Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures
Exodus 9:1-7
E. The pestilence of the beasts
1Then [And] Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell [speak unto] him, Thus saith Jehovah, God [the God] of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still [and still hold them], 3Behold, the hand of Jehovah Isaiah 23:1 upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, 4and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain [pestilence]. And Jehovah shall sever [will make a distinction], between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. 5And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Jehovah shall [will] do this 6thing in the land. And Jehovah did that [this] thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not [behold, not even] one of the cattle of the Israelites dead [was dead]. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened [hard], and he did not let the people go.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Exodus 9:3. הוֹיָה. This is a solitary instance of the participial form of הָיָה, though in Nehemiah 6:6 and Ecclesiastes 2:22 the participle of the archaic and Aramaic form of the verb, הָוָה, occurs. It might be rendered: “Behold, the hand of Jehovah will come upon,” etc. Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Exodus 9:1. Categorical demand of Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews.
Exodus 9:2. A more definite assumption, in view of past experience, that Pharaoh may defiantly harden himself.
Exodus 9:3. A very grievous pestilence.—The more general term דֶּבֶר is used. The pestilence is to come upon cattle of all sorts found in the field.
Exodus 9:4. The separation of Israel is more marked here than in Exodus 8:18 [22].
Exodus 9:5. Besides the foregoing sign, this fixing of the near time for the infliction of the plague is the most miraculous circumstance, since, as Keil says, “pestilences among the cattle of Egypt are wont to occur from time to time (comp. Pruner, Die Krankheiten des Orients, pp. 108, 112 sq.).”
Exodus 9:6. All the cattle. The word all is not to be taken absolutely, but only in opposition to the cattle of the Israelites. Comp. vers 9 and 10.
Exodus 9:7. It is another characteristic of the tyrant that he cares the least for this calamity, which affects chiefly his poor subject, though he has become convinced of the miraculous sparing of the Israelites.
Footnotes:
[1][Exodus 9:3. הוֹיָה. This is a solitary instance of the participial form of הָיָה, though in Nehemiah 6:6 and Ecclesiastes 2:22 the participle of the archaic and Aramaic form of the verb, הָוָה, occurs. It might be rendered: “Behold, the hand of Jehovah will come upon,” etc. Tr.]