their sons and daughters for their labor, as Ramban wrote. In response to this evil, the wild beasts invaded their houses, doing as they pleased, just as the Egyptians did in the houses of the children of Israel.

The fifth plague was pestilence on the livestock. This was because the Egyptians would steal the cattle, sheep, and livestock of Israel without anyone saying to return them. Also, because of the burden of their labor, their poverty, and their oppression, the children of Israel could not tend their livestock. In response, the Egyptian livestock died of pestilence, while none of the livestock of Israel died.

The sixth plague was boils. This was because the Egyptians would curse and blaspheme the children of Israel, calling them 'unclean,' as it is said (Genesis 43:32), 'because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews.' Therefore, their punishment was that they were all afflicted with boils, and each would be called 'unclean.' Also, because of their labor, the Egyptians would hinder and prevent the Israelites from procreating, so they were punished that they would have boils, causing separation between husband and wife, with the boils resembling the sores of lepers.

The seventh plague was hail. This was because the Egyptians would strike Israel with stones or fists and would shout at them with curses and blasphemies. Therefore, hailstones came from the heavens, with thunder and lightning, terrifying and distressing them, to scatter and destroy them.

The eighth plague was locusts. This was because each one of Israel would work the land to find food for themselves, and the Egyptians would rob their crops in the field. Therefore, the locusts came, consuming all the vegetation and fruit of the trees.

The ninth plague was darkness. This was because in the exile of Egypt, Israel was in thick darkness, as exile is compared to darkness, as it is said (Lamentations 3:6), 'He has made me dwell in dark places, like those long dead.' Conversely, redemption is called light, as it is said (Isaiah 9:1), 'The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.' In response to the exile they inflicted, the Egyptians were punished with darkness, 'but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings' (Exodus 10:23).

The tenth plague was the plague of the firstborn. This was because Israel is called 'the children of the living God' (Hosea 2:1) and 'Israel is My firstborn son' (Exodus 4:22). Because the Egyptians harmed them as a whole, the plague of the firstborn came upon them, encompassing the general harm they caused with their enslavement.

Thus, the providential order of these plagues, according to the evils they inflicted on Israel, measure for measure, is evident, as expounded by the Abarbanel."

The Malbim (Shemot 7:25) objected to this, saying: "The Abarbanel sought to give the plagues a natural order, saying that the plague of blood caused the plague of frogs because the rotting of the Nile from the dead fish and their stench caused the frogs to swarm and flee to dry land, entering the houses in Egypt. Due to the rotting blood and rotting frogs that were piled in heaps, the dust became lice. See there. I do not understand why he diminishes the miracles and attributes them to natural causes. To refute such ideas, the scripture says, 'seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile,' indicating the Nile had already been healed, and there were no frogs, and afterward, the Lord caused the Nile to swarm with frogs, not by natural cause. However, the providential reason he gave is correct, that it was a punishment for killing the children of Israel who were drowned in the Nile of Egypt, and the blood of the children turned the water into blood. And for the cries of the unfortunate, the frogs came out, and it seemed to the Egyptians that the dead children were coming out of the Nile in the form of frogs, crying and wailing, and destroying them measure for measure. Until they came again to the water, the Reed Sea, where they too drowned, as it is written (Exodus 18:11): 'for with the thing they plotted, He came upon them.'"