Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 8:16-19
The Third Plague - The Plague of Insects (Exodus 8:16).
This can be analysed as follows:
a Aaron was to stretch out his staff and smite the dust so that it became insects (Exodus 8:16).
b Aaron did so and there were insects all over Egypt on both man and beast (Exodus 8:17).
b The magicians sought to imitate it but could not, and they said ‘this is the finger of God' (Exodus 8:18 a).
a And Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said (Exodus 8:19 b).
The basic lessons from the parallels is that in ‘a' Aaron reveals his obedience and manifests the power of Yahweh and in contrast Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to listen. In ‘b' the lesson is that the insects all over Egypt, ‘produced' by Aaron, are declared, even by the magicians, to be the finger of God. They admitted that what Aaron did they could not do. Central to the whole incident is the failure of the magicians to imitate God's wonders in contrast to the previous ‘successes'. They had to admit that Yahweh was greater than their gods.
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and smite the dust of the earth that it may become insects throughout all the land of Egypt'.” And they did so, and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and smote the dust of the earth, and there were insects on both man and beast. All the dust of the earth became insects throughout all the land of Egypt.'
This time there was no warning. We do not know where the eggs came from. They may have come down the Nile with the red earth, or they may have come from the dead frogs, or they may have been latent in the soil, or all three, but known only to Yahweh the land was covered with insect eggs waiting to hatch. And when Aaron stretched out his staff, hatch they did. He ‘smote the dust of the earth'. This would be done in full sight of important Egyptians. It was necessary that they recognised that what followed came from Yahweh.
“All the dust of the earth became insects.” This was how it seemed to the participants. The language is pictorial, not literal. Everywhere they looked insects were there, proliferating among the dust. The whole land seemed alive with them.
“Insect.” The word ‘ken' may cover a number of types of insects. The rotting carcasses of the fish and frogs, and what they contained, could encourage many forms of insect life to develop, as might excessive deposits of the red earth which may have brought insect eggs with them. Insects proliferated throughout the land. These might include lice and also the tick, an eight-legged arthropod and bloodsucking parasite and carrier of disease, as well as fleas.
‘And the magicians performed with their enchantments to produce insects, but they could not. And there were insects on man and on beast.'
The magicians tried to emulate the production of the tiny insects but the dust just would not change and insects so small were difficult to conjure with. And in the end they gave up. In fact they themselves could not get away from them. They were on man and beast. Not only could they not use their conjuring to produce them, they had no way of avoiding them. They were uncontrollable.
‘Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of a god.” And Pharaoh's heart was hardened (was strong) and he did not listen to them just as Yahweh had said.'
The magicians had to cover up for their inability. They had to confess that this was beyond them and could only be imputed to a divine source. But still Pharaoh was obstinate, ‘just as Yahweh had said'. Not aware of the dangers of disease that could follow he did not think these as bad as the frogs. At least they were not in his bed.
“The finger of a god.” In Egyptian texts we find reference to the "finger of Seth" and "the finger of Thoth". This was thus a typically Egyptian way of expressing the situation. We would say, ‘God must have had a hand in this'. Note the use of ‘God'. They were not thinking of Yahweh specifically, but of the divine.
The sad thing about this episode is that those who professed to be experts in religion were as much in the dark as those whom they sought to lead. It was a case of the blind leading the blind. The magician priests could have admitted the greatness of God openly and called on Pharaoh to repent. How it might have changed history. But instead they nodded their heads wisely and declared that what was happening was a religious mystery. The world is full of people who claim to be religious experts, and who nod their heads wisely and assure each other how wise they are. But unless they respond to the revealed word of God their wisdom is nothing. Like these magician priests they simply utter platitudes forgotten by the next generation. Furthermore, like these magician priests they may gain a great reputation in the world and be lauded to the skies, but it will all prove useless and empty unless they come to and respond to the word of God.