The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 9
Chapter IX · Vol. I, pp. 311–312
1 The murrain of beasts. 8 The plague of boils and blains. 13 His message about the hail. 22 The plague of hail. 27 Pharaoh sueth to Moses, 35 but is still hardened.
1 THEN the LORD said unto a Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
a ch. 8.1,20; 5.1,3; 7.1,15. Je. 6.8-10,17,18. Eze. 2.6; 3.17. Ps. 119.46. Ac. 20.27. 1 Co. 4.2.
3 Behold, the c hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels,5 upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
c ch. 8.19,24. 1 Sa. 5.6-11. Ps. 78.50. These cattle they kept for labour, milk, or wool, for the Egyptians kept none for slaughter.
5 Camels were in ancient times very numerous in Judea and over all the East. Job had at first three thousand camels, and after the days of his adversity had passed away, six thousand camels; and it appears from Ge. 12.16 that camels were among the presents of Pharaoh to Abraham.
4 And the LORD shall d sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.
d ch. 8.22,23; 10.23; 12.13; ver. 6,20.
5 And the LORD appointed a set e time, saying, To-morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
e Ec. 3.1, 11; 9.10; 8.11. Job 24.1. Pr. 27.1.
6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and f all6 the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
f Ps. 78.50. ver. 19,25.
6 If all the cattle died, how are the cattle threatened in ver. 19? Is this a contradiction? No. The answer is plain. The interval between the two miracles is not mentioned; and as the cattle of the Hebrews were preserved in the former plague, the Egyptians, in the meantime, had, by purchase, possessed themselves of a new stock.—C.
7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the g heart of Pharaoh was hardened,7 and he did not let the people go.
g ch. 3.19; 4.21; 7.14; 3.32. Is. 48.4. Ec. 8.11. Zec. 7.11, 12.
7 By looking on the disease as a mere natural event.—C.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, h Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven8 in the sight of Pharaoh;
h ch. 8.16. Am. 3.7.
8 To mark that God himself inflicted the plague.
9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a i boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.
10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil9 breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.
9 The Hebrew word translated 'boil' signifies 'heat,' as the burning heat of fever or of acute inflammation of the skin. The disease commenced therefore with acute local inflammation, and then the inflamed part broke out into pustules.—P.
11 And the magicians k could not stand before Moses because of the boil: for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.1
k ch. 8.18,19. 2 Ti. 3.8,9. Re. 6.16,17.
1 It is particularly stated that the boil was upon the magicians, priests, and wise men, as well as on the Egyptians in general; and as many of them were supposed to possess extraordinary skill in medicine, especially Esculapius, this was another evidence of the impotency of their gods, who could neither prevent nor alleviate the calamity.
12 And the LORD l hardened2 the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
l Ps. 81.12. ch. 4.21; 3.19; 7.3, 13,14; 8.19, 32; 10.1,20,27; 11.10; 14.8; ver. 7,35. Ro. 2.5. 2 Th. 2.9-11.
2 See note on ch. 4.21.—C.
13 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up m early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
m ch. 7.15. De. 32.35. Is. 30.13,14. 2 Ch. 36.15. Je. 44.4. ver. 1.
14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon n thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou o mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
n Wounding thee to the very heart, Mi. 6.13. De. 32.4,39-42.
15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be p cut off from the earth.
p ch. 12.29; 14.27,28.
16 And in very deed for q this cause have I raised thee up,3 for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Behold, to-morrow about this time, I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail,4 such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
4 Rain is extremely rare in Egypt, and is seldom or never seen in Delta, or Egypt proper, and hence Claudian designates the country, Ægyptus sine nube ferax—Egypt fruitful without a cloud. In addition to this, hail and fire mingled with it, as it ran along upon the ground, to the great annoyance of their characteristic superstition respecting portents and prodigies; strangely addicted to the worship of fire and water as deities, and the former they even believed to be a living creature, endowed with a soul. Hence, not only the presiding deity, but the elements themselves, were adored; consequently the present judgment was a formidable attack upon their vain and idolatrous confidence.
19 Send s therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.
s Some cattle were to be preserved for helping them to pursue the Hebrews into the Red Sea, ch. xiv.
20 He that t feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:
t Jonah 1.16; 3.5, 6. Ac. 10.35.
22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven,5 that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, x upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
5 To mark that God inflicted this plague.
x De. 28.16, 20. ver. 23.
23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent y thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt z since it became a nation.
z ch. 10.6. Re. 16.18, 21. Da. 12.1.
25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.6
6 Here we have a picture of the awful devastation and ruin this storm of hail produced; notice is however taken of the land of Goshen being preserved from receiving any damage by the plague. God directs the clouds, and causes rain or hail on one city and not on another, either in mercy or judgment. The effect it had on Pharaoh is marked and striking. The haughty monarch humbled himself to Moses in the language of a penitent. No man could have indeed spoken better. He owns his wrongs, and the equity of God's proceedings against him, and yet, as was seen in the sequel, his heart remained hardened all the while; for those who grow no better under mercies and judgments frequently get worse.
27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, b I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
b ch. 10.16. Nu. 22.34. 1 Sa. 15.24; 26.21. Mat. 27.4. Ju. 1.7; 10.10, 15. Ps. 78.34,36,57.
28 Entreatc the LORD, (for it is enough,) that there be no more d mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.
c See ch. 8.8,28. Job 34.31,32.
d Heb. voices of God, Ps. 29.3,4.
29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I e will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that f thou mayest know how that the g earth is the LORD's.
e 2 Ch. 6.13. Ezr. 9.5. Job 11.13. Ps. 143.6.
f See ch. 7.5; 8.10,22; ver. 14.
g De. 10.14,15. Ps. 24.1; 50.12. 1 Co. 10.26.
31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
32 But the wheat and the rye6 were not smitten: for they were 7 not grown up.8
6 Egypt being annually overflowed by the Nile, the people sow various kinds of grain as the waters slowly recede; so that an external belt, as it were, of one kind of grain is growing, while another, nearer the river, is still under the earth.—C.
7 Heb. hidden or dark.
8 Barley and flax begin to ripen in Egypt in the month of March; wheat and spelt are a month later. The former being in a forward state were destroyed by the hail; while the latter, being yet young, were not seriously injured. About one half of the produce of Egypt was destroyed by this plague.—P.
33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail i ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
i ch. 10.18, 19. Ja. 5.16-18.
Notes
[Ver. 6. The Hebrew word rendered 'all' does not in every case and necessarily signify all absolutely. It is frequently used just as the word all is now used in common conversation—to express the idea of a very great number, or a very large proportion. In interpreting both written and spoken language regard must be had to the usus loquendi. P.]
Ver. 24. [The description shows that it was a terrific thunderstorm, accompanied by a heavy fall of hail. In other countries such a storm might have been natural; in Egypt it was miraculous. Besides, it was predicted; and this of itself would show it to have been a miracle. P.]
Reflections.—God can execute the most numerous, diversified, and extensive judgments upon such as hate him. He can easily make what we have idolized, whether our cattle, our bodies, or our fields, the immediate objects of our punishment; and how severe is the punishment which he hath laid up in store for such as have been most instrumental in deceiving and hardening others! Satan can delude men into sin, but he cannot preserve them from suffering. And in absolute wisdom, God overrules the devices of wicked men, and often their works are made to redound to the praise of the glory of his justice. Though men may sport with his judgments, the justice of the Almighty will most certainly overtake them, and fall most heavily on those who remain under the power of a proud hell-hardened heart; which neither warnings, however express, nor judgments, however terrible, can impress. But happy are they who have God for their friend and refuge! Effectual fervent prayer to him is the most powerful antidote against trouble, and under it the surest help and consolation.