The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 10
Chapter X · Vol. I, pp. 312–313
1 God threateneth to send locusts. 7 Pharaoh, moved by his servants, inclineth to let the Israelites go. 12 The plague of locusts. 16 Pharaoh sueth again to Moses. 21 The plague of darkness. 24 Pharaoh sueth unto Moses, 27 but is still hardened.
1 AND the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: a for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him:
a ch. 4.21; 7.3-5,13, 14,22,23; 8.15,19,32; 9.7,12,16,21,34,35. Ps. 81.12. 2 Th. 2.11,12.
2 And that thou b mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye c may know how that I am the LORD.
b ch. 13.8. De. 6.20, 22. Ps. lxxviii. cv.; 44.1. Joel 1.3. Ep. 6.4.
c Ps. 9.16; 58.11. Eze. 25.17; 28.22. ch. 6.7; 16.12; 29.46. De. 29.6. Je. 24.7; 33.34.
3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, d How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Lete my people go, that they may serve me:
4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring the f locusts into thy coast:9
f Pr. 30.27. Joel 1.4; 2.2-11. ch. 9.32. See ver. 14.
9 Not fewer than ten different names are given to the locust in the sacred volume; every one of which, after the manner of the Hebrew nouns marks some distinctive character or peculiar effect. It is called arbe or arbah, from its extraordinary fecundity; gob or gobai, from the circumstance of their young ones issuing from the ground; garam, from the root garar, to cut off or spoil; and more destructive and insatiable spoilers were never let loose on the surface of the earth.
5 And they shall cover the face1 of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the g residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
1 Heb. eye.
g ch. 9.32.
6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; h which neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a i snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is k destroyed?
i Means of destruction, ch. 23.33. Jos. 23.13. 1 Sa. 18.21. Pr. 29.6.
k Ps. 107.34; 89.10; 135.9; 105.27-36.
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God; but who are they that shall go?
9 And Moses said, l We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
l Ec. 12.1. Jos. 24.15. Pr. 3.9. ch. 5.1; ver. 24-26. We shall need our cattle for sacrifices to our God, and for food to ourselves.
10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you,2 as I will let you go, and your little ones: m look to it; for evil is before you.
2 Let your God you so much boast of take care of you in the best way he can. It is plain you are hastening to your ruin; and if you trouble me farther, you shall smart for it.
m Ps. 52.3. 2 Ch. 32.15.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. n And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
n ch. 5.4; ver. 28. 2 Ch. 16.10; 25.16; 36.16.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod3 over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an o east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and, when it was morning, the east wind brought the p locusts.
3 He shook it towards the several quarters of the land of Egypt.
o ch. 14.21. Ge. 41.6. Ps. 48.7. Je. 18.17.
p Ps. 105.34,35; 78.46. De. 28.38. 1 Ki. 8.37. Joel 2.2-11. ver. 6.
14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15 Forq they covered the face of the whole earth,4 so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
q Joel 2.2-11, 20; 1.4,6,7,10. Ps. 105.34,35; 78.46. De. 28.38. 1 Ki. 8.37. Re. 9.2-10.
4 The locust is a creature akin to the cricket and grasshopper. The great brown locust is about three inches in length, has two antennae or feelers of about an inch long, projecting from the head, and two pair of wings. When they migrate from the place of their birth in the great African and Asiatic deserts, they always follow a leader, and appear in such immense flocks as to darken the air. In whatever country they settle, they devour all the produce of the earth; and though 'the land be before them as the garden of Eden, behind them it is a desolate wilderness.' Bochart enumerates ten species, differing in size and habits, but all agreeing in voracity. Their irruptions are frequent into many countries of Africa and Asia, and are not unusual in the southern parts of Europe, especially in Spain. When the locust-clouds appear, the consternation of the inhabitants of agricultural districts is extreme; and loud noises, fires, and even artillery, are employed to keep them on the wing, for when they once descend hope of deliverance is over.—Note, How weak is a mighty monarch, and a mighty nation, when they contend with God, seeing they are unable to conquer an insect!—C.
16 Then Pharaoh called5 for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, r I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
5 Heb. hastened to call.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
r ch. 9.27. Nu. 21.7; 22.34. 1 Sa. 15.24; 26.21. Mat. 27.4. Ju. 10.10, 15. Ps. 78.34,36,57.
17 Now therefore s forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this deatht only.
s Job 34.31,32. ch. 8.8,28; 9.28. Ac. 8.24.
t Deathful plague, 2 Ki. 4.40. 2 Co. 11.23. Ju. 10.15.
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and u entreated the LORD.
u ch. 8.12, 30; 9.29. Mat. 5.44. Ja. 5.16-18.
19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the x Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
20 But y the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
y ch. 3.19; 4.21; 6.1; 7.2-4, 13, 22, 23; 8.15, 19, 32; 9.7,12,21,34,35. Ec. 8.11. Ro. 2.4,5. 2 Ch. 28.22; 36.13.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be z darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.5
z Job 24.13; 18.5, 6. Ps. 105.28. Re. 16.10.
5 Some have rendered this 'darkness which causeth to feel,' but the expression as it stands is sufficiently intelligible, and although it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to account for the partial limits of the darkness, it was the will of God in this instance it should be so drawn as to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place, for three days:6 buta all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
6 Lightfoot, in his comments on the latter clause of Ps. 105.28, 'and they rebelled not against his word,' conceives the language to allude to Israel, who in this plague of darkness performed some special act of obedience, and that upon inquiry will be found to have been the undergoing circumcision, and that there was a general circumcision in Egypt, appears from Jos. 5.2-9. It would appear, therefore, that God closed up Egypt in three days' darkness, and in horror, that they might not take an opportunity of injuring the children of Israel while suffering under this rite.
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only b let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
b Ge. 34.23. 1 Ti. 6.10.
25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
26 Ourc cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind: for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and wed know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, f Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more: for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
f 2 Ch. 25.16; 16.10. ver. 11.
Notes
[Ver. 15. This description of the advent and ravages of the locusts is exceedingly graphic. I had an opportunity of witnessing one terrible invasion of locusts. They first appeared like a yellowish mist dimming the brightness of the sun; gradually the mist grew thicker until the sun was completely obscured. Then a whirring sound was heard, and became so deep and penetrating that the whole air and earth seemed to tremble, and a sense of fear instinctively crept over one. Soon afterwards the locusts began to alight, and in a few hours the ground was covered with them. For three days the cloud swept over Damascus, and then they lay on the earth in some places to the depth of five and six inches. Every green thing was eaten up—grass, grain, flowers, foliage, and even the tender bark of trees. The houses, courts, and streets of the city were filled with them. It was impossible to keep them off the person; they crawled over back and head, and face and hands. In walking through the streets, and even in the rooms of the houses, one crushed several at every step. P.]
Ver. 16. I have sinned against you, Hebrews, in cruelly oppressing you: I have sinned against you, Moses and Aaron, in scornfully denying your just demands.
Ver. 19. The sea which runs along the east of Egypt is called the Red Sea, either from the colour of the weeds in it; or, rather, because it anciently belonged to the Edomites, Ge. 25.30, for Edom signifies red.
Ver. 23. The Israelites could have marched away in this darkness; but God would have them brought forth, not as fugitives, but as triumphant conquerors.
Ver. 26. They were to leave nothing of their property behind them, that they might have no temptation to return.
Ver. 29. Moses saw Pharaoh no more; for he denounced the death of the first-born before he left his presence at this time, ch. 11.4-8; and when they were destroyed, Pharaoh only sent to him, ch. 12.31.
Reflections.—Let me, with holy awe, observe, that God intends the judgments which he executes as standing memorials of his supreme power and authority over all creatures, and of his victorious power over the kingdom of Satan, in restraining the malice and chastising the insolence of his and his people's enemies. But there is nothing for which God more readily quarrels with men than for their pride. Whole nations are often ruined through the pride and obstinacy of their governors: and when Satan has got sinners to the brink of ruin, he exerts all his might in pushing them down headlong. The early engagement of children in the service of God is exceedingly contrary to the inclinations and interests of Satan and his agents. But the proudest contemners of God's messengers will be obliged to stoop to them at last. Professions of repentance, extorted by punishment, are but hypocritical, and quickly issue in more obstinate relapses into wickedness: but such as baffle manifold convictions may expect to be given up to such hardness of heart, that nothing but the power of hell will impress or awaken their conscience. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much: it often, for a time, diverts the just rewards of God from his insolent enemies. The wicked need not therefore hasten the godly from among them; for if once a full separation be made, the former will be irrevocably and inexpressibly miserable, and the just judgment of God will no longer tarry.