Bible Commentaries

FIFTH PLAGUE — MURRAIN, Exodus 9:1-7.

3. The hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field — This infliction seems to be limited to the cattle which were in the open air. All of the animals here mentioned are represented in the Egyptian monuments except the camel, which, though used in Egypt from the earliest times, yet for some reason never occurs in the hieroglyphic inscriptions, or in the pictured representations of the tombs. Stuart Poole supposes that the camel was unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians, as associated with the hated nomad tribes of the desert and the abominated Shepherd Dynasties. See Genesis 46:34, and note. In the populous cities and cultivated fields of the Nile valley the services of the camel would not be required; but to cross the sands which bounded the valley the “ship of the desert” was indispensable: yet perhaps the Egyptians generally employed the Arabs in this caravan service. The horses of Egypt were celebrated from early times: thence Solomon imported his into Palestine. They were greatly esteemed for chariot service and for war, but asses and cattle were generally employed for draught. The cheap, strong, patient ass was, and is, the peasant’s chief dependence for labour. Sheep were reared chiefly for their wool, mutton being rarely used. Large flocks were kept in the neighbourhood of Memphis, even to the number of two thousand.

6. And all the cattle of Egypt died — Here the universal term all is not used in its absolute sense, as meaning each and every one, but it means simply very many. We find that there were other cattle left to be smitten by the boils, (Exodus 9:10,) and still others to be killed by the hail. Exodus 9:25. A like usage is seen in the description of the plague of the locusts, (Exodus 10:12,) which are said to have eaten up all that the hail… left, and yet the hail smote every herb and brake every tree. Exodus 9:25. The Hebrew idiom often thus uses universal terms in a general sense. See Acts 2:5; Colossians 1:23.

There are several instances on record of a similar murrain in Egypt. Lepsius and Poole describe such an infliction which they witnessed in 1842, and a similar one occurred in 1853, resembling the cattle disease which prevailed so extensively throughout America in 1872. But the occurrence of the plague according to definite prediction, and the sparing of the cattle of the Israelites, were the miraculous marks of this visitation.

This was, as yet, the heaviest infliction; for as the Egyptian wealth largely consisted in cattle, their means of support were now in a great degree destroyed. Jehovah shows these idolaters that he holds their supplies of food and clothing in his hands. Yet their crops, and many of their cattle, were yet left.

7. And Pharaoh sent… and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened — Here, as in Exodus 7:22, the grammatical construction implies cause and effect. This marked manifestation in behalf of Israel aroused the anger and obstinacy of Pharaoh the more. He does not melt or waver, and on this occasion is not awed even into temporary submission.

SIXTH PLAGUE — BOILS, Exodus 9:8-12.

8. Ashes of the furnace — Not the oven, but the smelting furnace, or the lime-kiln. — Kimchi.

Sprinkle… toward… heaven in the sight of Pharaoh — The ashes of the great furnaces, or lime-kilns, where Israel had toiled so long, were solemnly spread out before Jehovah, and his judgment invoked upon the oppressor.

9. And it shall become small dust — The ashes shall scatter in a fine powder, the grains of ashes being exceedingly small, and easily blown abroad.

A boil breaking forth — Literally, a hot, burning sore, breaking forth into pustules. In previous plagues the water had been made their enemy, the dust of the earth had been changed to vermin, their wealth in the fields had been smitten, and now the strength and pride of their cities are cursed. The temples and treasure cities are cursed in the plague that is scattered from the ashes of the lime-kiln. It is the unrequited toil of Israel’s multitudes upon these vast public works that now burns and fevers man and beast through all Egypt.

11. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils — Thus had these supernatural inflictions advanced in severity, till now the idolatrous prophets were all stricken down, and we hear of them no more. After the third plague, or at the end of the first triad of these inflictions, they had been compelled to own a supernatural power, and said, This is the finger of the gods; and now, at the end of the second triad, they retire wholly discomfited. Probably this also, as well as the plague of lice, was one which incapacitated the priests for their service by making them unclean, so that the altars of the idols were deserted.

12. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh — That is, by sending this manifestation of his anger he made his heart more hard. Punishment always hardens if it does not soften. It is worthy of remark that now, for the first time in the history, it is said that “the Lord hardened,” although this result of his sin had been predicted, Exodus 4:21. Exodus 7:13 is no exception; see the note. Here, then, is another marked stage in the history of these judgments. By persistent disobedience Pharaoh has now so blunted his moral sense that it is morally certain that he will not repent; that is, he has reached that state where punishment will only harden. Yet God punishes still. Since he will not honour him by obedience he must do it through punishment.

SEVENTH PLAGUE — THE HAIL, Exodus 9:13-35.

The third triad of judgments is introduced with unusual formality and solemnity. Pharaoh was now a “vessel of wrath,” fit only for destruction. See note on Exodus 9:12. He had resisted to that degree that repentance was now morally impossible; and he was preserved in life only to reveal God’s supremacy by punishment. It will be noticed that in these last judgments Aaron is not seen: it is Moses who lifts the rod that crushes Egypt to the dust.

14. For I will at this time send all my plagues — Only lighter strokes had fallen hitherto, but now more dreadful judgments impend.

15. For now I will stretch out my hand — The verb ( שׁלחתי) is here to be rendered as conditional past, (Ewald, Lehrb., § 358, a.; Nordh., Gram., § 991, 3, a.,) thus, For now I would have stretched out my hand and smitten. For a similar construction see 1 Samuel 13:13. So the Arabic, Fagius, Adam Clarke, Kalisch, Keil, Knobel, Stier and Theil, Murphy. The verse is closely connected to the following, thus: “For now I would have stretched out my hand and smitten thee… but yet for this have I preserved thee, to show thee my power,” etc.

16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up — Literally, made thee stand, kept thee standing, or preserved thee alive, after thy life was forfeited. So, substantially, the Septuagint, Targ. of Onkelos, and Palestinian, Arabic, and Syriac versions. The Palestinian Targum well paraphrases both verses thus: “Now could I send the plague of my strength by judgment to strike thee and thy people with death, and destroy thee from the earth, but verily I have spared thee alive, not that I may benefit thee, but that my power may be made manifest to thee,” etc.

18. A very grievous hail — Hail is rare in Egypt, although it sometimes occurs. Thunderstorms are seldom experienced, and do no damage except washing away the mud walls of the poorer sort of dwellings.

19. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle — This is the only instance in which the Egyptians were advised how to escape the judgment after it had been announced. This plague not only destroyed the crops, trees, and cattle, but, like the last, fell upon the Egyptians themselves. Jehovah now reveals himself to Egypt as the Lord of the elements — of the forces of the air — as well as of the water and the land.

27. I have sinned this time — Now I see and own my sin. For the first time Pharaoh confesses sin, and attests the righteousness of Jehovah, but it is simply a lip acknowledgment. He owns the weight of God’s hand rather than the righteousness of his commandments. Pain can reveal that law is violated, but it cannot convert, cannot make penitent, the heart that chooses to rebel.

31, 32. And the flax and the barley was smitten — Flax was a most important crop in Egypt, as great quantities of linen were required for clothing and for the bandages of mummies, as well as for exportation. The barley was in the ear and the flax was bolled — These verses give us the first decisive indication of the time of the year when these events took place. The barley was in the ear and the flax was in the flower or blossom. In Egypt flax flowers at the end of January, and flax and barley are both ripe at the end of February or the first of March; but wheat and doora do not ripen till April. This plague, then, took place in the last of January or the first of February. From January to April is also the very time when cattle there are in pasture. The author thus shows a minute acquaintance with the agriculture and natural history of Egypt.

The wheat and the rye — Rather, wheat and spelt, a grain closely resembling wheat, the common food of the ancient Egyptians, and now well known and much used under the name of doora. All the processes of cultivating and gathering these grains, and the operations of watering the flax, beating the stalks when gathered, and of manufacturing them into twine and cloth, are fully represented in the paintings of the Egyptian tombs. Wilkinson states that the Egyptian linen was remarkably fine in texture, equal in quality to the best now made, and superior to the modern article in the evenness of its threads. Zoan or Tanis was famous for its flax fields. The storm that would destroy barley in the ear, and flax in the blossom, would be too early in the season to cut off the wheat and spelt, which were not yet high enough to be broken by the hail, and consequently escaped destruction.

33. Went out of the city — This shows that Pharaoh then resided in a city, probably Zoan. See on Exodus 1:8.