1The murrain of beasts. 8The plague of boils and blains. 13The plague of hail is threatened, 22and sent. 27Pharaoh entreateth Moses, but is still hardened.
1THEN the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may 1serve me.
1 That is, offer sacrifice unto.
2For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
3Behold, the 2hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.a
2 That is, the extraordinary, immediate power of God, without the intervening of any human operation. See Exod. 8:19.
a cattle plague
4And the LORD shall 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.
5And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
6And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and 3all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
3 That is, all sorts of them, some of every sort; or, understand all the beasts which were in the field, verse 3; for, there remained some left, as appears in verses 19, 25; Exod. 10:5.
7And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
8¶And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you 4handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.
4 Hebr. the fullness of your fists.
9And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil 5breaking forth with blainsb upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.
5 Other, budding, blossoming.
b boils
10And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.
11And the magicians could not stand before Moses 6because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.
6 Hebr. from, or, before the face of the boil. See of this manner of speaking, Isa. 17 on verse 9.
12And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.
13¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up 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.
14For I will at this time send 7all my plagues 8upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
7 Namely, all those which I have determined to send over thee, until thou shalt let My people go.
8 Meaning, that those which He would send after this would not trouble or pass his skin only, but it shall be such that it shall pierce and strike through his heart.
15For now I will 9stretch out my hand, 10that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
9 Hebr. sent forth; namely, by pestilence among the cattle, verses 3, 6.
10 That is, I would have smitten thee also with the same pestilence, as thou didst well deserve; but for another reason, mentioned in verse 16, have I spared thee yet.
16Andc in very deed for this cause have I 11raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
c Rom. 9:17.
11 Thus we read in Rom. 9:17. Hebr. Therefore I made thee to stand.
17As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?
18Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain 12a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
12 This miracle was so much the more wonderful in Egypt where neither rain nor hail used to fall.
19Send therefore now, and 13gather 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.
13 Of the Hebrew word used here, see Jer. 4:6.
20He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:
21And 14he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.
14 That is, he who did not regard the Word of the Lord, nor laid it to heart. See Exod. 7:23.
22¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
23And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent 15thunder and hail, and the fire 16ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
15 The Hebrew word signifies properly voices; and it is likewise taken for thunder, sounds, and noises.
16 Hebr. walked to the earth. Understand here the fire of the lightning which was intermixed with the hail.
24So there was hail, and fire 17mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt 18since it became a nation.
17 Hebr. seizing, or grasping itself. The hail, consisting of water, intermingled itself with fire, so that this was one miracle within another miracle.
18 That is, since any people lived or dwelt in Egypt.
25And 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 19every tree of the field.
19 That is, the greater part of the trees, or all sorts of trees; for from Exod. 10:5 it appears that there were still some trees left of this plague.
26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
27¶And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned 20this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
20 Pharaoh, making show here of confessing his sin, speaks in an hypocritical manner, saying this time, as if he had not sinned often or before.
28Intreat the LORD 21(for it is enough) that there be no more mighty 22thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and 23ye shall stay no longer.
21 Other, for it is too much that there would be more thunderings of God and hail.
22 That is, coming down from God, or, such great and terrible thunderclaps and lightnings.
23 Hebr. and ye shall not be able to stand.
29And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how 24that the earth is the LORD's.
24 Other, that this land is the Lord’s; as being the Creator, Governor, and Maintainer thereof, Deut. 10:14, 15; Psalm 24:1; 135:6; and 1 Cor. 10:26.
30But as for thee and thy servants, I know 25that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.
25 This was found true and manifested afterwards, verse 35.
31And the flax and the barley 26was smitten: for the barley was in the 27ear, and the flax was bolled.d
26 Namely, by the hail.
27 Other, in the blade. Hebr. the barley was green ears or blade. And the flax was blade.
d full of seed pods
32But the wheat and the riee28were not smitten: for they were not 29grown up.
e rye, spelt, a cereal like wheat
28 Namely, by the hail.
29 Hebr. dark, or, obscure, meaning they had gotten neither blades nor ears yet.
33And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35Andf the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken 30by Moses.
f Exod. 4:21.
30 Hebr. by the hand of Moses, that is, by the ministry of Moses, as being the instrument which God the Lord made use of. See of this manner of speaking, Exod. 35:29; Lev. 8:36; 2 Sam. 11:14; 2 Kings 17:13; Hag. 1:1; Mal. 1:1, and elsewhere.