1 Samuel 5:12

the cry of the city went up to heaven Cp. Exodus 2:13. The word used always denotes a supplication, a cry for help.

Each city was visited with a heavier judgment than the preceding one. "The longer the Philistines resisted and refused to recognise the chastening hand of the living God in the plagues inflicted upon them, the more severely would they necessarily be punished." So when Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites go, the hand of the Lord grew heavier and heavier, till an unwilling consent was wrung from him.