The term translated here as “plague” simply denotes a blow, a strike. Jesus had used the word in the parable of the good Samaritan to describe what the robbers did to the traveller (beat, Luke 10:30; see also Acts 16:23 (“blows”), Revelation 13:3 (“wound”)). The term, then, ought not to direct our thoughts to the likes of the plagues of Egypt as if the “blows” these angels are to deliver are intended to be a repetition of the plagues of Exodus 7:1 – 11:10, be it in their intensity or their magnitude or even their purpose. Before we draw parallels to the (ten) plagues of Egypt, we need first simply to read the present text.