פרשת וירא - 5775 - The Failure of Pharoh's Elite Chartumim

The Ibn Ezra (Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra - 12th century) elaborates on what these 3 types of "men" are:

These were the zodiac readers

These were your basic standard magician that can create illusions.

These were the elite of Pharoh's sorcerers who used to summon demons to create magic. However we learn from the use of the word "בלהטיהם" in the pasuk that Pharoh's sorcerers only used regular magic to turn their staffs into a Tanin. How do we know this? From the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman - 13th century), who quotes the גמרה in מסכת סנהדרין in :דף סז:

It's also interesting to note the source for Chartumim as mentioned in רש"י (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki - 11th Century) - from פרשת מקץ:

So where do we see that Pharoh's Chartumim used demons? By the First מכה of דם:

When is the next time we see the Chatumim again? By the second מכה of צפרדעים

However here the chartumim were already limited in their magic, as the נצי"ב (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Berlin - 19th century) learns that there 2 types of frogs during the plague of צפרדאים - The first type were regular frogs, which the Chartumim through their demonic magic, were able to reproduce and the second type were more like crocodiles, which the Chartumim were not able to reproduce.

We see from here that Pharoh's chartumim were failing at competing with HASHEM's plagues. This is made even clearer by the third מכה of כנים:

Here the Chartumim were unable to replicate the כנים, as רש"י points outs, because demons can't control anything smaller than a barley

Whereas the Chartumim stated:

Now here comes the interesting part - when is the next time the Torah mentions the Chartumim? By the 6th מכה of שחין!

What happened to the מכות of דבר and ערוב? Why don't we see the Chartumim mentioned there? So the נצי"ב answers something fascinating - that the Chartumim were able to replicate both the מכות of דבר and ערוב. This was actually their "backyard" = controlling wild animals/insects and pestillence. However this was not essential to the events as they are unfolding in the Parasha. The reason for this is that the the מכות of דבר and ערוב were meant as punishment מכות, whereas the מכות of דם.צפרדע. כינים and שחין were meant to show Pharoh the HASHEM's greatness.

This is why the Torah doesn't even make mention of the chartumim's ability to replicate דבר and ערוב. Another interesting thing to note was that שחין was also the first מכה that HASHEM hardened Pharos's heart. In other words, right after an additional 2 punishment מכות of דבר and ערוב, HASHEM saw that Pharoh, still didn't learn who's the "boss", which ultimately resulted in his downfall.

Another interesting reason why the Chartumim were mentioned again during the מכה of שחין is made by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (19th Century), who points out that even though the magicians were unable to replicate the third plague, they remained steadfastly defiant. By stating that the plague of lice was the “finger of G-d,” they imply that the ultimate impact and power of G-d is rather limited. After all, it was only a finger, not a hand.

As "compensation" for their brazen skepticism, the magicians themselves are now made to feel the full impact of the plagues. They are themselves soon stricken by boils despite the fact that the priests, magicians and sacred animals of Egypt were always kept painstakingly clean, their bodies shaven in order to protect against disease. Now, their obsession with personal hygiene is of no avail. The magicians are utterly helpless in face of G-d’s plagues.

It is at this point that the magicians lose their status, and are thoroughly discredited.