X. THE EIGHTH PLAGUE. (1-4) The eighth plague, like the third and fourth, was one where insect life was called in to serve God’s purposes, and chastise the presumption of His enemies. The nature of the visitation is uncontested and incontestable — it was a terrible invasion of locusts. Locusts are a... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE HARDENED... THE HEART OF HIS SERVANTS. — They, too, had first hardened their own hearts (Exodus 9:34), and so deserved a penal hardening. A certain amount of responsibility rested on _them._ Had they allowed the miracles to have their full natural effect upon their minds, they would have been... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU MAYEST TELL. — Those who experience God’s mercies are bound to hand on the memory of what He has done for them to future generations. Natural gratitude would prompt such action. But, lest the duty should be neglected, the Israelites had it at this time constantly enjoined upon them (Exodus... [ Continue Reading ]
TO MORROW WILL I BRING THE LOCUSTS INTO THY COAST. — Locusts, as already observed, are not indigenous to Egypt, but only occasional visitants. Consequently they always enter the country from some other, as Nubia, Abyssinia, Syria, or Arabia. On the quarter from which the present plague came, see the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL COVER THE FACE OF THE EARTH, THAT ONE CANNOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE EARTH. — This is the case almost invariably with all the severer visitations of locusts. “The plain was covered with them,” says Denon (_Travels,_ p. 286), speaking of Egypt. “The ground is covered with them for several leagu... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL FILL THY HOUSES. — “They shall run to and fro in the city,” says the prophet Joel; “they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows, like a thief.” Modern travellers bear abundant witness to the same effect; as Burckhardt: “They overwh... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE MEN GO. — Though the heart of Pharaoh remained hard, the plagues had a certain effect on the minds of the Egyptians. First, the magicians were impressed, and said, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Then a certain number of the people “feared the word of the Lord, and made their serv... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES AND AARON WERE BROUGHT AGAIN UNTO PHARAOH. — Moses and Aaron had uttered their threat, and had straightway left his presence. The courtiers “brought them again to Pharaoh.” The courtiers, no doubt, supposed that the king would yield; and the king was prepared to yield _to a certain extent._ Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH OUR SONS AND WITH OUR DAUGHTERS... FOR WE MUST HOLD A FEAST. — It was customary in Egypt for children to join in festivals (Herod. ii. 60). WITH OUR FLOCKS AND WITH OUR HERDS. — The family of Jacob brought numerous flocks and herds into Egypt (Genesis 47:1). These had, no doubt, increased, not... [ Continue Reading ]
LITTLE ONES. — Heb., _families._ These would include the children and the dependents. (See comment on Exodus 1:1.) EVIL IS BEFORE YOU. — Heb., _evil is before your faces_ — _i.e.,_ you contemplate doing me a mischief, by depriving me of the services of so large a body of labourers.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE THAT ARE MEN. — Heb., _haggëbarim_ — _i.e.,_ the full-grown males. THAT YE DID DESIRE. — There was no ground for this reproach. Moses and Aaron had always demanded the release of the entire nation (“let my _people_ go”); and nations are composed of women and children as much and as essentially a... [ Continue Reading ]
AN EAST WIND. — The LXX. translate by νότον_,_ “a south wind,” probably because locusts most commonly enter Egypt from the south, being bred in Nubia or Abyssinia; but the Hebrew (_ruakh kddim_) is undoubtedly an east wind; and modern travellers tell us that this is a quarter from which locusts arri... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LOCUSTS WENT UP OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT. — It is not, perhaps, certain that this is intended literally, since universal expressions are continually used by the sacred writers where something less than universality is meant. But, strengthened as the clause is by the succeeding one, we must sup... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY COVERED THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH, SO THAT THE LAND WAS DARKENED. — See the comment on Exodus 10:5, and compare also Clarke’s _Travels in Russia,_ p. 445: — “The steppes were literally covered with the bodies of these insects.... The whole face of nature seemed to be concealed as by a living... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH CALLED FOR MOSES AND AARON IN HASTE. — Heb., _hasted to call for Moses and Aaron._ The expression “hasted to call” is new, and marks extreme urgency. The visitation of the locusts was felt as far more severe than any previous one. It entirely destroyed all the remaining harvest, both of grai... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS DEATH. — Comp, Exodus 10:7. The entire destruction of the harvest threatened death to large numbers of the poorer class of persons.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD TURNED A MIGHTY STRONG WEST WIND... — As locusts come, so they commonly go, with a wind. They cannot fly far without one. It often happens that a wind blows them into the sea. Pallas says, speaking of Crimean locusts in the year 1799: — “Great numbers of them were carried [from the Crimea]... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD HARDENED PHARAOH’S HEART. — Comp. above, Exodus 9:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
DARKNESS WHICH MAY BE FELT. — Heb., _one shall grasp darkness._ The Authorised Version seems to give the true meaning, which is found also in the LXX. and the Vulg. The idea is an exaggeration of that instinctive feeling which makes us speak of “_thick_ darkness.” The general voice of mankind confir... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NINTH PLAGUE. (21-23) The ninth plague, like the third and sixth, was sent without any previous warning. It consisted in a “thick darkness,” which may have been brought about by means of the _Khamsin,_ or “Wind of the Desert,” which frequently blows about the time of the vernal equinox, and brin... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SAW NOT ONE ANOTHER. — Heb., _man did not see his brother._ The darkness was absolute, equal to that of the darkest night. NEITHER ROSE ANY FROM HIS PLACE. — Comp. Exodus 16:29. No one quitted his house. Mr. Millington imagines that they all sat “glued to their seats” (_Plagues of Egypt,_ p. 1... [ Continue Reading ]
LET YOUR LITTLE ONES ALSO GO WITH YOU. — Rather, _your families._ Pharaoh yields another point, but he will not yield all. He has not yet made up his mind really to “let the people go.” He must still keep some hold on them, and the cattle will serve his purpose equally with the “little ones.” If the... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR CATTLE ALSO SHALL GO WITH US. — Once more Moses rejects the proffered compromise — rejects it absolutely and altogether. The cattle shall _all_ go with the people; “not an hoof shall be left behind.” And why? First, because it is theirs (“_our_ cattle,” “_our_ flocks,” _“our_ herds”), and not Ph... [ Continue Reading ]
GET THEE FROM ME. — This address is ruds, fierce, uncourteous. That a Pharaoh of the nineteenth (or eighteenth?) dynasty should have so spoken implies extreme and very uncommon excitement. Generally the Pharaohs of this polished period were as imper turbable as Chinese mandarins. We must suppose tha... [ Continue Reading ]
The division between Exodus 10 and Exodus 11 is unfortunate. The interview between Pharaoh and Moses was not yet over. It is continued in Exodus 10:4 of the next chapter, and only terminates when the prophet “went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.” Exodus 10:1 of Exodus 11 are parenthetic.... [ Continue Reading ]