VII. (1) SEE, I HAVE MADE THEE A GOD TO PHARAOH... — This is God’s answer to the objection of Moses that his lips were uncircumcised (Exodus 6:12), and probably followed it immediately. The force of it would seem to be: “Thou art not called on to speak, but to act. In action thou wilt be to Pharaoh... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL HARDEN PHARAOH’S HEART. — See the comment on Exodus 4:21. MY SIGNS AND MY WONDERS. — “Signs” (_‘othoth_) were miracles done as credentials, to prove a mission (Exodus 4:8; Exodus 4:30). “Wonders” (_môphôth_) were miracles generally; _niphle’oth,_ also translated” wonders” (Exodus 3:20), were... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH SHALL NOT HEARKEN UNTO YOU, THAT I MAY LAY. — Heb., _Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay._ No relation of effect and cause is here asserted as existing between the two clauses, which are co-ordinate. MINE ARMIES, AND MY PEOPLE. Rather, _my armies, my people._ The two expressio... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EGYPTIANS SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD. — Heb., _that I am Jehovah: i.e.,_ that I answer to my name — that I am the only really existing God, their so-called gods being “vapour, smoke, nothingness.” No doubt this was one of the main lessons intended to be taught by the whole series of miraculou... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES AND AARON DID AS THE LORD COMMANDED THEM. — The reluctance and resistance of Moses from this time ceased. He subdued his own will to God’s, and gained the praise of being “faithful as a servant in all his house” (Hebrews 3:5). Aaron’s obedience continued until Sinai was reached, but there fail... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES WAS FOURSCORE YEARS OLD. — Compare Deuteronomy 34:7; Acts 7:23; Acts 7:30. The air of Egypt. and, probably, still more that of the desert, was favourable to longevity; and the Egyptian monuments show many cases of officials actively employed after they were a hundred years old.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHEW A MIRACLE FOR YOU. — Pharaoh had perhaps heard of the miracles wrought by Aaron before the people of Israel (Exodus 4:30), and was curious to be an eye-witness of one, as was Herod Antipas (Luke 23:8). Or he may have thought that if Moses and Aaron “shewed a miracle,” his own magicians would be... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAGICIANS OF EGYPT. — These persons are called indifferently _khàkâmim,_ “wise men,” _më-kashshëphim,_ “mutterers of charms,” and _khartum-mim,_ “scribes,” perhaps “writers of charms.” Magic was very widely practised in Egypt, and consisted mainly in the composition and employment of charms, whi... [ Continue Reading ]
He hardened Pharaoh’s heart. — This is a mis-translation. The verb is intransitive, and “Pharaoh’s heart” is its nominative case. Translate, “Pharaoh’s heart hardened itself.” It is essential to the idea of a final _penal_ hardening that in the earlier stages Pharaoh should have been left to himself... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST PLAGUE. (14-21) _THE WATER TURNED TO BLOOD._ — Moses had already been empowered to turn water into blood on a small scale (Exodus 4:9), and had exhibited his power before his own people (Exodus 4:30). But the present miracle is different. (1) It is to be done on the largest possible scale;... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GOETH OUT UNTO THE WATER. — Perhaps to bathe, like the princess who saved Moses (Exodus 2:5), perhaps to inaugurate some festival in the river’s honour. Of these the Egyptian calendar contained several. THE RIVER’S BRINK. — Heb., _the lip of the river._ (Comp. Exodus 2:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD GOD OF THE HEBREWS. — Heb., _Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews._ On the first application made to him by Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh had professed not to know who Jehovah was (Exodus 5:2). To prevent his again doing so, Moses is ordered to give both name and title. HATH SENT ME — Rather, _sent... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THIS THOU SHALT KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD. — See the comment on Exodus 7:5. THE ROD THAT IS IN MY HAND, _i.e.,_ “in the hand of my servant.” God is here represented as about to do that which was actually done by Aaron (Exodus 7:20). _“Qui facit per alium, facit per se.” _... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FISH THAT IS IN THE RIVER SHALL DIE. — The natural discoloration of the Nile, whether by red earth or by _Cryptogams_ and _Infusoriæ,_ has no pernicious effect at all upon the fish, nor is the water rendered by these discolorations at all unfit for use. The Nile naturally abounds with fish of va... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WATERS OF EGYPT consist of the main stream of the Nile; its branches; canals derived from it; natural lakes, pools, or ponds, either left by the inundation or anticipative of it, being derived by percolation from the main stream; and artificial reservoirs of a larger or smaller size in gardens,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE LIFTED UP THE ROD. — “He” is, undoubtedly, Aaron. (See Exodus 7:19.) IN THE SIGHT OF PHARAOH, AND IN THE SIGHT OF HIS SERVANTS. — If the occasion was one of a Nile festival, Pharaoh would have “gone out to the water” (Exodus 7:15) accompanied by all the great officers of the Court, by a large bo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EGYPTIANS COULD NOT DRINK. — Previously they had “lotlhed to drink” (Exodus 7:18), but apparently had drunk. Now they could do so no longer — the draught was too nauseous.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAGICIANS... DID SO WITH THEIR ENCHANTMENTS. — The act of the magicians must have been a very poor imitation of the action of Moses and Aaron. The two brothers had turned into blood all the waters of the river, the canals, the pools or lakes, and the reservoirs. The magicians could not act on th... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER DID HE SET HIS HEART TO THIS ALSO. — Heb., _Neither did he set his heart_ (_i.e.,_ pay attention) _even to this._ Pharaoh did not lay even this to heart. He passed it over as a slight matter, unworthy of much thought, and “turned, and went into his house. “Probably care was taken to keep him... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE EGYPTIANS DIGGED ROUND ABOUT THE RIVER. — Wells may be sunk in any part of the alluvium, and will always yield water, which is, however, brackish and unpalatable. This water is, no doubt, derived by percolation from the river; but the percolation is a slow process, and blood would scarcely p... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SEVEN DAYS WERE FULFILLED. — These words seem to mark the duration of the first plague, which was the longer because Pharaoh made no submission at all in consequence of it. Obtaining sufficient water for his own purposes (see the comment on Exodus 7:23), he thought little of its continuance.... [ Continue Reading ]