This painting illustrates a passage from the Bible describing one of the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians as divine punishment for enslaving the Jewish people: the killing of all the first-born in the land.

Turner was demonstrating his skills in the highest branch of painting: the historical ‘grand style’. This painting was shown at the Academy in 1802, where it was hung in the main exhibition room eight feet (2.4 m) above the floor, further increasing its dramatic effect.