_PHARAOH CONSENTS FOR THE MEN ONLY TO GO: THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS IS SENT: PHARAOH CONFESSES HIS SIN; BUT STILL HARDENS HIS HEART: THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS IS SENT: PHARAOH, STILL OBDURATE, WOULD HAVE THE CATTLE OF THE ISRAELITES REMAIN BEHIND._ _Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I HAVE HARDENED HIS HEART— Or, _Although I have,_ &c. that is, although I have suffered him still to continue obdurate, that I might more amply display my own glory, and give not only to Egypt and the nations around, but to my people Israel in particular, a striking proof and monument of my powe... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW LONG WILT THOU REFUSE TO HUMBLE THYSELF— This expression plainly proves, that God's intention was not to _harden_ Pharaoh by these singular judgments. His gracious purpose was to have _humbled_ him; i.e. to have brought him to a just sense of himself, and to a lowly acknowledgment of the soverei... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BRING THE LOCUSTS INTO THY COASTS— That this terrible plague, like the rest, was miraculous and supernatural, there can be no doubt: however, travellers inform us of such horrid devastations committed by these destructive insects, as very amply explain the description given by the sacred writ... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW LONG SHALL THIS MAN BE A SNARE UNTO US— _This thing,_ LXX. Houbigant renders it, _How long shall_ these things _be a snare to us?_ There is no noun in the text, only the pronoun זה _zeh,_ which may, with as much propriety, be rendered _this thing,_ as, _this man._... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHO ARE THEY THAT SHALL GO— Brought to some degree of sense and feeling by his more wise and moderate counsellors, Pharaoh appears to consent to the departure of the Israelites; but, as in an instant, his perverse heart makes a reserve. It is evident that he feared the absolute and entire loss o... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAID,—LET THE LORD BE SO WITH YOU— Some commentators understand this as an _irony;_ others, as an _imprecation:_ the former interpret it, "yes, your God Jehovah shall deliver you by a miracle, indeed! if ever I part with you in that manner." The latter, "may your God, Jehovah, assist you to my ru... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD BROUGHT AN EAST-WIND— The word קדים _chedim,_ in the original, certainly signifies _the east-wind;_ and, therefore, we have no need to be solicitous, with many, concerning the meaning of the word νοτος, which the LXX here use, and which is generally thought to mean _the south-wind._ The Vul... [ Continue Reading ]
VERY GRIEVOUS— The Vulgate renders it _innumerable;_ and so the original word sometimes signifies. But it seems here rendered, more properly, and more agreeable to the context, _grievous._... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE AWAY FROM ME THIS DEATH— Locusts were generally esteemed an immediate token of the Divine displeasure; and, from the universal and almost instantaneous destruction they occasioned in a country, they are very emphatically and justly styled _a death._... [ Continue Reading ]
A MIGHTY STRONG WEST-WIND— _A wind of the sea,_ according to the Hebrew. Thus Jehovah rendered obedient to his pleasure, either of punishment or mercy, those _winds,_ and that element of _air,_ which the Egyptians idly adored as their gods. Many naturalists have observed, that locusts are often dest... [ Continue Reading ]
DARKNESS WHICH MAY BE FELT— The supreme objects of the Egyptian worship were the sun, moon, and stars: therefore, to demonstrate his authority over these exalted parts of nature, Jehovah suspended their lights and emanations, and covered _all the land of Egypt with thick darkness for three days, a d... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL HAD LIGHT IN THEIR DWELLINGS— In the midst of every punishment, Jehovah distinguished the Israelites: thus giving ample and constant conviction to the Egyptians, that he was the Sovereign and sole Author of these wonders; and emphatically instructing them, had they bee... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL SEE THY FACE AGAIN NO MORE— That is, no more in the way of a messenger from God, or of an adviser to thee to do that which is right. And it does not appear that Moses ever came again before Pharaoh: for, as to what follows in the next chapter, Exodus 10:4; Exodus 10:8 that was most probably d... [ Continue Reading ]