Upon further examination, the striking of the Nile served as punishment for ingratitude – as we mentioned in the article 'Plague of Blood – Plague of the Nile and Plague of Egypt,' that aside from the matter of striking the deity, there was another aspect in the plague of blood, which was 'blood vengeance,' meaning, vengeance on Egypt for the spilled blood of Israel, in the sense of blood for blood. We also added that included in this vengeance was retribution for the blood of the infants of Israel, which was shed to bathe the leprous body of Pharaoh, as known from the words of the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah Parsha 1, Siman 34): "The magicians of Egypt said, there is no cure for you unless we slaughter 150 of Israel's infants in the evening and 150 in the morning, and bathe in their blood twice daily." We noted there that for this reason the bathhouses were struck, as Rashi wrote on the verse "and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt" – "even in the bathhouses and tubs in the houses" – measure for measure, and we brought support for this from the words of the Rash (brought in Tosafot HaShalem Glis, verse 17, letter Yod), who wrote: "Since he bathed his body in the blood of the children of Israel, therefore he was struck with blood," end quote.

– And behold, there is no greater ingratitude than such a vile act, of taking the infants of the family of Yosef, who benefited the land, who fed its people and sustained them during the years of famine – and slaughtering them mercilessly for the purpose of bathing in their blood. In response to this horrendous ingratitude, the plague of blood came upon the Nile.