Exodus 11:1-10
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.
4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that followa thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION
11And Je-ho-vah said unto Mo-ses, Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pha-raoh, and upon E-gypt; afterwards he will let you go hence; when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. (2) Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. (3) And Je-ho-vah gave the peole favor in the sight of the E-gyp-tians. Moreover the man Mo-ses was very great in the land of E-gypt, in the sight of Pha-raoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.
(4) And Mo-ses said, Thus saith Je-ho-vah, About midnight will I go out into the midst of E-gypt: (5) and all the first-born in the land of E-gypt shall die, from the first-born of Pha-raoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle. (6) And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of E-gypt, such as there hath not been, nor shall be any more. (7) But against any of the children of Is-ra-el shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that Je-ho-vah doth make a distinction between the E-gyp-tians and Is-ra-el. (8) And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out And he went out from Pha-raoh in hot anger.
(9) And Je-ho-vah said unto Mo-ses, Pha-raoh will not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of E-gypt. (10) And Mo-ses and Aar-on did all these wonders before Pha-raoh: and Je-hovah hardened Pha-raoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Is-ra-el go out of his land.
EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER ELEVEN
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE
1.
Propose a theme or topic for chapter eleven.
2.
When did the LORD say the things in Exodus 11:1-3 to Moses? How do they fit into the narrative of Chapter s 10-11?
3.
What was to be the result of the last plague? (Exodus 11:1)
4.
What was Moses to tell the Israelites to say to the Egyptians? (Exodus 11:2)
5.
How did the Egyptians regard the Israelites? What brought this about? (Exodus 11:3)
6.
What was the estimation of Moses by the Egyptians? (Exodus 11:3)
7.
At what time of day would the LORD pass over? (Exodus 11:4)
8.
To whom Isaiah 11:4 ff addressed?
9.
What was to be the extent of the death of the firstborn? (Exodus 11:5)
10.
Who were the highest and lowest people in Egyptian society? (Exodus 11:5)
11.
What would be the immediate effect of the death of the firstborn? (Exodus 11:6)
12.
What would the silence of the dogs reveal about the status of the Israelites? (Exodus 11:7)
13.
What was Pharaoh to know (to learn) from the fact that the Israelites were spared the death of their firstborn? (Exodus 11:7)
14.
Who would urge the Israelites to depart? (Exodus 11:8)
15.
What was Moses-' feeling as he departed from Pharaoh? (Exodus 11:8)
16.
Why would not Pharaoh hearken? (Exodus 11:9)
EXODUS ELEVEN: THE LAST WARNING!
1.
Revealed by God to Moses; Exodus 11:1-3.
2.
Related by Moses to Pharaoh; Exodus 11:4-8.
3.
Rejected by Pharaoh; Exodus 11:9-10.
EXODUS ELEVEN: ONE MORE BLOW (OR PLAGUE)!
1.
The day for judgment is set; Exodus 11:1-3.
2.
The day of judgment will be final; Exodus 11:4-8.
GOD'S SAINTS FAVORED (Exodus 11:2-3)
1.
Jewelry given; Exodus 11:2; Exodus 3:22; Exodus 12:35-36.
2.
Honor given; Exodus 11:3.
RESULTS OF THE LAST PLAGUE
1.
Death of the firstborn; Exodus 11:5.
2.
Great cry; Exodus 11:6.
3.
Distinction demonstrated; Exodus 11:7.
4.
Supplication of Egyptians; Exodus 11:8.
5.
Departure of Israel; Exodus 11:8.
THE LORD MAKES A DISTINCTION!
1.
Between Israelites and Egyptians.
2.
Between Moses and Pharaoh.
3.
Between Himself and Egypt's gods.
THE SAD SUMMARY (Exodus 11:9-10; John 12:37)
1.
Pharaoh would not hearken.
2.
Moses and Aaron worked wonders.
3.
Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart.
EXPLORING EXODUS: NOTES ON CHAPTER ELEVEN
1.
What does Exodus eleven tell about?
It gives God's last warning to Pharaoh through Moses. It tells us that God revealed to Moses that only one more plague - the death of Egypt's firstborn - remained before Pharaoh would thrust out the Israelites. It tells of Pharaoh's rejection of Moses and God's message.
2.
When did God inform Moses about the last plague? (Exodus 11:1)
God either revealed this information to Moses-' mind during his hot conversation with Pharaoh (Cassuto's view); or God had already told it to Moses before his arrival at Pharaoh's house (Exodus 10:24) (view of Keil and Delitzsch, Hertz, and others.) If that is the true interpretation of Exodus 11:1, then the verse should be translated, Jehovah had said unto Moses,.. We lean to this latter view, but either view is possible. Perhaps God revealed to Moses the facts about the last plague and about the Passover during the three days of darkness.
The word for plague in Exodus 11:1 is not used elsewhere in Exodus. Its most numerous occurrence is in Leviticus 13-14, where it refers to the plague of leprosy. It means a blow, or striking. It was to be the final decisive blow.
We must reject the unproven views of critics[192] who argue that Exodus 11:1-3 was written by one author (called E), and Exodus 11:4-8 was by another author (called J). This interruption of the record of the conversation between Moses and Pharaoh is necessary for our understanding of how Moses knew about the last plague (as related in Exodus 11:4-8).
[192] S. R. Driver, Intro. to the Literature of the O.T. (New York: World, 1965), p. 27.
3.
What were the Israelites to ask the Egyptians for? (Exodus 11:2)
For jewels of gold and silver. The word jewels actually just means vessels, but the fact that they were of gold and silver justifies the translation of it as jewels.
In Exodus 3:22 only women were mentioned as those who were to request jewels. Here men are mentioned also. This is not a contradiction, just an enlargement of the command.
The word borrow in KJV is misleading. Neither the Hebrews nor the Egyptians interpreted their asking as borrowing. No one hinted that the items would be returned. See notes on Exodus 3:22.
4.
How did the Egyptians feel toward Moses and the Israelites? (Exodus 11:3)
They looked upon the people with favor, and upon Moses as very great. This had been predicted to Moses back at the burning bush (Exodus 3:20-22). In Exodus 12:33; Exodus 12:35-36 we read about how Jehovah gave the Israelites favor with the Egyptians.
The people of Exodus 11:3 seem to be the Israelite people. Just at this moment Moses was very high in the esteem of the Israelites. Not long before, they had scorned him (Exodus 5:20-21); and very soon after this they were blaming Moses for every trouble they had (Exodus 15:23; Exodus 16:21).
The honor Moses achieved must be held up in contrast with the excuses he once gave about being such an inferior person (Exodus 3:11; Exodus 4:10). This is a warning to us not to low-rate ourselves too much.
Would Moses as the author of Exodus write words like Exodus 11:3 about himself? Certainly! Why not? It was the truth. Compare the way Paul wrote of himself (2 Corinthians 10:8-14), and the way Nehemiah wrote of himself (Nehemiah 5:18-19).
5.
When would the last plague strike? (Exodus 11:4)
About midnight! The hour of this plague would make its coming even dreadful.
God did not specify which midnight. We know from Exodus 12:1 that a new month (called Abib) had then started. Exodus 12:3 tells us that on the tenth day of that month each family was to select a lamb. Then on the fourteenth day of the month the lamb would be slain (Exodus 12:6). Thus the midnight was at least four days distant, and maybe as many as nine. But Pharaoh did not know this. Possibly the approach of each midnight gave him premonitions of terror as he recalled Moses-' words.
In Egyptian mythology the sun god Re was supposed to fight each night with Apepi, the monster-serpent, and his army of fiends, who tried to overthrow Re.[193] Re always conquered, and thus the sun arose day after day in the sky. The occurrence of the death of the firstborn at night may have therefore made some Egyptians sense that Jehovah could enter the nighttime arena of combat with Egypt's gods, and so utterly overwhelm them that it was evident that they never had existed at all.
[193] E. A. Wallis Budge, The Mummy (New York: Collier-Macmillan, 1972), pp. 270-271.
The conversation between Moses and Pharaoh that was interrupted at Exodus 10:29 is picked up again in the narrative at Exodus 11:4.
6.
What would happen in the last plague? (Exodus 11:4-6)
God would go out into the midst of Egypt. (The I in Exodus 11:4 is emphatic.) All the firstborn of Egypt would die, those high-born and those low-born, and the firstborn of all beasts. There would be a great cry of anguish throughout all the land of Egypt.
The lowly maidservant (slave woman) working at the two grindstones (a lower one and an upper stone that rotated upon the lower) would see her firstborn die. Pharaoh on his throne would suffer the same.
Pharaoh's forefather had once tried to slay the babes of Israel (Exodus 1:22). Now all Egypt is sentenced to have its firstborn die.
The death of firstborn beasts would be impressive in Egypt, where many beasts were worshipped as manifestations of various gods.
Ramm comments[194] that the universality of the plague of death of the firstborn is a type of universality of God's last judgment, when the small and great alike shall stand before the judge (Revelation 20:12). God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). There will be weeping and wailing, like the cry that came up from Egypt (Matthew 25:30).
[194] Bernard Ramm, His Way Out (Giendale, Calif.: Regal, 1974), p. 68.
The cry that was to arise throughout Egypt on that dreadful night recalls the cries of the Israelites (Exodus 2:23). Now it is the Egyptians who will cry out in anguish at God's judgment.
We surely cannot accept the hypothesis set forth[195] that the story of the death of the firstborn is an exaggerated account of a fatal pestilence which struck the Egyptian children and brought about the release of the Hebrews. Proponents of this theory think that through years of transmission within Israel the memory of the event was so shaped that the end product, the present Exodus narrative, suggests that only the firstborn were involved, and that both the firstborn of man and beast were involved. Bernard Ramm replies well to this notion with the point that Pharaoh would not have released Israel because of an ordinary epidemic among children.[196]
[195] The Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 1 (Nashville: Broadman, 1969), pp. 363-364.
[196] Ramm, op. cit., p. 66.
7.
How would God show that He made a distinction between Egyptians and Israel? (Exodus 11:7)
He would protect the Israelites from the death of their firstborn. His protection would be so total that not even a dog would bark at the hordes of departing Israelites and their cattle. (Literally the text says that a dog will not sharpen [or point] his tongue. This same idiom is used also in Joshua 10:21.)
What a contrast! The wicked crying, the good quiet; the wicked dead, the good living; the wicked frightened, the good peaceful; the wicked helpless, the good protected. (Preacher's Homiletic Commentary)
8.
What would Pharaoh's servants do when their firstborn died? (Exodus 11:8)
They would come to Moses, bow down, and beg him and his people to leave. After that, Moses said, I will go out! These were Moses-' last words to Pharaoh before the Passover.
What a reversal! Egyptians begging Moses to leave? Yes, and even Pharaoh joined in the begging (Exodus 12:30-33).
9.
With what feeling did Moses leave Pharaoh? (Exodus 11:8)
With hot anger! First Pharaoh became angered (Exodus 10:28); then Moses-' wrath arose. But it was a righteous anger, the kind all noble Godly souls should feel sometimes when dealing with people like Pharaoh - lying, double-dealing, promise-breaking, stubborn, cruel, persecuting, hard, resistant to the truth.
10.
Did Pharaoh change his mind after Moses left him? (Exodus 11:9-10)
In no wise! God cautioned Moses not to expect Pharaoh to come to his senses. All along God had foretold that Pharaoh would not listen, and that He would work his signs (miracles and plagues) in Egypt; and then after all that, I will bring forth my hosts, my people, the children of Israel (Exodus 7:4; Exodus 4:21).
There is a marvelous review and summary of the first nine plagues in the two verses Exodus 11:9-10.
The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart after plagues number six (boils), eight (locusts), nine (darkness), and after Israel departed (Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:8). See notes on Exodus 4:21 concerning this hardening.
Exodus 11:9-10 are truly transitional verses. From now on Moses will be dealing with Israel and not with Pharaoh.