Exodus · Chapter 11

Verse 1. The Lord said unto Moses] Calmet contends that this should be read in the preterpluperfect tense, for the Lord HAD said to Moses, as the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth verses appear to have been spoken when Moses had the interview with Pharaoh mentioned in the preceding chapter; see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 10:29”. If therefore this chapter be connected with the preceding, as it should be, and the first three verses not only read in the past tense but also in a parenthesis, the sense will be much more distinct and clear than it now appears.

Verse 1. The Lord said — Or rather, had said, for this and the next verse are only a recapitulation of what had been revealed to Moses in mount Horeb, (Exodus 3:20-22, and Exodus 4:23,) and, together with the third verse, ought to be read as a parenthesis. Accordingly, it is evident that the 4th verse is a continuation of Moses’s conference with Pharaoh, mentioned in the preceding chapter. He shall thrust you out hence altogether — Men, and women, and children, and cattle, and all that you have, which he would never do before.

Verse 1. The Lord said to Moses. The 29th verse of the last chapter and this verse ought to be thrown into a parenthesis, then the scope of the history assumes a regular form.

TENTH PLAGUE PREDICTED, 1-10.

1. And the Lord (had) said unto Moses — This passage (verses 1-3) relates what God had previously said, and describes the influences under which the Egyptian people would be led to comply so readily with the request of the Israelites. It shows how ripe were events for the final scene, and is naturally inserted parenthetically here as showing why Moses had just said so decisively, “I will see thy face no more.” The author also wished to show the fulfilment of the prophecy of Exodus 3:21, 22, concerning the spoiling of the Egyptians; and probably, also, to make it clear that he had not on his own authority, but by Jehovah’s express direction, closed his interviews with Pharaoh, since he had already revealed that the tenth judgment stroke should be the last. He shall surely thrust you out — Literally, When he shall let you go altogether, he will actually thrust you out hence. He will no more attempt to retain the women and children, or the flocks and herds, as before, nor will he stipulate for your return at all, but will be anxious to be wholly rid of you.

V. 2. Let every man ask (not borrow!) of his neighbour jewels-This was the last day of their servitude, when they were to go away, and their masters, who had abused them in their work, would now have defrauded them of their wages, and have sent them away empty, and the poor Israelites were so fond of liberty that they themselves would be satisfied with that, without pay: but he that executeth righteousness and judgment for the oppressed, provided that the labourers should not lose their hire. God ordered them to demand it now at their departure, in jewels of silver, and jewels of gold; to prepare for which, God had now made the Egyptians as willing to part with them upon any terms, as before the Egyptians had made them willing to go upon any terms.

Verse 2. Let every man borrow] For a proper correction of the strange mistranslation of the word lav shaal in this verse, see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 3:22”.

Verse 2. Let every man ask — (not borrow!) of his neighbour — The Israelites, who at first lived distinctly by themselves, when they were greatly multiplied, and Pharaoh began to cast a jealous eye upon them, and to take cruel counsels against them, were more mixed with the Egyptians, as appears from Exodus 12:12, 13, and many other passages; and this either by their own choice, that they might receive protection and sustenance from them; or rather by Pharaoh’s design, who placed many of his own people among them to watch and chastise them, (Exodus 1:12,) and perhaps removed some of them from Goshen to the parts adjoining, which were inhabited by his people. Jewels of silver, or vessels, as the Hebrew word ylk, chelee, properly signifies. For they might plausibly ask, and the Egyptians would more readily give them vessels, which might be both proper and useful for their sacrifices and feasts, than jewels, for which they had neither present need nor use. This was the last day of their servitude, when they were to go away, and their masters, who had abused them in their work, would now have defrauded them of their wages, and have sent them away empty; and the poor Israelites were so fond of liberty that they themselves would have been satisfied with that without pay: but he that executeth righteousness and judgment for the oppressed, provided that the labourers should not lose their hire. God ordered them to demand it now at their departure, in vessels of silver and vessels of gold; to prepare for which, God had now made the Egyptians as willing to part with them upon any terms, as before the Egyptians had made them willing to go upon any terms.

Ver. 2. Borrow or ask of his neighbour jewels of silver. It was a law of the gentiles, as well as of the Jews, that a servant must not go out empty. The vulgate reads here, vessels of silver and gold; and the LXX add, raiment, which seems to be founded on the law of custom to give a good servant suitable clothing. See note, Exodus 3:22.

2. Let every man borrow — lav ask, demand, (Septuagint, Vulgate, Luther, De Wette, Ewald, Knobel.) See on chap. 52:22. Of course the Egyptians could have expected no return of the gold and silver, when they urged them to go wholly out of the land. This was no “borrowing” or purloining, but these “spoils” were gifts obtained by moral constraint. The terror-stricken Egyptians were glad to give them any thing so they would but go in peace. If this despoiling the Egyptians were not so particularly described we should find much difficulty in accounting for the quantity of gold and jewelry which we find in the possession of the Hebrews when they went out of servitude. A large amount of gold was used in the manufacture of the calf in Horeb; and, after this idol had been destroyed, we find the men and women bringing freewill offerings of “bracelets, and earrings, and (signet) rings, and tablets, (necklaces,) all jewels of gold,” (Exodus 35:22,) for the ornamentation and furnishing of the tabernacle, whose beams were all plated with gold, and all whose vessels were gold. It would be hard to account for such an extraordinary amount of the precious metal in the possession of a nation just emerged from bondage were not this unusual means of supply set before us. It was fit that the oppressor who had so long luxuriated on their unrequited toil should repay; it was proper that they should go in festal attire to Jehovah’s feast; and it was the crown of their triumph that the Egyptians willingly loaded them with their costly garments and jewels, freely bidding them go, and praying, Bless us also.

Verse 3. The man Moses was very great] The miracles which Pharaoh and his servants had already seen him work had doubtless impressed them with a high opinion of his wisdom and power. Had he not appeared in their sight as a very extraordinary person, whom it would have been very dangerous to molest, we may naturally conclude that some violence would long ere this have been offered to his person.

Verse 3. The man Moses was very great — The Egyptians all held him in great esteem and veneration, as a person that had an extraordinary power with God. This seems to be mentioned as the reason why Pharaoh did not attempt any thing against his person; and also why he and the Israelites found so much favour in the sight of the Egyptians.

3. And the Lord gave the people favour… the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt — At this crisis the Egyptians had become so panic-stricken that they gave the Israelites whatever they asked, and Moses, Jehovah’s dread messenger, overwhelmed them with awe and terror. The author does not here refer to any moral or intellectual greatness of Moses, but simply to the impression which he had produced upon the Egyptians.

Verse 4. About midnight will I go out] Whether God did this by the ministry of a good or of an evil angel is a matter of little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnified it. Both kinds of angels are under his power and jurisdiction, and he may employ them as he pleases. Such a work of destruction as the slaying of the first-born is supposed to be more proper for a bad than for a good angel. But the works of God’s justice are not less holy and pure than the works of his mercy; and the highest archangel may, with the utmost propriety, be employed in either.

Verse 4. I will go out into the midst of Egypt — By an angel, who, as appears from Exodus 12:23, was ordered to do this execution. The whole series of the narration shows that this verse connects with the end of the preceding chapter, and that the following denunciation was pronounced by Moses at that time, before he went out from Pharaoh.

4. And Moses said — Unto Pharaoh, not unto Israel. The speech of Exodus 10:25, 26, interrupted by the parenthesis of verses 1-3, is here resumed. About midnight — It is probable that the midnight following this interview is here meant, and that this was the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, when the Passover was afterwards celebrated in Israel. From Exodus 12:3, 6, we see that the paschal lamb was to be selected on the tenth and killed on the fourteenth of that month. The lamb might have been selected when the plague of darkness commenced, and during those three days that the Israelites alone had light in their dwellings they might have waited in solemn anticipation for the final stroke of deliverance, which on the fifteenth day set them free.

V. 5. The death of the first-born had been threatened, Exodus 4:23, but is last executed, and less judgments tried, which, if they had done the work, would have prevented this. See how slow God is to wrath, and how willing to be met in the way of his judgments, and to have his anger turned away! That sitteth upon his throne-That is to set. The maid-servant behind the mill-The poor captive slave, employed in the hardest labour.

Verse 5. The first-born of Pharaoh, &c.] From the heir to the Egyptian throne to the son of the most abject slave, or the principal person in each family. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 12:29”.

The maid-servant that is behind the mill] The meanest slaves were employed in this work. In many parts of the east they still grind all their corn with a kind of portable mill-stones, the upper one of which is turned round by a sort of lever fixed in the rim. A drawing of one of these machines as used in China is now before me, and the person who grinds is represented as pushing the lever before him, and thus running round with the stone. Perhaps something like this is intended by the expression BEHIND the mill in the text. On this passage Dr. Shaw has the following observation:-“Most families grind their wheat and barley at home, having two portable mill-stones for that purpose, the uppermost of which is turned round by a small handle of wood or iron that is placed in the rim. When this stone is large, or expedition required, a second person is called in to assist; and as it is usual for women alone to be concerned in this employment, who seat themselves over against each other with the mill-stone between them, we may see, not only the propriety of the expression (Exodus 11:5) of sitting behind the mill, but the force of another, (Matthew 24:41,) that two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”-Travels, p. 231, 4to edit. These portable mills, under the name of querns, were used among our ancestors in this and the sister kingdoms, and some of them are in use to the present day. Both the instrument and its name our forefathers seem to have borrowed from the continent. They have long existed among the inhabitants of Shetland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, &c.

Verse 5. The death of the firstborn had been threatened, Exodus 4:23, but is last executed, and less judgments are tried; which, if they had done the work, would have prevented this. See how slow God is to wrath, and how willing to be met in the way of his judgments, and to have his anger turned away! That sitteth upon his throne: the maidservant behind the mill — The poor captive slave, employed in the hardest labour. It was the custom then, as it is with the Arabs at present, to grind their corn with hand-mills, turned by their women-servants, who, for that purpose, stood behind the mill.

Ver. 5. All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. Here was a blow at the heart; and their crying under the stroke of God, and the echo of conscience would remind them of the cries of the Hebrew mothers, bereft of their tender offspring. In the ten plagues of Egypt—the bloody waters, the frogs, the lice, the flies, the murrain on their cattle, the boils and blains, the hail, the locusts, the darkness, and now the death of the most hopeful branches of their houses—we see that God touched them nearer and nearer at every stroke. He did not cut them off in total ignorance. The conscience of the king spake for the nation; “I and my people are wicked.”—Can we not see that the same God is now doing the same thing with many hardened infidels and haughty families. Oh what strokes he sometimes inflicts on their persons, on their reputation, on their fortunes, on their children! It is that they may hear the voice of the rod, and prepare to meet their God.—Behind the mill. Female servants had to grind at the hand-mill all the corn for the family. Our Saviour alludes to this economical custom when he says, two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left.

5. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die — Israel consecrated all its firstborn to God, and Egypt’s firstborn were taken in wrath, as were Israel’s in mercy. The firstborn is the flower, the glory, of the nation, and thus the choice victims were taken from all ranks of men and from all kinds of beasts. The maidservant that is behind the mill, behind the two millstones. Here the specified ranks are from the king to the maidservant, and in Exodus 12:29, from the king to the captive. The handmill in common use in Egypt, as in the East, generally consists now, as then, of two round stones, from one and a half to two feet in diameter, the lower one being convex upon its upper surface, which fits into a corresponding concavity in the upper stone. The corn is dropped through a hole in the upper stone, which is revolved by means of an upright handle. It is usually worked by two women sitting on the ground, facing each other, with the mill between them, both holding the handle and pushing and pulling in alternation. See illustration at Matthew 24:41. The Egyptians had also larger mills worked by asses or cattle.

Verse 6. There shall be a great cry] Of the dying and for the dead. See more on this subject, Exodus 12:30.

6. A great cry — Awfully typical of that midnight cry which shall sound through all the earth: “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!”

Verse 7. Not a dog move his tongue] This passage has been generally understood as a proverbial expression, intimating that the Israelites should not only be free from this death, but that they should depart without any kind of molestation. For though there must be much bustle and comparative confusion in the sudden removal of six hundred thousand persons with their wives, children, goods, cattle, &c., yet this should produce so little alarm that even the dogs should not bark at them, which it would be natural to expect, as the principal stir was to be about midnight. After giving this general explanation from others, I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture of my own. And, 1. Is it not probable that the allusion is here made to a well-known custom of dogs howling when any mortality is in a village, street, or even house, where such animals are? There are innumerable instances of the faithful house-dog howling when a death happens in a family, as if distressed on the account, feeling for the loss of his benefactor; but their apparent presaging such an event by their cries, as some will have it, may be attributed, not to any prescience, but to the exquisite keenness of their scent. If the words may be understood in this way, then the great cry through the whole land of Egypt may refer to this very circumstance: as dogs were sacred among them, and consequently religiously preserved, they must have existed in great multitudes. 2. We know that one of their principal deities was Osiris, whose son, worshipped under the form of a dog, or a man with a dog’s head, was called Anubis latrator, the barking Anubis. May he not be represented as deploring a calamity which he had no power to prevent among his worshippers, nor influence to inflict punishment upon those who set his deity at naught? Hence while there was a great cry, hldg hq[x tseakah gedolah, throughout all the land of Egypt, because of the mortality in every house, yet among the Israelites there was no death, consequently no dog moved his tongue to howl for their calamity; nor could the object of the Egyptians’ worship inflict any similar punishment on the worshippers of Jehovah.

In honour of this dog-god there was a city called Anubis in Egypt, by the Greeks called Cynopolis, the city of the dog, the same that is now called Menich; in this he had a temple, and dogs, which were sacred to him, were here fed with consecrated victuals.

Thus, as in the first plagues their magicians were confounded, so in this last their gods were put to flight. And may not this be referred to in Exodus 12:12, when Jehovah says: Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment? Should it be objected, that to consider the passage in this light would be to acknowledge the being and deity of the fictitious Anubis, it may be answered, that in the sacred writings it is not an uncommon thing to see the idol acknowledged in order to show its nullity, and the more forcibly to express contempt for it, for its worshippers, and for its worship. Thus Isaiah represents the Babylonish idols as being endued with sense, bowing down under the judgments of God, utterly unable to help themselves or their worshippers, and being a burden to the beasts that carried them: BEL boweth down, NEBO stoopeth; their idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy laden; they are a burden to the weary beast. THEY stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity; Isaiah 46:1, 2. The case of Elijah and the prophets of Baal should not be forgotten here; this prophet, by seeming to acknowledge the reality of Baal’s being, though by a strong irony, poured the most sovereign contempt upon him, his worshippers, and his worship: And Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; FOR HE IS A GOD: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked; 1 Kings 18:27. See the observations at the end of chap. xii. See Clarke note at “Exodus 12:51”. The Lord doth put a difference] See on Exodus 8:22. See Clarke note at “Exodus 8:22”. And for the variations between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch in this place, see at the end of the chapter. See Clarke note at “Exodus 11:9”.

Verse 7. Shall not a dog move his tongue — A proverbial expression, importing all should be peace and quietness among the Israelites, far from any frightful outcry: that in that memorable night they should meet with nothing to molest or disturb them.

7. Shall not a dog move his tongue — The very dogs of Egypt shall respect the people before whom their masters cower in fear.

V. 8. All these thy servants-Thy courtiers and great officers: The people that follow thee-That are under thy conduct: and command. When Moses had thus delivered his message, he went out from Pharaoh in great anger, though he was the meekest of all the men of the earth. Probably he expected that the very threatening of the death of the first-born should have wrought upon Pharaoh to comply; especially he having complied so far already, and having seen how exactly all Moses’s predictions were fulfilled. But it had not that effect; his proud heart would not yield, no not to save all the first-born of his kingdom. Moses hereupon was provoked to a holy indignation, being grieved, as our Saviour afterwards, for the hardness of his heart, Mark 3:5.

Verse 8. And all these thy servants shall come] A prediction of what actually took place. See Exodus 12:31-33.

Verse 8. All these thy servants — Thy courtiers and great officers: The people that follow thee — That are under thy conduct and command. When Moses had thus delivered his message, he went out from Pharaoh in great anger, though he was the meekest of all the men of the earth. Probably he expected that the very threatening of the death of the firstborn should have wrought upon Pharaoh to comply; especially he having complied so far already, and having seen how exactly all Moses’s predictions were fulfilled. But it had not that effect; his proud heart would not yield, no, not to save all the firstborn of his kingdom. Moses hereupon was provoked to a holy indignation, being grieved, as our Saviour afterward, for the hardness of his heart, Mark 3:5.

8. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down — Pharaoh and all his courtiers would be utterly paralyzed with terror, and humbly entreat the people whom they had crushed so long to depart in peace. In a great anger — As Jehovah’s messenger, representing his judicial wrath.

Verse 9. Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you] Though shall and will are both reputed signs of the future tense, and by many indiscriminately used, yet they make a most essential difference in composition in a variety of cases. For instance, if we translate [mvy al lo yishma, Pharaoh SHALL not hearken, as in our text, the word shall strongly intimates that it was impossible for Pharaoh to hearken, and that God had placed him under that impossibility: but if we translate as we should do, Pharaoh WILL not hearken, it alters the case most essentially, and agrees with the many passages in the preceding chapters, where he is said to have hardened his own heart; as this proves that he, without any impulsive necessity, obstinately refused to attend to what Moses said or threatened; and that God took the advantage of this obstinacy to work another miracle, and thus multiply his wonders in the land.

Pharaoh WILL not hearken unto you; and because he would not God hardened his heart-left him to his own obstinacy.

To most critics it is well known that there are in several parts of the Pentateuch considerable differences between the Hebrew and Samaritan copies of this work. In this chapter the variations are of considerable importance, and competent critics have allowed that the Samaritan text, especially in this chapter, is fuller and better connected than that of the Hebrew. 1. It is evident that the eighth verse in the present Hebrew text has no natural connection with the seventh. For in the seventh verse Moses delivers to the Israelites what God had commanded him to say: and in the eighth he appears to continue a direct discourse unto Pharaoh, though it does not appear when this discourse was begun. This is quite contrary to the custom of Moses, Who always particularly notes the commencement of his discourses.

2. It is not likely that the Samaritans have added these portions, as they could have no private interest to serve by so doing; and therefore it is likely that these additions were originally parts of the sacred text, and might have been omitted, because an ancient copyist found the substance of them in other places. It must however be granted, that the principal additions in the Samaritan are repetitions of speeches which exist in the Hebrew text.

3. The principal part of these additions do not appear to have been borrowed from any other quarter. Interpolations in general are easily discerned from the confusion they introduce; but instead of deranging the sense, the additions here made it much more apparent; for should these not be admitted it is evident that something is wanting, without which the connection is incomplete.-See Calmet. But the reader is still requested to observe, that the supplementary matter in the Samaritan is collected from other parts of the Hebrew text; and that the principal merit of the Samaritan is, that it preserves the words in a better arrangement. Dr. Kennicott has entered into this subject at large, and by printing the two texts in parallel columns, the supplementary matter in the Samaritan and the hiatus in the Hebrew text will be at once perceived. It is well known that he preferred the Samaritan to the Hebrew Pentateuch; and his reasons for that preference in this case I shall subjoin. As the work is extremely scarce from which I select them, one class of readers especially will be glad to meet with them in this place.

“Within these five chapters. vii., viii., ix., x., and xi., are seven very great differences between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuchs, relating to the speeches which denounced seven out of the ten judgments upon the Egyptians, viz., waters into blood, frogs, flies, murrain, hail, locusts and destruction of the first-born. The Hebrew text gives the speeches concerning these judgments only once at each; but the Samaritan gives each speech TWICE. In the Hebrew we have the speeches concerning the five first as in command from GOD to Moses, without reading that Moses delivered them; and concerning the two last, as delivered by Moses to Pharaoh, without reading that GOD had commanded them. Whereas in the Samaritan we find every speech TWICE: GOD commands Moses to go and speak thus or thus before Pharaoh; Moses goes and denounces the judgment; Pharaoh disobeys, and the judgment takes place. All this is perfectly regular, and exactly agreeable to the double speeches of Homer in very ancient times. I have not the least doubt that the Hebrew text now wants many words in each of the seven following places: chap. vii., between verses 18 and 19; {Exodus 7:18-19} end of chap. vii.; {Exodus 7:25} chap. viii., between 19 and 20; {Exodus 8:19-20} chap. x., between 2 and 3; {Exodus 10:2-3} chap. xi., at verses 3 and

4. {Exodus 11:3-4} The reader will permit me to refer him (for all the words thus omitted) to my own edition of the Hebrew Bible, (Oxford 1780, 2 vols. fol.,) where the whole differences are most clearly described. As this is a matter of very extensive consequence, I cannot but observe here, that the present Hebrew text of Exod. xi. did formerly, and does still appear to me to furnish a demonstration against itself, in proof of the double speech being formerly recorded there, as it is now in the Samaritan. And some very learned men have confessed the impossibility of explaining this chapter without the assistance of the Samaritan Pentateuch. I shall now give this important chapter as I presume it stood originally, distinguishing by italics all such words as are added to or differ from our present translation. And before this chapter must be placed the two last verses of the chapter preceding, Exodus 10:28-29: And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast well spoken, I will see thy face again no more.

EXODUS 11

HEBREW TEXT AND

PRESENT VERSION

1. And the Lord said

unto Moses, Yet will I

bring one plague more

upon Pharaoh and upon

Egypt, afterwards he

will let you go hence:

when he shall let you

go, he shall surely

thrust you out hence

altogether.

2. Speak now in the

ears of the people; and

let every man BORROW

of his neighbour, and

every woman of her

neighbour, jewels of

silver, and jewels of

gold.

3. And the LORD GAVE

the people favour in the

sight of the Egyptians.

Moreover the man

Moses was very great

in the land of Egypt, in

the sight of Pharaoh's

servants, and in the

sight of the people.

4. And Moses said,

Thus saith the Lord,

About midnight will I

SAMARITAN TEXT AND

NEW VERSION

1. Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Yet

will I bring one plague more upon

Pharaoh and upon Egypt, and

afterwards he will send you out hence:

when he will send you away, he will

surely drive you hence altogether.

2. Speak now in the ears of the

people; and let every man ASK of his

his neighbour, and every woman of her

neighbour, vessels of silver, and

vessels of gold and raiment.

3. And I will give this people favour in

the sight of the Egyptians, so that they

shall give them what they ask.

4. For about midnight I wilt go forth

into the midst of the land of Egypt.

5. And every first-born in the land of

Egypt shalt die, from the first-born of

Pharaoh who sitteth upon his throne,

unto the first-born of the maid-servant

that is behind the mill; and even unto

the first-born of every beast.

6. And there shall be a great cry

through all the land of Egypt, such as

there was none like it, nor shall be like

it any more.

7. But against any of the children of

Israel shall not a dog move his tongue,

go out into the midst of

Egypt.

5. And all the first-born

in the land of Egypt

shall die, from the

first-born of Pharaoh

that sitteth upon his

throne, even unto the

first-born of the

maid-servant that is

behind the mill; and all

the first-born of beasts.

6. And there shall be a

great cry through all

the land of Egypt, such

as there was none like

it, nor shall be like it

any more.

7. But against any of

the children of Israel

shall not a dog move

his tongue, against man

or beast; that ye may

know how that the

Lord doth put a

difference between the

Egyptians and Israel.

8. And all these thy

servants shall come

down unto me, and

bow down themselves

unto me, saying, Get

thee out and all the

against man or even against beast; that

thou mayest know that Jehovah doth

put a difference between the Egyptians

and Israel.

8. And thou also shalt be greatly

honoured in the land of Egypt, in the

sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the

sight of the people.

9. THEN Moses said unto Pharaoh,

Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son,

my first-born; and I said unto thee, Let

my son go that he may serve me.

10. But thou hast refused to let him

go; behold, Jehovah slayeth thy son,

thy first-born.

11. And Moses said, Thus saith

Jehovah, About midnight will I go

forth into the midst of the land of

Egypt.

12. And every first-born in the land of

Egypt shall die, from the first-born of

Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne,

unto the first-born of the maid-servant

that is behind the mill; and even unto

the first-born of every beast.

13. And there shall be a great cry

through all the land of Egypt, such as

there was none like it, nor shall be like

it any more.

14. But against any of the children of

Israel shall not a dog move his tongue,

against man or even against beast: that

people that follow thee;

and after that I will go

out. And he went out

from Pharaoh in great

anger.

9. And the Lord said

unto Moses, Pharaoh

shall not hearken unto

you, that my wonders

may be multiplied in

the land of Egypt.

10. And Moses and

Aaron did all these

wonders before

Pharaoh: and the Lord

hardened Pharoah's

heart, so that he would

not let the children of

Israel go out of his

land.

thou mayest know that the Lord doth

put a difference between the Egyptians

and Israel.

15. And all these thy servants shall

come down to me, and bow down

themselves to me, saying, Go forth,

thou and all the people that follow

thee; and then I will go forth.

16. Then went he forth from before

Pharaoh in great indignation.

17. And Jehovah said unto Moses,

Pharaoh doth not hearken unto you,

that my wonders may be multiplied in

the Egypt.

18. And Moses and Aaron performed

all these wonders before Pharaoh: but

Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, so

that he would not let the children of

Israel go out of his land.

“The reader has now the whole of this chapter before him. When, therefore, he has first read the 28th and 29th verses of the preceding chapter, and has then observed with due surprise the confusion of the Hebrew text in chap. xi., he will be prepared to acknowledge with due gratitude the regularity and truth of the Samaritan text, through these many and very considerable differences.”-REMARKS on select passages in the Old Testament, 8vo., Oxford, 1787.

The reader will pass his own judgment on the weight of this reasoning, and the importance of the additions preserved in the Samaritan text; a conviction of their utility has induced me to insert them. EXODUS

9, 10. These verses review and recapitulate the whole series of judgments, recording the fulfilment of the prediction made when Moses was first commissioned. Exodus 7:2, 3.

9, 10. These verses review and recapitulate the whole series of judgments, recording the fulfilment of the prediction made when Moses was first commissioned. Exodus 7:2, 3.