VIII. THE SECOND PLAGUE. (1-4) It is generally allowed that the second plague was one of frogs. All the ancient versions agree in the interpretation; and the only rival rendering — “crocodiles” — is too absurd to be argued against. We may take it, therefore, as certain that the second infliction upo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FROGS CAME UP. — Hebrew, _the frog._ The term designates the species.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAGICIANS DID SO. — It cannot be concluded from this that the magicians had the power of creating frogs. All that the writer means to express is, that they _seemed_ to Pharaoh and to the Court to do on a small scale what Moses and Aaron had done on the largest possible scale. The means which the... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH CALLED FOR MOSES. — This was the first sign of yielding. Pharaoh had borne the infliction of the water turned to blood without flinching, probably because individually he had suffered but little from it. (See the comment on Exodus 7:23.) But he suffered from the frogs as much as any one else... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SAID... GLORY OVER ME. — This phrase seems equivalent to — “I submit to thy will,” “I am content to do thy bidding. “It was probably an ordinary expression of courtesy in Egypt on the part of an inferior to a superior; but it was not a Hebrew idiom, and so does not occur elsewhere. WHEN S... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THOU MAYEST KNOW. — Comp. Exodus 7:5; Exodus 7:17. Moses is not content that Pharaoh should simply acknowledge Jehovah as he had done (Exodus 8:8), but wishes him to be convinced that no other god can compare with Him.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FROGS DIED. — God, who knew the heart of Pharaoh, and its insincerity, or at any rate its changefulness, took the plague of frogs away in a manner that made its removal almost as bad as its continuance. The frogs did not return into the river; neither were they devoured by flights of cranes or i... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN PHARAOH SAW THAT THERE WAS RESPITE. — Hebrew, _a breathing space._ HE HARDENED HIS HEART. — Hitherto Pharaoh’s nature had not been impressed; his heart had remained dull, callous, hard. Now an impression had been made (Exodus 8:8), and he must have yielded, if he had not called in his own will... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THIRD PLAGUE. (16, 17) It is disputed whether this plague was one of lice or of mosquitoes. Josephus and the Jewish commentators generally take the former view, while the latter is supported by the LXX. and Vulgate, by the authorities of Philo, Artapanus, Origen, and St. Augustine in ancient, an... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAGICIANS DID _SO_ — i.e., tried to do so — took moist earth, and dried it, and pulverised it, and tried the effect of their magic charms upon it, but. failed to produce mosquitoes, as Aaron had done. Mosquitoes were things too delicate to be caught, and manipulated, and produced at a given mome... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FINGER OF GOD. — Rather, _of a goal._ The magicians meant to say, “This is beyond the power of man: it is supernatural; some god must be helping Moses and Aaron.” They did not mean to profess a belief in One God. PHARAOH’S HEART WAS HARDENED. — The mosquitoes did not impress Pharaoh as the frog... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FOURTH PLAGUE. (20, 21) There is. again, a doubt as to the nature of the fourth plague. In the original it is called the plague of “the ‘_arób.”_ which is used throughout in the singular number. The LXX. translate _ha-’arob_ by “the dog-fly” (ή κυνόμυιά). The Jewish commentators connect the word... [ Continue Reading ]
I will sever in that day the land of Goshen. — This was a new feature, and one calculated to make a deep impression both on king and people. The “land of Goshen” can only have been some portion of the Eastern Delta, a tract in unwise different from the rest of Egypt — low, flat, well-watered, fertil... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAND WAS CORRUPTED. — Rather, as in the margin, _destroyed._ Kalisch observes, “These insects” — _i.e.,_ the kakerlaque (_Blatta Orientalis_)_, “_really fill the land, and molest men and beasts; they consume all sorts of materials, _devastate the country,_ and are in so far more detrimental than... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH CALLED FOR MOSES. — Pharaoh suffered from the kakerlaque equally with his subjects, or rather, _more_ than his subjects. It was “upon him,” inflicting its painful bites (Exodus 8:21); it was “upon his palaces” (Exodus 8:21), destroying his rich and magnificent furniture; it was upon his land... [ Continue Reading ]
It IS NOT MEET SO TO DO. — Pressed to remain “in the land,” and sacrifice, Moses deemed it right to explain to the king why this was impossible. The Israelites would have to “sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians” — _i.e.,_ animals of which the Egyptians abominated the killing; and if they did... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE SHALL COMMAND US. — Comp. Exodus 10:26 — “We know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither.”... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SAID, BEHOLD... I WILL IN-TREAT THE LORD. — Moses accepted Pharaoh’s second promise, and took no special exception to its condition — “only ye shall not go very far away.” He had distinctly stated his own demand, which was for “a three days’ journey into the wilderness” (Exodus 5:3; Exodus... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE REMAINED NOT ONE. — The sudden and entire removal of a plague like this at the word _of_ Moses was almost as great a miracle as its sudden coming at his word, and is therefore, when it happened, carefully recorded. (See Exodus 10:19.) It seems not to have happened with the frogs (Exodus 8:11)... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART AT THIS TIME ALSO. — Comp, Exodus 8:15. Again, it is after being impressed, and partially relenting, that Pharaoh hardens his own heart.... [ Continue Reading ]