V. FIRST APPLICATION OF MOSES TO PHARAOH, AND INCREASE OF THE OPPRESSION. (1) WENT IN. — Heb., _went_ — _i.e.,_ left their usual residence, and approached the Court, which, according to the Psalms (Psalms 78:12; Psalms 78:43), was held at Zoan (_i.e.,_ Tanis). This was the ordinary residence of Ram... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS THE LORD? — Heb., _Who is Jehovah?_ If Jehovah was a name, the use of which had been laid aside, as would seem to have been the case by the later Chapter s of Genesis, and which was revived by the scene at the burning bush, Pharaoh may very probably not have heard of it. THAT I SHOULD OBEY H... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS. — Moses accepts Pharaoh’s view, and does not insist on the authority of Jehovah over Egyptians, but makes an appeal _ad misericordiam._ He has, at any rate, authority over Hebrews; and, having made a requirement, He will be angered if they neglect it. Will not Pharaoh allow t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PHARAOH SAID. — Moses and Aaron having retired, _re infectâ,_ Pharaoh turns to the officers of his court and reproaches them with allowing the Hebrews to be idle. They have time to hold meetings (Exodus 4:30), and listen to inflammatory harangues, and depute leaders to make very inconvenient pro... [ Continue Reading ]
TASKMASTERS... OFFICERS. — Three grades of officials are mentioned as employed in superintending the forced labours of the Hebrews — (1) “lords of service” (_sarey massim_)_,_ in Exodus 1:11; (2) “taskmasters” (_nogeshim_)_,_ here and in Exodus 5:10; Exodus 5:13; and (3) “officers” — literally, _scr... [ Continue Reading ]
STRAW TO MAKE BRICK. — “The use of crude brick was general in Egypt for dwelling-houses, tombs, and ordinary buildings, the walls of towns, fortresses, and the sacred enclosures of temples, and for all purposes where stone was not required, which last was nearly confined to temples, quays, and reser... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM NOT REGARD VAIN WORDS. — Or, _false words._ The reference is to the promises of deliverance wherewith Moses and Aaron had raised the people’s hopes (Exodus 4:30). Pharaoh supposed these to be “vain words,” as Sennacherib did those spoken by Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:20).... [ Continue Reading ]
STUBBLE INSTEAD OF STRAW. — Heb., _stubble for the straw._ Reaping in Egypt was effected by cutting off the ears only from the stalks, and thus a very tall stubble was left in the fields. This appears not to have been valued by the cultivators, and whoever wished was allowed _to_ collect it. After c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TASKMASTERS HASTED THEM. — The Egyptian monuments show us foreign labourers engaged in brick-making under Egyptian overseers, or “taskmasters,” who are armed with sticks, and “haste” the labourers whenever they cease work for the purpose of resting themselves. The overseers are represented as co... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OFFICERS... WERE BEATEN. — This is the usual practice in the East. When any requisition is made on a town or a village, or any body of persons, the procuring of it is left to the “head men,” who are alone responsible to the Government, and are punished in case they fail to exact the full amount.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OFFICERS... CAME AND CRIED UNTO PHARAOH. — The Egyptian monarchs were accessible to all. It was a part of their duty to hear complaints personally; and they, for the most part, devoted to this employment the earlier hours of each day (see Herod. ii. 173;. Those who came to them generally _cried_... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FAULT IS IN THINE OWN PEOPLE. — Heb., t_hy people is in fault._ There can be no reasonable doubt that this clause is antithetical to the preceding one, and means that, though the Hebrews are punished, the people really in fault are the Egyptians.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE IDLE. — Idleness was regarded by the Egyptians as one of the worst sins. It had to be specially disclaimed in the final judgment before Osiris (Birch, in Bunsen’s _Egypt,_ vol. v. p. 254). Men sometimes disclaimed it in the epitaphs which they placed upon their tombs (_Records of the Past,_ v... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO STOOD IN THE WAY. — Heb., _in their way._ The meaning is, that Moses and Aaron were “standing” — _i.e.,_ waiting to meet them, and know the result of their interview with the monarch.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE MADE OUR SAVOUR TO BE ABHORRED. — Heb., _to stink._ An idiom common to the Hebrews with the Egyptians (Comp. Genesis 34:30; 1 Samuel 13:4; 2 Samuel 10:6, &c, with _Papyr. Anastas._ 1:27, 7), and very expressive. The English idiom, “to be in bad odour with a person,” is similar, but lacks the... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES RETURNED UNTO THE LORD. — He could find nothing to say to the officers. The course of events had as much disappointed him as it had them All that he could do was to complain to God, with a freedom which seems to us almost to border on irreverence, but which God excused in him, since it had its... [ Continue Reading ]