22The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt.” 23Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; 24there was hail with fire flashing continually in the midst of it, such heavy hail as had never fallen in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail.
27Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28Pray to the LORD! Enough of God’s thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” 29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. 30But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” 31(Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) 33So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the LORD; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. 34But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
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9.1–7 The affliction of Egypt’s animals, anticipated in the third plague (see note on 8.17), is resumed in the sixth (vv. 9–10), seventh (9.19–22, 25), and tenth (11.5; 12.29) plagues. The Israelites’ livestock is spared and will accompany them out of Egypt (10.26; 12.32, 38). Pestilence becomes a curse for the Israelites to shun (Lev 26.25; Deut 28.21).
9.1 The freedom refrain (7.16; 8.1, 20).
9.2 Hold, the Hebrew root of hardened in 7.13, 22; 8.19 (see note on 4.21).
9.3 The LORD, as in the preceding plague (see note on 8.24). Strike with a deadly pestilence, lit. “will be there…, a very heavy pestilence.” “Will-be-there” is of the same root as the divine name (see note on 3.14); on “heavy,” see note on 4.10. Camels, an anachronism; camels weren’t used in Israel in substantial numbers until ca. 600 BCE and in Egypt even later.
9.4 Distinction, as in the preceding plague (8.22–23).
9.5 See 8.10, 23. Thing, Hebrew davar, also used in nothing (v. 4) and in the phrase translated did so (v. 6), a play on pestilence (Hebrew dever) in v. 3.
9.6 All the livestock, a detail that, like all the water in 7.20, is inconsistent with what follows; some of Egypt’s livestock will be explicitly affected by the sixth (9.10), seventh (9.19–21), and tenth (11.5; 12.29) plagues.
9.7 Inquired, lit. “sent,” an ironic play in Hebrew on the cognate let go (v. 1). Was hardened, lit. “became heavy” (see 8.15, 32).
9.8–12 See note on 8.16–19; Pharaoh is not addressed, but he is to witness the transformation of soot into boils. Boils is the first plague to affect humans directly; the “boils of Egypt” is a curse (Deut 28.27).
9.8 The Hebrew terms for handfuls and soot form a wordplay. Moses. Moses and Aaron collect the soot, but only Moses effects the plague by throwing the soot.
9.8, 10 In the air, lit. “heavenward.”
9.11 The magicians, who increasingly fail, are not only beaten but ridiculed. Could not, a motif; cf. 7.18 (be unable); 7.21, 24; 8.18.
9.12 Hardened, lit. “stiffened” this is the first time the Lord brings on Pharaoh’s stubbornness; see note on 4.21.
9.13–35 The first in the third set of plagues (see note on 7.15) is drawn out. Moses explains the reason for prolonging the plagues (vv. 14–16). The hail is extraordinary for its combination with fire, its unprecedented extent (vv. 18, 23–24), and the exemption of the Israelites (v. 26). Pharaoh’s temporary surrender (v. 27) is an anticlimax.
9.13 Present yourself. See note on 8.20. The rest of the verse echoes 9.1.
9.14 All my plagues. This is curious; perhaps it refers to the severity of the plague, or this time refers to the set of three plagues. There is no one like me. The claim carries greater conviction following the utter defeat of the magicians.
9.15 Stretched, rendered send in v. 14; cf. note on 3.20. Struck. See note on 2.11. Until now only the cattle have been afflicted with pestilence (v. 3).
9.16 To make…resound, lit. “to tell” cf. 10.2; 12.27–28; 13.8; cf. Ps 78.1–6.
9.17 Exalting, elevating (see Prov 4.8).
9.18 Tomorrow. See 8.10. Heaviest hail, a close echo in Hebrew of “a very heavy pestilence” (see note on 9.3). Has ever fallen. See note on 7.14–12.32.
9.19 Send, proclaim through messengers. Livestock. According to v. 6, all the livestock of the Egyptians died in the fifth plague; see note on 9.6. The plague is directed against life supports, not life itself.
9.20 Officials. See 7.10. A secure place, rather shelter (v. 19).
9.21 Egypt’s willfulness is ultimately responsible for its catastrophic fate; see note on 1.22.
9.22 Stretch. See note on 7.5. Toward heaven, a link with vv. 8, 10. Whole land…on humans and animals seems dissonant with vv. 20–21; for consistency one assumes that the persons and livestock of the God-fearing are excepted. Plants of the field, also in v. 25, evokes Gen 2.5; see note on 7.19.
9.23 Extending the arm (v. 22) and extending the staff are viewed as the same act, as in 10.12–13; 14.16, 21. Thunder (lit. “sounds”) and fire anticipate the Sinai revelation (19.16, 18). The combination of heaven, fire, and rained recalls the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19.24).
9.24 Flashing, elsewhere only in Ezek 1.4. Such heavy hail, an echo of no one like me (v. 14); the incomparable deity effects unprecedented phenomena; cf. also v. 18.
9.25 Struck…shattered, parallelism (see note on 3.15); cf. Ps 29.5.
9.26 See note on 8.22.
9.27 Summoned, lit. “sent and called for,” using the Hebrew rendered send in v. 19. In the right, legal terminology (e.g., Deut 25.1) suggesting the Lord’s superiority is proved by the evidence of the plagues. In the right and in the wrong also connote the “righteous” and “wicked,” again evoking Sodom and Gomorrah (see note on 9.23; cf. Gen 18.23).
9.28 Pray. Cf. 8.28. Enough, lit. “it is (too) great” cf. 1.9, where more numerous is lit. “too great.” God’s thunder, idiomatic for “very great thunder.”
9.29 Out of the city, an indication of leaving the royal precincts or possibly a suggestion that the Lord may be contacted only outside the pagan site. Stretch, or “spread,” a gesture of prayer (e.g., 1 Kings 8.22; Isa 1.15). You may know echoes v. 14.
9.30 Moses explains why he needed to provide additional proof that God is the supreme power by predicting the end of the plague.
9.31–32 Some crops had to survive to serve as fodder for the locusts in the next plague (10.5, 12, 15).
9.33 Stretched. See note on 9.29. Rain, not mentioned except in cause…to fall (v. 18).
9.34 Sinned. See v. 27. Hardened, “made heavy” (see note on 4.21).
9.35 Hardened, “stiffened” by itself (see note on 4.21).
EXODUS 10
The Eighth Plague: Locusts
1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the LORD.”
3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, “Thu
s says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the last remnant left you after the hail, and they shall devour every tree of yours that grows in the field. 6They shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your officials and of all the Egyptians—something that neither your parents nor your grandparents have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long shall this fellow be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God; do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, worship the LORD your God! But which ones are to go?” 9Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have the LORD’s festival to celebrate.” 10He said to them, “The LORD indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11No, never! Your men may go and worship the LORD, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may come upon it and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14The locusts came upon all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever shall be again. 15They covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was black; and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left; nothing green was left, no tree, no plant in the field, in all the land of Egypt. 16Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17Do forgive my sin just this once, and pray to the LORD your God that at the least he remove this deadly thing from me.” 18So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 19The LORD changed the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea;a not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was dense darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23People could not see one another, and for three days they could not move from where they were; but all the Israelites had light where they lived. 24Then Pharaoh summoned Moses, and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your children may go with you.” 25But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them for the worship of the LORD our God, and we will not know what to use to worship the LORD until we arrive there.” 27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. 28Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29Moses said, “Just as you say! I will never see your face again.”
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a Or Sea of Reeds
10.1–20 The locusts devour the remaining vegetation and cover the land (vv. 5, 15), providing a transition from the devastation of crops by hail to the darkness that follows. For the first time Pharaoh is pressured to release the Hebrews (v. 7), anticipating the tenth plague (12.33). Locusts are a curse (Deut 28.38); cf. note on 9.8–12.
10.1 Hardened, “made heavy,” as in 9.34.
10.2 Tell. See note on 9.16.
10.3 How long, a rhetorical addition to the formula in 9.13. Humble yourself, the same Hebrew root translated oppress in 1.11–12; Pharaoh must receive poetic justice.
10.4 An echo of 8.2. Tomorrow. See 8.10.
10.5 The imagery is elaborated in Joel 1; cf. Judg 6.5; 7.12. Here human and animal life are only indirectly affected, as the severest plague is saved for last. Cover the surface. Cf. Num 22.5, 11. Remnant. See note on 9.31–32.
10.6 Another echo of the frog plague (8.3–6), whose relative harmlessness contrasts with the severity of the locust plague. Turned, “faced” away, foreshadowing vv. 28–29.
10.7 How long echoes v. 3. This fellow, lit. “this” (see note on 32.1). Snare. Cf., e.g., 23.33; 34.12; Deut 7.16. People. The Hebrew has “persons,” not the collective term “people.” Ruined, not the Hebrew term so translated in 8.24.
10.8 In contrast to 8.8 and v. 16 below, Pharaoh does not directly summon Moses and Aaron. Which ones. Pharaoh is prepared to make a concession as in 8.25–28, but again with restrictions.
10.9 Festival to celebrate. See note on 5.1.
10.10 Evil may pun in Hebrew on the name of the Egyptian god Ra (Re).
10.11 No, never, or “No indeed,” echoing indeed in v. 10. Men, as in 23.17; 34.23; Deut 16.16. They were driven, lit. “he drove them” some versions read “they drove them.” Presence, “face,” again (see note on 10.6) foreshadowing vv. 28–29.
10.12 Stretch, as in 9.22; see note on 7.5.
10.13 Staff. See note on 9.23. East wind, an anticipation of 14.21. Locust swarms more typically enter Egypt from the south. All that night, “all night,” exactly as in 14.21.
10.14 Dense swarm, lit. “very heavy” see note on 4.10.
10.15 Covered. See note on 10.5. The land was black, or “and the land became dark,” anticipating the plague of darkness (vv. 21–22). All the plants, inconsistent with the Israelites’ use of herbs and hyssop (12.8, 22) unless Goshen is spared.
10.16 Hurriedly foreshadows 12.33. Summoned. See note on 10.8. I have sinned. Pharaoh has said this before (9.27).
10.17 Pray as in 8.8, 28; 9.28. Deadly thing, lit. “death,” hyperbole here but foreshadowing the tenth plague.
10.19 West wind, lit. “sea wind,” an Israelite perspective since the Mediterranean lies west of Israel; cf. note on 26.18. References to “sea,” wind, and Red Sea anticipate 14.21–28. Drove…into, not toward but lit. “into,” different from driven out in v. 11; cf. Joel 2.20. Red Sea, the “Sea of Reeds,” possibly one of the lagoons along the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula (see note on 14.2), but also possibly the Bitter Lakes, farther south. Few of the geographical sites in the Exodus narrative can be identified, and it is possible the Red Sea (Gulf of Suez) is meant; although unrealistic here, it may have been adopted to present a later Israelite audience with a well-known body of water. Not a single…was left, the same Hebrew phrase rendered not one remained in 8.31, an anticipation of 14.28.
10.20 Hardened, “stiffened,” as in 9.35.
10.21–29 Because light symbolizes freedom (e.g., Isa 9.1; Lam 3.1–2, where darkness and “oppression” are juxtaposed), the plague of darkness gives Egypt a taste of enslavement (see v. 23) and Israel a foretaste of liberation. The darkness also foreshadows the tenth plague (see 12.29). Cf. Deut 28.29.
10.21 Stretch, as in v. 12; see note on 7.5. That the darkness can be felt distinguishes it from ordinary darkness.
10.22 Three days, the only notice of a plague’s duration since 7.25, forming a frame around the first nine plagues.
10.23 The Israelites had light. See note on 8.22.
10.24 Pharaoh reverses himself (see v. 10).
10.25 Let us have, lit. “give into our hands” Pharaoh must contribute toward, and not merely tolerate, Israelite cult
sacrifices, slaughtered animals that are partly burned on the altar and partly eaten by the worshiper.
10.26 What to use, or “how.”
10.27 Hardened, “stiffened,” as in v. 20.
10.28 Take care, be on your guard.
10.29 It was Pharaoh who summoned Moses in the eighth and ninth plagues; and he will summon Moses and Aaron after the tenth (12.31). Moses defies Pharaoh’s warning (11.8).
EXODUS 11
Warning of the Final Plague
1The LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away. 2Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.” 3The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people.
4Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out through Egypt. 5Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 6Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again. 7But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me, and bow low to me, saying, ‘Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.
9The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
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