Exodus · Chapter 10

V. 1. These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin; and standing monitors to the children of men in all ages, not to provoke the Lord to jealousy, nor to strive with their Maker. The benefit of these instructions to the world doth sufficiently balance the expence.

Verse 1. Hardened his heart] God suffered his natural obstinacy to prevail, that he might have farther opportunities of showing forth his eternal power and Godhead.

Verse 1. Go unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart — That is, either, 1st, Go and make a new address unto him, for what I have yet done has but hardened his heart: or, 2d, yk, here translated for, must, as is often the case, be rendered although; go and speak to him again, although I have suffered his heart to be hardened, and to continue obdurate, that I might more fully display my power and providence, not only to Egypt and the adjacent countries, but to generations yet unborn, and especially to the posterity of my people Israel; that thou mayest tell (verse 2) in the ears of thy son, and thy son’s son, what things I have wrought. These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin; and standing monitors to the children of men in all ages, not to provoke the Lord to jealousy, nor to strive with their Maker. The benefit of these instructions to the world doth sufficiently balance the expense.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

Verse 2. That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son] That the miracles wrought at this time might be a record for the instruction of the latest posterity, that Jehovah alone, the God of the Hebrews, was the sole Maker, Governor, and Supporter of the heavens and the earth. Thus we find God so did his marvellous works, that they might be had in everlasting remembrance. It was not to crush the poor worm, Pharaoh, that he wrought such mighty wonders, but to convince his enemies, to the end of the world, that no cunning or power can prevail against him; and to show his followers that whosoever trusted in him should never be confounded.

Verse 2. In the ears of thy son. The Hebrew prophets in their sermons, and the psalmists in their songs, have recorded those wonderful works of the Lord; and the doctrines and inferences fairly deduced are firm and strong. For how different soever the circumstances of the church may be, the perfections of God are still the same.

2. And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son — See instances of this in Psalm 78 and 106.

V. 3. Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?-It is justly expected from the greatest of men, that they humble themselves before the great God, and it is at their peril if they refuse to do it. Those that will not humble themselves, God will humble.

Verse 3. How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself] Had it been impossible for Pharaoh, in all the preceding plagues, to have humbled himself and repented can we suppose that God could have addressed him in such language as the preceding? We may rest assured that there was always a time in which he might have relented, and that it was because he hardened his heart at such times that God is said to harden him, i.e., to give him up to his own stubborn and obstinate heart; in consequence of which he refused to let the people go, so that God had a fresh opportunity to work another miracle, for the very gracious purposes mentioned in Exodus 10:2. Had Pharaoh relented before, the same gracious ends would have been accomplished by other means.

The EIGHTH plague-the LOCUSTS

Verse 3. How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself? — By this it appears that God’s design was not to harden Pharaoh, but to humble him by these extraordinary judgments. It is justly expected from the greatest of men that they should humble themselves before the great God, and it is at their peril if they refuse to do it. Those that will not humble themselves, God will humble.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

Verse 4. To-morrow will I bring the locusts] The word hbra arbeh, a locust, is probably from the root hbr rabah, he multiplied, became great, mighty, &c.; because of the immense swarms of these animals by which different countries, especially the east, are infested. The locust, in entomology, belongs to a genus of insects known among naturalists by the term GRYLLI; and includes three species, crickets, grasshoppers, and those commonly called locusts; and as they multiply faster than any other animal in creation, they are properly entitled to the name hbra arbeh, which might be translated the numerous or multiplied insect. See this circumstance referred to, Judges 6:5; 7:12; Psalm 105:34; Jeremiah 46:23; 51:14; Joel 1:6; Nahum 3:15; Judith 2:19, 20; where the most numerous armies are compared to the arbeh or locust. The locust has a large open mouth; and in its two jaws it has four incisive teeth, which traverse each other like scissors, being calculated, from their mechanism, to grip or cut. Mr. Volney, in his Travels in Syria, gives a striking account of this most awful scourge of God:—

“Syria partakes together with Egypt and Persia, and almost all the whole middle part of Asia, in the terrible scourge, I mean those clouds of locusts of which travellers have spoken; the quantity of which is incredible to any person who has not himself seen them, the earth being covered by them for several leagues round. The noise they make in browsing the plants and trees may be heard at a distance, like an army plundering in secret. Fire seems to follow their tracks. Wherever their legions march the verdure disappears from the country, like a curtain drawn aside; the trees and plants, despoiled of their leaves, make the hideous appearance of winter instantly succeed to the bright scenes of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, in order to surmount some obstacle, or the more rapidly to cross some desert, one may literally say that the sun is darkened by them.”

Baron de Tott gives a similar account:

“Clouds of locusts frequently alight on the plains of the Noguais, (the Tartars,) and giving preference to their fields of millet, ravage them in an instant. Their approach darkens the horizon, and so enormous is their multitude, it hides the light of the sun. They alight on the fields, and there form a bed of six or seven inches thick. To the noise of their flight succeeds that of their devouring actively, which resembles the rattling of hail-stones; but its consequences are infinitely more destructive. Fire itself eats not so fast; nor is there any appearance of vegetation to be found when they again take their flight, and go elsewhere to produce new disasters.”

Dr. Shaw, who witnessed most formidable swarms of these in Barbary in the years 1724 and 1725, gives the following account of them: “They were much larger than our grasshoppers, and had brown-spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was towards the latter end of March. In the middle of April their numerous swarms, like a succession of clouds, darkened the sun. In the month of May they retired to the adjacent plains to deposit their eggs: these were no sooner hatched in June than the young brood first produced, while in their caterpillar or worm-like state, formed themselves into a compact body of more than a furlong square, and, marching directly forward, climbed over trees, walls, and houses, devouring every plant in their way. Within a day or two another brood was hatched, and advancing in the same manner, gnawed off the young branches and bark of the trees left by the former, making a complete desolation. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water, or else heaped up therein heath, stubble, &c., which they set on fire; but to no purpose: for the trenches were quickly filled up and the fires extinguished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front seemed regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close that retreat was altogether impossible. In a month’s time they threw off their worm-like state; and in a new form, with wings and legs, and additional powers, returned to their former voracity.”-Shaw’s Travels, 187. 188, 4to edition.

The descriptions given by these travellers show that God’s army, described by the Prophet Joel, Joel 2:1-11, was innumerable swarms of locusts, to which the accounts given by Dr. Shaw and others exactly agree.

Ver. 4. The locusts. The science of entomology has classed in one genus the locust or gryllus, the grasshopper, the cricket, and fifty other species. The locust belongs to the order of hemiptera. The head of the gryllus migratorius is inflected, armed with jaws, and a pair of feelers. The wings are four, deflex, and convolated; double claws on all the feet. Their natural history is, in many respects, the same as the butterfly, only they migrate in clouds, which partially darken the sun. Clouds of these drop and perish in the sea, and sometimes will hang on the ropes and cover the deck of a ship, while sailing on the western coast of Africa. Sometimes a swarm of locusts is seen to extend to the width of half a mile; but they cannot fly far, except in the latter part of summer. Whenever a detached swarm has reached Germany and Britain, it has been by some strong south wind. In the 46th volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, we have half a dozen accounts of the dreadful devastations they have made in Syria, Wallachia, and Lombardy, which confirm to the letter what is said of God’s great army in the second chapter of the prophet Joel. This was a terrible scourge on the Egyptians, as they devoured the verdure of the trees and fields. The gryllus crystatus is very large, and often used for food. Its colour is a bright red, the body annulated with black; the legs varied with yellow, the wings tesselated with shades of dark green. Matthew 3:4.

4. I bring the locusts into thy coast — The destruction of all herbage by locusts is as complete as by fire over all the area which they cover, and they have been known to spread over from one to two thousand square miles. Their numbers and voracity are almost incredible. Indeed, it is said that they consume not merely from appetite, but from love of destruction, and not only vegetable and insect life, but cloth, leather, and even woodwork and furniture of houses. They rise from the horizon in immense columns, darkening the sun by their flight, filling the air with a whirring sound which is compared to the noise of fire or of distant wheels, and when driven in dense masses by winds into the sea, their decay emits a stench which spreads for many miles. In less than half a day they will crop grass and young grains even with the ground, leaving only the bare stalks of older plants, and in a very few hours will strip all trees clean of fruit, leaves, and bark. The noise of their browsing may be heard at quite a distance as they approach, and after they have passed, the trees are reduced to naked trunks and stems. No language more appropriately describes this fearful visitation than that of the prophet Joel: “A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them it is a desolate wilderness… Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains.… Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble… They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the wall like men of war… The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joel 2:1-11. See the whole passage.

Verse 5. They shall cover the face of the earth] They sometimes cover the whole ground to the depth of six or eight inches. See the preceding accounts.

Verse 5. They shall cover the face — Hebrew, the eye; of the earth — That is, of its inhabitants; that one cannot be able to see the earth — It is observable that no living creature multiplies so fast as the locust. It is almost incredible in what swarms they are sometimes seen in some parts. Thevenot gives an account of armies of locusts laying waste the country of the Cossacks. “They live,” he says, “about six months, and lay their eggs in autumn, to the number of three hundred each, which are hatched in the spring following. Such as have been eye-witnesses report, that they have seen the whole air in Arabia darkened by them, in their flight, for eighteen or twenty miles.” “They eclipse the light of the sun,” says Pliny, “in their flight, the people looking up to them in anxious suspense lest they should cover their whole country. They are so destructive that large territories have bean laid bare by them in a few hours, and the inhabitants reduced to famine. They do not spare even the bark of trees, but eat every thing that comes in their way, even to the very doors of the houses.”

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

Verse 6. They shall fill thy houses] Dr. Shaw mentions this circumstance; “they entered,” says he, “Into our very houses and bed-chambers, like so many thieves.”-Ibid. p. 187.

Verse 6. They shall fill the houses of all the Egyptians — Dr. Shaw says, the locusts he saw in Barbary, in the year 1724, “climbed, as they marched forward, over every tree or wall that was in their way; they entered into our very houses and bed-chambers, like so many thieves.” — See Encycl. Brit. on the term Gryllus, p. 162, 3d edit.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

Verse 7. How long shall this man be a snare unto us?] As there is no noun in the text, the pronoun hz zeh may either refer to the Israelites, to the plague by which they were then afflicted, or to Moses and Aaron, the instruments used by the Most High in their chastisement. The Vulgate translates, Usquequo patiemur hoc scandalum? “How long shall we suffer this scandal or reproach?”

Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God] Much of the energy of several passages is lost in translating hwhy Yehovah by the term Lord. The Egyptians had their gods, and they supposed that the Hebrews had a god like unto their own; that this Jehovah required their services, and would continue to afflict Egypt till his people were permitted to worship him in his own way.

Egypt is destroyed?] This last plague had nearly ruined the whole land.

Verse 7. Pharaoh’s servants — His nobles and counsellors; said, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? — That is, lay before us the occasion of our falling into one calamity after another. To the impenitent the punishment of sin, not the sin which is punished, is the cause of their sorrow. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? — It was so in a great degree by these repeated and very destructive plagues.

7. Pharaoh’s servants said unto him — For the first time the courtiers of Pharaoh venture to plead with him, and for the first time he sends for Moses and Aaron after they have predicted the plague and gone forth to bring it upon the land. This shows how these judgments were more and more profoundly impressing the Egyptian people.

Verse 8. Who are they that shall go?] Though the Egyptians, about fourscore years before, wished to destroy the Hebrews, yet they found them now so profitable to the state that they were unwilling to part with them.

Verse 8. Who are they that shall go? — I am not willing you should all go: it will degrade me in the sight of my subjects that I should be obliged to submit to him who thus makes himself the very friend of my slaves. When he is compelled to yield, yet it is with extreme reluctance, and as little as possible.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

Verse 9. We will go with our young and with our old, &c.] As a feast was to be celebrated to the honour of Jehovah, all who were partakers of his bounty and providential kindness must go and perform their part in the solemnity. The men and the women must make the feast, the children must witness it, and the cattle must be taken along with them to furnish the sacrifices necessary on this occasion. This must have appeared reasonable to the Egyptians, because it was their own custom in their religious assemblies. Men, women, and children attended them, often to the amount of several hundred thousand. Herodotus informs us, in speaking of the six annual feasts celebrated by the Egyptians in honour of their deities, that they hold their chief one at the city of Bubastis in honour of Neith or Diana; that they go thither by water in boats-men, women, and children; that during their voyage some of the women play on castanets, and some of the men upon flutes, while the rest are employed in singing and clapping their hands; and that, when they arrive at Bubastis, they sacrifice a vast number of victims, and drink much wine; and that at one such festival, the inhabitants assured him, that there were not assembled fewer than 700,000 men and women, without reckoning the children.-Euterpe, chap. lix., lx. I find that the ancient Egyptians called Diana Neith; this comes as near as possible to the Gaile of the Isle of Man. The moon is called yn neith or neath; and also ke-sollus, from ke, smooth or even, and sollus, light, the SMOOTH LIGHT; perhaps to distinguish her from the sun, grian, from gri-tien or cri-tien, i.e., TREMBLING FIRE; yn neith-easya, as Macpherson has it, signifies wan complexion. I should rather incline to think it may come from aise. The Celtic nations thought that the heavenly luminaries were the residences of spirits which they distinguished by the name of aise, thus grian-ais signifies the spirit of the sun.

Moses and Aaron, requesting liberty for the Hebrews to go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and with them all their wives, little ones, and cattle, in order to hold a feast unto Jehovah their God, must have at least appeared as reasonable to the Egyptians as their going to the city of Bubastis with their wives, little ones, and cattle, to hold a feast to Neith or Diana, who was there worshipped. The parallel in these two cases is too striking to pass unnoticed.

Verse 9. We must hold a feast unto the Lord — And in such solemnities the whole body of the nation, men, women, and children, and all who were not confined by sickness, were wont to join.

Ver. 9. With our young, or little ones. This text has been thought by some to sanction a custom, partially adopted by the primitive christians, of giving the holy sacrament to little children. It was however the general practice of the patriarchs to take their children to sacrifice. See Reflections on Genesis 22.

9. We will go with our young and with our old — Moses gives a full enumeration of those who must go forth to the feast and sacrifice, and it was simply what would be demanded in the worship of any people. Herodotus relates (ii, 60) that men, women, and children participated in the Egyptian festivals and religious processions, and that, according to the native reports, 700,000 often attended the annual festival at Bubastis, without reckoning the children. It was therefore but pretence when Pharaoh declared (Exodus 5:11) that he had supposed that men only were included in the request of Moses.

V. 10. Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones-He now curses and threatens them, in case they offered to remove their little ones, telling them it was at their peril. Satan doth all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom.

Verse 10. Let the Lord be so with you] This is an obscure sentence. Some suppose that Pharaoh meant it as a curse, as if he had said, “May your God be as surely with you, as I shall let you go!” For as he purposed not to permit them to go, so he wished them as much of the Divine help as they should have of his permission.

Look-for evil is before you.] פניכם נגד רעה yk war reu ki raah neged peneychem, See ye that evil is before your faces-if you attempt to go, ye shall meet with the punishment ye deserve. Probably Pharaoh intended to insinuate that they had some sinister designs, and that they wished to go in a body that they might the better accomplish their purpose; but if they had no such designs they would be contented for the males to go, and leave their wives and children behind: for he well knew if the men went and left their families they would infallibly return, but that if he permitted them to take their families with them, they would undoubtedly make their escape; therefore he says, Exodus 10:11, Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord.

Verse 10. The Lord be so with you, as I will let you go — As if he had said, “May your God Jehovah assist you to my ruin, if I let you go on these terms.” Look to it, for evil is before you — More evil and affliction shall befall you forthwith, unless you be content to go on my terms. Here the spirit of wickedness speaks its own language in impotent wishes of evil, when all its guile, malice, rage, and pride could perform nothing to hurt or hinder the Israel of God from doing as they were commanded. He especially curses and threatens them in case they offered to take their little ones, telling them it was at their peril. Satan doth all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom.

10. Let the Lord be so with you — This is language of scornful irony; “Jehovah will indeed be with you, when I let you go;” or, more exactly, “just as much with you as I shall let you go.”

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

12. That they may come up — The locusts appeared like a low hanging cloud in the distance, which rose and spread till it covered the land.

V. 13. The east-wind brought the locusts-From Arabia, where they are in great numbers: And God miraculously increased them.

Verse 13. The Lord brought an east wind] As locusts abounded in those countries, and particularly in Æthiopia, and more especially at this time of the year, God had no need to create new swarms for this purpose; all that was requisite was to cause such a wind to blow as would bring those which already existed over the land of Egypt. The miracle in this business was the bringing the locusts at the appointed time, and causing the proper wind to blow for that purpose; and then taking them away after a similar manner.

Verse 13. The east wind brought the locusts — From Arabia, where they are in great numbers: and God miraculously increased them. The locusts are usually conveyed by the wind. In the year 1527 great troops of locusts were brought by a strong wind out of Turkey into Poland, which country they wasted; and in 1536 a wind from the Euxine Sea brought such vast numbers into Podolia, that, for many miles round, they destroyed every thing. And “in the year 1650, a cloud of locusts was seen to enter Russia in three different places; and from thence they spread themselves over Poland and Lithuania, in such astonishing multitudes that the air was darkened, and the earth covered with their numbers. In some places they were seen lying dead, heaped upon each other to the depth of four feet; in others they covered the surface like a black cloth; the trees bent with their weight, and the damage which the country sustained exceeded computation.” — Encycl. Brit., vol. 8. p. 162, 3d edit.

Ver. 13. The east wind brought the locusts. The Septuagint reads, a south wind. In the 105th Psalm, the caterpillars are joined with the locusts. The critics have collected many heathen testimonies concerning locusts; and so many authors of different nations having written to the same effect, we ought not to discredit their testimony. The substance of which is, that in the warmer climates the locusts come suddenly by a strong wind across deserts and seas; that they can continue their flight for several days, and that they know by instinct the approach of famine. Wherever they alight, presently the whole district exhibits a scene of devastation; and when the vegetation is consumed, they do not even spare the bark of trees. The number is sometimes so great as to becloud the heavens in their flight; and there are species of them so strong as to kill serpents, by biting them near the throat. See Dr. Holland’s translation of Pliny’s Natural History, book

11. chap. 29. A locust about four inches long is exhibited in the Liverpool Museum. The darkening of the heavens by the locusts, has chiefly been occasioned by the fires which men on those occasions everywhere kindle, to prevent them from settling on their lands.

13. An east wind — All travellers relate that the wind brings the locusts, but an east wind would have brought them from Arabia across the Red Sea, while the locusts usually come to Egypt from the south or southwest. But Denon (quoted by Knobel) describes a locust cloud which he witnessed coming from the east, producing great havoc in Egypt, and then driven back by a west wind, precisely like the one here mentioned. Niebuhr describes swarms of locusts coming upon Egypt in December and January, and Lepsius and Tischendorf describe them in March, closely corresponding to the time of this narrative as it is fixed by Exodus 9:31, 32. After the dreadful destruction by the hail this locust plague must have been fearfully calamitous. This was foreseen by Pharaoh’s counsellors, who looked upon a locust visitation as the destruction of Egypt.

Verse 14. Before them there were no such locusts, &c.] They exceeded all that went before, or were since, in number, and in the devastations they produced. Probably both these things are intended in the passage. See Exodus 10:15.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

V. 15. They covered the face of the earth, and eat up the fruit of it-The earth God has given to the children of men; yet when God pleaseth he can disturb his possession even by locusts or caterpillars. Herb grows for the service of man; yet, when God pleaseth, those contemptible insect’s shall not only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall eat the bread out of his mouth.

Verse 15. There remained not any green thing] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 10:4”.

Verse 15. They did eat every green herb of the land — There seems to have been some distance of time between the last plague and this, during which, in that warm and fertile country, new productions had sprouted forth, both out of the ground and from the trees. There remained not any green thing — The earth God has given to the children of men; yet when he pleaseth he can disturb their possession of it, even by locusts and caterpillars. Herb grows for the service of man, yet, when God pleaseth, these contemptible insects shall not only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall eat the bread out of his mouth.

15. They covered the face of the whole earth — Literally, the eye of the whole earth; so that Egypt could not see sun or sky.

16, 17. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste — This awful destruction humbles him to more earnest entreaty than ever before, and it seems to him that if “this death only” be removed, no more dreadful judgment can be inflicted by Jehovah.

V. 17. Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart.

Verse 17. Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once] What a strange case! And what a series of softening and hardening, of sinning and repenting! Had he not now another opportunity of returning to God? But the love of gain, and the gratification of his own self-will and obstinacy, finally prevailed.

Verse 17. Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart.

16, 17. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste — This awful destruction humbles him to more earnest entreaty than ever before, and it seems to him that if “this death only” be removed, no more dreadful judgment can be inflicted by Jehovah.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

V. 19. An east-wind brought the locusts and now a west-wind carried them off. Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it is fulfilling God’s word, and turns about by his counsel; the wind blows where it listeth for us, but not where it listeth for him; he directeth it under the whole heaven.

Verse 19. A mighty strong west wind] ים רוח ruach yam, literally the wind of the sea; the wind that blew from the Mediterranean Sea, which lay north-west of Egypt, which had the Red Sea on the east. Here again God works by natural means; he brought the locusts by the east wind, and took them away by the west or north-west wind, which carried them to the Red Sea where they were drowned.

The Red Sea] ãws ים yam suph, the weedy sea; so called, as some suppose, from the great quantity of alga or sea-weed which grows in it and about its shores. But Mr. Bruce, who has sailed the whole extent of it, declares that he never saw in it a weed of any kind; and supposes it has its name suph from the vast quantity of coral which grows in it, as trees and plants do on land. “One of these,” he observes, “from a root nearly central, threw out ramifications in a nearly circular form measuring twenty-six feet diameter every way.”-Travels, vol. ii., p. 138. In the Septuagint it is called qalassa eruqra, the Red Sea, from which version we have borrowed the name; and Mr. Bruce supposes that it had this name from Edom or Esau, whose territories extended to its coasts; for it is well known that the word אדם Edom in Hebrew signifies red or ruddy. The Red Sea, called also the Arabic Gulf, separates Arabia from Upper Æthiopia and part of Egypt. It is computed to be three hundred and fifty leagues in length from Suez to the Straits of Babelmandel, and is about forty leagues in breadth. It is not very tempestuous, and the winds usually blow from north to south, and from south to north, six months in the year; and, like the monsoons of India, invariably determine the seasons of sailing into or out of this sea. It is divided into two gulfs: that to the east called the Elanitic Gulf, from the city of Elana to the north end of it; and that to the west called the Heroopolitan Gulf, from the city of Heroopolis; the former of which belongs to Arabia, the latter to Egypt. The Heroopolitan Gulf is called by the Arabians Bahr el Kolzum, the sea of destruction, or of Clysmæ, an ancient town in that quarter; and the Elanitic Gulf Bahr el Akaba, the sea of Akaba, a town situated on its most inland point.

The NINTH plague-THICK DARKNESS

Verse 19. An east wind brought the locusts, and now a west wind carried them off. Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it is fulfilling God’s word, and turns about by his counsel; the wind blows where it listeth for us, but not where it listeth for him; he directeth it under the whole heaven.

Ver. 19. Red sea. The Hebrew, yam suph, is equivalent to the weedy sea; but the Edomites call it yam Edom, after their father; that is, the red sea.

19. A mighty strong west wind — Literally, wind of the sea, that is, the Mediterranean, which is west from Palestine, but northwest from the Egyptian Delta, which is the scene of this history. This wind would sweep the locusts into the Red Sea.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE — LOCUSTS, 1-20.

1. I have hardened his heart — See on Exodus 9:12, 13.

V. 21. We may observe concerning this plague. 1. That it was a total darkness. We have reason to think, not only that the lights of heaven were clouded, but that all their fires and candles were put out by the damps or clammy vapours which were the cause of this darkness, for it is said, they saw not one another. 2. That it was darkness which might be felt, felt in its causes by their finger-ends, so thick were the fogs, felt in its effects, (some think) by their eyes which were pricked with pain, and made the more sore by their rubbing them. Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness, Revelation 16:10, which alludes to this. 3. No doubt it was very frightful and amazing. The tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the apparition of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made; and this is the plague which some think is intended (for otherwise it is not mentioned at all there) Psalm 78:49. He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil angels among them; for those to whom the devil has been a deceiver, he will at length be a terror to. 4. It continued three days; six nights in one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness. No man rose from his place-They were all confined to their houses; and such a terror seized them, that few of them had the courage to go from the chair to the bed, or from the bed to the chair. Thus were they silent in darkness, 1 Samuel 2:9. Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it.

Verse 21. Darkness which may be felt.] Probably this was occasioned by a superabundance of aqueous vapours floating in the atmosphere, which were so thick as to prevent the rays of the sun from penetrating through them; an extraordinarily thick mist supernaturally, i.e., miraculously, brought on. An awful emblem of the darkened state of the Egyptians and their king.

Verse 21. We may observe concerning this plague, 1st, That it was a total darkness. We have reason to think, not only that the lights of heaven were clouded, but that all their fires and candles were put out by the damps or clammy vapours which were the cause of this darkness, for it is said, they saw not one another. 2d, That it was darkness which might be felt; felt in its causes by their finger-ends, so thick were the fogs; felt in its effects, (some think,) by their eyes, which were pricked with pain, and made the more sore by their rubbing them. Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness, (Revelation 16:10,) which alludes to this. 3d, No doubt it was very frightful and amazing. The tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the apparition of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made; and this is the plague which some think is intended, (for otherwise it is not mentioned at all here,) Psalm 78:49, “He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil angels among them;” for to those to whom the devil has been a deceiver, he will at length be a terror. 4th, It continued three days; six nights in one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness.

Ver. 21. Darkness which might be felt. The darkness seems however to have been occasioned by the density of vapours, connected with cold, which very sensibly affected the lungs, and the nerves, exciting very great terror of mind. Their terrors would be the greater, having no promise that it ever would be light again. This darkness seemed to portend what Homer calls Pluto’s dark house, for in a few days their firstborn were slain by the angel, and the whole army were drowned in the sea. The terrors of God would affect the learned as the illiterate, for total darkness in a solar eclipse continues but a few minutes; this continued for three days.

FIFTH PLAGUE — DARKNESS, 21-29.

21. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven… darkness which may be felt — Literally, and one shall feel darkness; a fearfully-expressive figure. Moses raises his hand over Egypt for the last time, and a darkness falls which is the shadow of the death that draws nigh to every house in the doomed land. It was a fitting prelude to the final dreadful visitation, when Jehovah’s messengers had retired from the scene, and himself went forth in the midnight judgment. For three days the pall of silence lay upon Egypt, and no one moved from his place, as if all awaited in terror the final stroke.

In this plague Jehovah revealed himself as the God of the Egyptian sun-god, the Ra, or Re, from whom Pharaoh and many of the Egyptian kings derived their names or titles; who was deemed the father of a whole order or rank of gods, and was worshipped especially at Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. The obelisk of Egypt is the “finger of the sun” — the sunbeam in stone.

The above picture represents the Egyptian god Ammum-Ra enthroned, and above him the sun, each ray ending in a hand, to denote his power over the world. In his right hand he holds the handled cross, the symbol of life; lotus flowers are before him, and a Theban king is worshipping him. The symbolic asp is on the king’s forehead, and his name in the cartouch above.

22. And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days — As all the plagues seem in some way connected with natural causes, this preternatural darkness is by many assigned to a sand-storm, such as accompanies the simoom or the chamaseen, miraculously increased in intensity. Neither of these winds are ever known to produce so deep a darkness as is here described, though they obscure the sun and cause a twilight gloom. The simoom, or samoom, is a hot parching wind, raising clouds of dust and sand, which give the whole air a reddish-yellow tinge, and make the sun at first look like a globe of blood, and then blot it wholly from view. It is painfully suffocating both to man and beast while it lasts, but it is of short duration, especially if extremely hot and violent, generally passing within half an hour. The chamaseen, or khamsin, is less hot and violent, but lasts two or three days at a time, occurring at frequent intervals during a period of fifty days before and after the vernal equinox, that is, during March and the first of April, which corresponds well with the time of the plague of darkness. It darkens the sun with clouds of sand, which fill the air like a yellow fog, or like a heavy storm of snow or hail; men and beasts hide themselves while it rages, the inhabitants taking refuge in the innermost apartments or in subterranean vaults. The streets are deserted, as in the night, and all business ceases. But all these characteristics must have been supernaturally intensified to produce the effects described in the text. Both the simoom and the chamaseen are local, and very limited in range, so that such a wind might have blows up the Nile valley and left Goshen, in the eastern part of the Delta, untouched.

V. 23. But the children of Israel had light in their dwellings-Not only in the land of Goshen, where most of them inhabited, but in the particular dwellings which in other places the Israelites had dispersed among the Egyptians, as it appears they had by the distinction afterwards appointed to be put on their door-posts. And during these three days of darkness to the Egyptians, if God had so pleased, the Israelites by the light which they had, might have made their escape, and have asked Pharaoh no leave; but God would bring them out with a high hand, and not by stealth or in haste.

Verse 23. They saw not one another] So deep was the obscurity, and probably such was its nature, that no artificial light could be procured; as the thick clammy vapours would prevent lamps, &c., from burning, or if they even could be ignited, the light through the palpable obscurity, could diffuse itself to no distance from the burning body. The author of the book of Wisdom, chap. xvii. 2-19, gives a fearful description of this plague. He says, “The Egyptians were shut up in their houses, the prisoners of darkness: and were fettered with the bonds of a long night. They were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfulness, being horribly astonished and troubled with strange apparitions; for neither might the corner that held them keep them from fear; but noises as of waters falling down sounded about them; and sad visions appeared unto them with heavy countenances. No power of the fire could give them light-only there appeared unto them a fire kindled of itself very dreadful; for being much terrified, they thought the things which they saw to be worse than the sight they saw not. For though no terrible thing did scare them, yet being scared with beasts that passed by, and hissing of serpents, they died for fear: for whether he were husbandman, or shepherd, or a labourer in the field, he was overtaken; for they were all bound with one chain of darkness. Whether it were a whistling wind, or a terrible sound of stones cast down, or a running that could not be seen of tripping beasts, or a roaring voice of most savage wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the hollow mountains, these things made them to swoon for fear.” See Psalm 78:49.

To this description nothing need be added except this circumstance, that the darkness, with its attendant horrors, lasted for three days. All the children of Israel had light] By thus distinguishing the Israelites, God showed the Egyptians that the darkness was produced by his power; that he sent it in judgment against them for their cruelty to his people; that because they trusted in him they were exempted from these plagues; that in the displeasure of such a Being his enemies had every thing to fear, and in his approbation his followers had every thing to hope.

Verse 23. Neither rose any from his place — This circumstance is one of the lively strokes in description which critics call picturesque: it strongly paints the horror and dismay which this palpable darkness cast upon their minds. Le Clerc, however, justly remarks, that we are not to understand the expression so strictly, as if not one of the Egyptians rose from his place; for the servants, at least, must have moved about the best way they could to find victuals for themselves and their masters. The expression denotes that there was a total inaction and cessation from ordinary business, that they were all confined to their houses, and that such a terror seized them, that few of them had courage to go even from their chairs to their beds, or from their beds to their chairs. Thus were they silent in darkness, 1 Samuel 2:9. Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it. But the children of Israel had light in their dwellings — Not only in the land of Goshen, where most of them inhabited, but in the particular dwellings which in other places the Israelites had dispersed among the Egyptians, as it appears they had, by the distinction afterward appointed to be put on their door-posts. And during these three days of darkness to the Egyptians, if God had so pleased, the Israelites, by the light which they had, might have made their escape, and have asked Pharaoh no leave; but God would bring them out with a high hand, and not by stealth, or in haste.

Ver. 23. The children of Israel had light. It is said, Psalm 105:28, that they rebelled not against his word; and as it appears from Joshua 5:9, that the Israelites had neglected circumcision while they were in Egypt, it is very ingeniously inferred by Dr. Lightfoot, that they took the opportunity of fulfilling the divine command, while the Egyptians were confined to their dwellings by the surrounding darkness.

FIFTH PLAGUE — DARKNESS, 21-29.

21. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven… darkness which may be felt — Literally, and one shall feel darkness; a fearfully-expressive figure. Moses raises his hand over Egypt for the last time, and a darkness falls which is the shadow of the death that draws nigh to every house in the doomed land. It was a fitting prelude to the final dreadful visitation, when Jehovah’s messengers had retired from the scene, and himself went forth in the midnight judgment. For three days the pall of silence lay upon Egypt, and no one moved from his place, as if all awaited in terror the final stroke.

In this plague Jehovah revealed himself as the God of the Egyptian sun-god, the Ra, or Re, from whom Pharaoh and many of the Egyptian kings derived their names or titles; who was deemed the father of a whole order or rank of gods, and was worshipped especially at Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. The obelisk of Egypt is the “finger of the sun” — the sunbeam in stone.

The above picture represents the Egyptian god Ammum-Ra enthroned, and above him the sun, each ray ending in a hand, to denote his power over the world. In his right hand he holds the handled cross, the symbol of life; lotus flowers are before him, and a Theban king is worshipping him. The symbolic asp is on the king’s forehead, and his name in the cartouch above.

Verse 24. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed] Pharaoh cannot get all he wishes; and as he sees it impossible to contend with Jehovah, he now consents to give up the Israelites, their wives and their children, provided he may keep their flocks and their herds. The cruelty of this demand is not more evident than its avarice. Had six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, gone three days’ journey into the wilderness without their cattle, they must have inevitably perished, being without milk for their little ones, and animal food for their own sustenance, in a place where little as a substitute could possibly be found. It is evident from this that Pharaoh intended the total destruction of the whole Israelitish host.

24. Go ye, serve the Lord — Now Pharaoh is willing that all the people should go, but insists that the flocks and herds should remain, as hostages for their return.

25, 26. Thou must give us also sacrifices — That is, Thou must allow our flocks and herds to go for sacrifice. Even up to this moment only a three days’ journey into the wilderness was demanded; and a frank, fair compliance with Jehovah’s will would have saved Pharaoh from destruction and Egypt from disgrace. Pharaoh’s sin was no necessary link in the chain of God’s providences; but the sin being in his heart, God used it for his glory.

Verse 26. We know not with what we must serve the Lord, &c.] The law was not yet given; the ordinances concerning the different kinds of sacrifices and offerings not known. What kind and what number of animals God should require to be sacrificed, even Moses himself could not as yet tell. He therefore very properly insists on taking the whole of their herds with them, and not leaving even one hoof behind.

25, 26. Thou must give us also sacrifices — That is, Thou must allow our flocks and herds to go for sacrifice. Even up to this moment only a three days’ journey into the wilderness was demanded; and a frank, fair compliance with Jehovah’s will would have saved Pharaoh from destruction and Egypt from disgrace. Pharaoh’s sin was no necessary link in the chain of God’s providences; but the sin being in his heart, God used it for his glory.

Verse 27. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart] He had yet another miracle to work for the complete conviction of the Egyptians and triumph of his people; and till that was wrought he permitted the natural obstinacy of Pharaoh’s haughty heart to have its full sway, after each resistance of the gracious influence which was intended to soften and bring him to repentance.

FIFTH PLAGUE — DARKNESS, 21-29.

21. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven… darkness which may be felt — Literally, and one shall feel darkness; a fearfully-expressive figure. Moses raises his hand over Egypt for the last time, and a darkness falls which is the shadow of the death that draws nigh to every house in the doomed land. It was a fitting prelude to the final dreadful visitation, when Jehovah’s messengers had retired from the scene, and himself went forth in the midnight judgment. For three days the pall of silence lay upon Egypt, and no one moved from his place, as if all awaited in terror the final stroke.

In this plague Jehovah revealed himself as the God of the Egyptian sun-god, the Ra, or Re, from whom Pharaoh and many of the Egyptian kings derived their names or titles; who was deemed the father of a whole order or rank of gods, and was worshipped especially at Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. The obelisk of Egypt is the “finger of the sun” — the sunbeam in stone.

The above picture represents the Egyptian god Ammum-Ra enthroned, and above him the sun, each ray ending in a hand, to denote his power over the world. In his right hand he holds the handled cross, the symbol of life; lotus flowers are before him, and a Theban king is worshipping him. The symbolic asp is on the king’s forehead, and his name in the cartouch above.

Verse 28. See my face no more] Hitherto Pharaoh had left the way open for negotiation; but now, in wrath against Jehovah, he dismisses his ambassador, and threatens him with death if he should attempt any more to come into his presence.

FIFTH PLAGUE — DARKNESS, 21-29.

21. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven… darkness which may be felt — Literally, and one shall feel darkness; a fearfully-expressive figure. Moses raises his hand over Egypt for the last time, and a darkness falls which is the shadow of the death that draws nigh to every house in the doomed land. It was a fitting prelude to the final dreadful visitation, when Jehovah’s messengers had retired from the scene, and himself went forth in the midnight judgment. For three days the pall of silence lay upon Egypt, and no one moved from his place, as if all awaited in terror the final stroke.

In this plague Jehovah revealed himself as the God of the Egyptian sun-god, the Ra, or Re, from whom Pharaoh and many of the Egyptian kings derived their names or titles; who was deemed the father of a whole order or rank of gods, and was worshipped especially at Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. The obelisk of Egypt is the “finger of the sun” — the sunbeam in stone.

The above picture represents the Egyptian god Ammum-Ra enthroned, and above him the sun, each ray ending in a hand, to denote his power over the world. In his right hand he holds the handled cross, the symbol of life; lotus flowers are before him, and a Theban king is worshipping him. The symbolic asp is on the king’s forehead, and his name in the cartouch above.

V. 29. I will see thy face no more-Namely, after this time, for this conference did not break off till Exodus 11:8, when Moses went out in great anger and told Pharaoh how soon his proud stomach would come down; which was fulfilled Exodus 12:31, when Pharaoh became an humble supplicant to Moses to depart. So that after this interview Moses came no more till he was sent for.

Verse 29. I will see thy face again no more.] It is very likely that this was the last interview that Moses had with Pharaoh, for what is related, Exodus 11:4-8, might have been spoken on this very occasion, as it is very possible that God gave Moses to understand his purpose to slay the first-born, while before Pharaoh at this time; so, in all probability, the interview mentioned here was the last which Moses had with the Egyptian king. It is true that in Exodus 12:31 it is stated that Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night, and ordered them to leave Egypt, and to take all their substance with them, which seems to imply that there was another interview, but the words may imply no more than that Moses and Aaron received such a message from Pharaoh. If, however, this mode of interpreting these passages should not seem satisfactory to any, he may understand the words of Moses thus: I will see thy face-seek thy favour, no more in behalf of my people, which was literally true; for if Moses did appear any more before Pharaoh, it was not as a supplicant, but merely as the ambassador of God, to denounce his judgments by giving him the final determination of Jehovah relative to the destruction of the first-born.

1. To the observations at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, we may add that at first view it seems exceedingly strange that, after all the proofs Pharaoh had of the power of God, he should have acted in the manner related in this and the preceding chapters, alternately sinning and repenting; but it is really a common case, and multitudes who condemn the conduct of this miserable Egyptian king, act in a similar manner. They relent when smarting under God’s judgments, but harden their hearts when these judgments are removed. Of this kind I have witnessed numerous cases. To such God says by his prophet, Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more. Reader, are not the vows of God upon thee? Often when afflicted in thyself or family hast thou not said like Pharaoh, (Exodus 10:17,) Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only THIS ONCE, and take away from me this death ONLY? And yet when thou hadst respite, didst thou not harden thy heart, and with returning health and strength didst thou not return unto iniquity? And art thou not still in the broad road of transgression? Be not deceived; God is not mocked; he warns thee, but he will not be mocked by thee. What thou sowest, that thou must reap. Think then what a most dreadful harvest thou mayest expect from the seeds of vice which thou hast already sown!

2. Even in the face of God’s judgments the spirit of avarice will make its requisitions. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed, says Pharaoh. The love of gain was the ruling principle of this man’s soul, and he chooses desperately to contend with the justice of his Maker, rather than give up his bosom sin! Reader, is this not thy own case? And art thou not ready, with Pharaoh, to say to the messenger of God, who rebukes thee for thy worldly mindedness, &c., Get thee gone from me. Take heed to thyself, and see my face no more. Esau and Pharaoh have both got a very bad name, and many persons who are repeating their crimes are the foremost to cover them with obloquy! When shall we learn to look at home? to take warning by the miscarriages of others, and thus shun the pit into which we have seen so many fall? If God were to give the history of every man who hardens himself from his fear, how many Pharaoh-like cases should we have on record! But a day is coming in which the secrets of every heart shall be revealed, and the history of every man’s life laid open to an assembled world.

EXODUS

Verse 29. I will see thy face no more — Namely, after this time, for this conference did not break off till Exodus 11:8, when Moses went out in great anger, and told Pharaoh how soon his proud stomach would come down; which was fulfilled Exodus 12:31, when Pharaoh became an humble supplicant to Moses to depart. So that after this interview Moses came no more till he was sent for.

Ver. 29. I will see thy face again no more. I will no more solicit an interview. If Moses appeared before Pharaoh after this time, it was not to ask a favour, but to denounce the judgments of heaven against his impenitence.

FIFTH PLAGUE — DARKNESS, 21-29.

21. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven… darkness which may be felt — Literally, and one shall feel darkness; a fearfully-expressive figure. Moses raises his hand over Egypt for the last time, and a darkness falls which is the shadow of the death that draws nigh to every house in the doomed land. It was a fitting prelude to the final dreadful visitation, when Jehovah’s messengers had retired from the scene, and himself went forth in the midnight judgment. For three days the pall of silence lay upon Egypt, and no one moved from his place, as if all awaited in terror the final stroke.

In this plague Jehovah revealed himself as the God of the Egyptian sun-god, the Ra, or Re, from whom Pharaoh and many of the Egyptian kings derived their names or titles; who was deemed the father of a whole order or rank of gods, and was worshipped especially at Heliopolis, or the City of the Sun. The obelisk of Egypt is the “finger of the sun” — the sunbeam in stone.

The above picture represents the Egyptian god Ammum-Ra enthroned, and above him the sun, each ray ending in a hand, to denote his power over the world. In his right hand he holds the handled cross, the symbol of life; lotus flowers are before him, and a Theban king is worshipping him. The symbolic asp is on the king’s forehead, and his name in the cartouch above.