INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 9 This chapter relates the plague of murrain upon the cattle, and which yet was not upon the cattle of the Israelites, Exodus 9:1 and the plague of boils and blains on man and beast, Exodus 9:8 and Pharaoh's heart being hardened, Moses is sent to him with a message from the L... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... The same day the plague of the flies was removed: GO IN UNTO PHARAOH boldly, without any fear of him or his court: AND TELL HIM, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD OF THE HEBREWS: speak in the name of Jehovah, the God whom the Hebrews worship, and who owns them for his peop... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF THOU REFUSE TO LET THEM GO,.... Continue to refuse, as he had done: AND WILT HOLD THEM STILL; in the land, and under his dominion and oppression.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE HAND OF THE LORD,.... Which was stronger than his, with which he held the Israelites: IS UPON THY CATTLE WHICH IS IN THE FIELD: this takes in all in general, of which the particulars follow, though limited to such as were in the field, and so did not take in what were at home in their o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SHALL SEVER BETWEEN THE CATTLE OF ISRAEL AND THE CATTLE OF EGYPT,.... Make such a difference and distinction between them, that the murrain should not be on the one, when it was on the other, and which was a very marvellous thing; and especially in the land of Goshen, where the Egyptian... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD APPOINTED A SET TIME,.... For the coming of this plague, that it might plainly appear it came from him, and was not owing to any natural cause: SAYING, TOMORROW THE LORD SHALL DO THIS THING IN THE LAND; thus giving him time and space, as he had often done before, to consider the matter... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD DID THAT THING ON THE MORROW,.... Brought a murrain, or a pestilential disease on the cattle. This, according to Bishop Usher, was on the second day of the seventh month, which afterwards became the first month, the month Abib, which answers to part of March and part of April, and seems... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PHARAOH SENT,.... Messengers to the land of Goshen, to see whether the murrain was upon the cattle of Israel or not, and whether any of them died or not. The Targum of Jonathan is, "he sent to Pelusium to see'' AND INQUIRE ABOUT THIS MATTER; that is, to Raamses, for so that paraphrase calls Ra... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES AND UNTO AARON,.... This very probably was the day following, on the third day of the month Abib, about the eighteenth of March, that orders were given to bring on the following plague: TAKE TO YOU HANDFULS OF ASHES OF THE FURNACE; either in which the bricks were burnt,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL BECOME SMALL DUST IN ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT,.... Which ashes, thrown up into the air, should be so multiplied and spread as to be over all the land of Egypt, and come down like showers of snow or sleet everywhere, only of a hot and scalding nature; or these handfuls of ashes were to be c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TOOK ASHES OF THE FURNACE,.... Which was near at hand, perhaps in Pharaoh's kitchen: AND STOOD BEFORE PHARAOH; not in his palace, or in any covered room, but in some place open to the heaven, a courtyard or garden adjoining to the palace: and Moses sprinkled it up towards heaven; cast it u... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MAGICIANS COULD NOT STAND BEFORE MOSES, BECAUSE OF THE BOILS,.... Which were on them as on others, and which with all their art and skill they could not keep off; and which were so sore upon them, and painful to them, that they were obliged to withdraw, and could not stand their ground, conf... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HARDENED THE HEART OF PHARAOH,.... He having often, and so long hardened his own heart, God gave him up to judicial hardness of heart, to his own corruptions, the temptations of Satan, and the lying magicians about him, to make an ill use of everything that offered to him, and put a wro... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND STAND BEFORE PHARAOH,.... Who it seems used to rise early in the morning, and so was a fit time to meet with him, and converse with him; it might be one of the mornings in which he used to go to the water early, though not mentioned, un... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WILL AT THIS TIME SEND ALL MY PLAGUES UPON THINE HEART,.... Not meaning particularly the plague of the hail, which next follows, so called, because it consisted of various things, as hail, rain, lightning, and thunder, as Aben Ezra, and who observes, that Pharaoh was more terrified with this p... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NOW WILL I STRETCH OUT MY HAND, THAT I MAY SMITE THEE AND THY PEOPLE WITH PESTILENCE,.... Which yet we never find was done; for though this by many is referred to the slaying of the firstborn, yet it is not certain that this was done by the pestilence: besides, Pharaoh was not then smitten, nor... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN VERY DEED, FOR THIS CAUSE HAVE I RAISED THEE UP,.... Or but truly or verily c; instead of smiting thee with the pestilence, and cutting thee off out of the land of the living, "I have raised thee up"; made thee to stand d, to continue in being; I have preserved thine from perishing by the for... [ Continue Reading ]
AS YET EXALTEST THOU THYSELF AGAINST MY PEOPLE, THAT THOU WILT NOT LET THEM GO?] And so against God himself, disobeying his commands, despising his messengers, and slighting his miracles, and hardening his heart against him, and refusing to let Israel go, after all; thereby showing the most intolera... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, TOMORROW ABOUT THIS TIME,.... It was now the fourth day of the month Abib, and the fifth when the following was inflicted: I WILL CAUSE IT TO RAIN A VERY GRIEVOUS HAIL; which should fall very thick, and the hailstones be very numerous and heavy, and the storm last long: SUCH AS HATH NOT BE... [ Continue Reading ]
SEND THEREFORE NOW, AND GATHER THY CATTLE, AND ALL THAT THOU HAST IN THE FIELD,.... The servants that were at work there: this is said to denote both the certainty of the plague, and the terribleness of it, that all, both men and beast, would perish by it, if care was not taken to get them home; and... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT FEARED THE WORD OF THE LORD AMONG THE SERVANTS OF PHARAOH,.... Who, if they had not the true fear of God, and were not sincere proselytes, yet had a servile fear of him, and dreaded his word, his threatening, his denunciations of judgments and predictions of future punishments; of which they... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT REGARDED NOT THE WORD OF THE LORD,.... Or "set not his heart" f "unto it", took no notice of it, but treated it with the utmost contempt; and of this sort it may be thought there were the far greatest number: everyone of this cast LEFT HIS SERVANTS AND CATTLE IN THE FIELD; let them rema... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... When the morrow was come, the fifth day of the month Abib: STRETCH FORTH THINE HAND TOWARD HEAVEN; with his rod in it, as appears from the next verse, to show that the following plague would come from the heaven, that is, the air, and from God, who dwells in the he... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES STRETCHED FORTH HIS ROD TOWARD HEAVEN,.... The same which Aaron had made use of before, but was now in the hand of Moses, and whose rod it properly was: AND THE LORD SENT THUNDER AND HAIL, AND THE FIRE RAN ALONG UPON THE GROUND, hot thunderbolts, which struck their flocks, Psalms 78:48 an... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THERE WAS HAIL, AND FIRE MINGLED WITH THE HAIL,.... Which was a miracle within a miracle, as Aben Ezra observes; and very wonderful indeed it was, that the hail did not quench the fire, nor the fire melt the hail, as Philo the Jew i remarks: VERY GRIEVOUS, SUCH AS THERE WAS NONE LIKE IT IN ALL T... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE HAIL SMOTE THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT,.... It was in all the land, and it smote and did mischief in all parts of it, only in Goshen, after excepted: ALL THAT WAS IN THE FIELD, BOTH MAN AND BEAST; which they that neglected the word of the Lord took no care to fetch home, these were all... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY IN THE LAND OF GOSHEN, WHERE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL [WERE], WAS THERE NO HAIL. So that such Egyptians as might dwell among them, they, their servants, their cattle, and their fruits, escaped this plague; and oftentimes do wicked men fare the better for the people of God that are among them.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PHARAOH SENT,.... Not persons to observe whether there was any hail fell in the land of Goshen, though there are some k that so supply the words; but it cannot be thought that Pharaoh would send, or that any would go thither amidst such a storm of thunder and hail; but he sent messengers, AND C... [ Continue Reading ]
ENTREAT THE LORD, FOR IT IS ENOUGH,.... Hail, thunder, and lightning enough; or pray that this may be enough, and thought sufficient, and that there may be no more; or "entreat the Lord, and much" l; pray, and pray much, pray earnestly and without intermission until the plague ceases: THAT THERE BE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SAID UNTO HIM, AS SOON AS I AM GONE OUT OF THE CITY,.... Zoan or Tanis, for it was in the field of Zoan where these wonders were wrought, Psalms 78:12, the reason why he went out of the city to pray, Jarchi says, was because it was full of idols; but the truer reason was, that he might be... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS FOR THEE, AND THY SERVANTS,.... Notwithstanding the confession of sin he had made, and his earnest request that the Lord might be entreated to remove this plague, and though he had been assured it would be removed: I KNOW THAT YE WILL NOT YET FEAR THE LORD GOD: they had not feared him yet; t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FLAX AND THE BARLEY WAS SMITTEN,.... With the hail, thunder, and lightning, and were beat down, bruised, broken, and blasted, and destroyed; of the former there were great quantities produced in Egypt, which was famous for linen, much was made there, and there were many that wrought in fine... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE WHEAT AND THE RYE WERE NOT SMITTEN,.... Bruised, broken, beat down, and destroyed by hail: the word by us rendered "rye", and by other "fitches" or "spelt", is thought by Dr. Shaw q to be "rice", of which there were and still are plantations in Egypt; whereas rye is little, if at all known i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES WENT OUT OF THE CITY FROM PHARAOH,.... Into the field, where, being retired from company, he could freely, and without being disturbed, pray unto God: AND SPREAD ABROAD HIS HANDS UNTO THE LORD; denoting the spreading of cases before God, and expectation, hope, and readiness to receive fav... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN PHARAOH SAW THAT THE RAIN, AND THE HAIL, AND THE THUNDERS WERE CEASED,.... And there was a clear sky and a fine serene heaven, the black clouds were dispersed and gone, and he heard no more the clattering of the hailstones, and the terrible claps of thunder, and saw no more the flashes of l... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE HEART OF PHARAOH WAS HARDENED,.... Instead of being softened, as it seemed to be when under the plague, it became harder and harder when delivered from it: NEITHER WOULD HE LET THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GO; though he had so absolutely promised it, and assured them that he would not keep them,... [ Continue Reading ]