THIS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU
The answer
Ten, from water-into-blood to the death of the firstborn (Exodus 7-12). The tenth is what Passover commemorates.
Why it’s interesting
The plagues escalate with a storyteller's rhythm, from nuisance (frogs, gnats) to catastrophe. Psalm 78 and Psalm 105 later retell them — and interestingly, in different orders and counts.
Scholarly consensus
You can know the Bible.
Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.