3 And Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 came in H935 unto Pharaoh, H6547 and said H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of the Hebrews, H5680 How long H4970 wilt thou refuse H3985 to humble H6031 thyself before H6440 me? let my people H5971 go, H7971 that they may serve H5647 me.
Humble yourselves G5013 therefore G3767 under G5259 the mighty G2900 hand G5495 of God, G2316 that G2443 he may exalt G5312 you G5209 in G1722 due time: G2540
Because thine heart H3824 was tender, H7401 and thou didst humble H3665 thyself before H6440 God, H430 when thou heardest H8085 his words H1697 against this place, H4725 and against the inhabitants H3427 thereof, and humbledst H3665 thyself before H6440 me, and didst rend H7167 thy clothes, H899 and weep H1058 before H6440 me; I have even heard H8085 thee also, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
Why should ye be stricken H5221 any more? ye will revolt H5627 more and more: H3254 the whole head H7218 is sick, H2483 and the whole heart H3824 faint. H1742
See G991 that ye refuse G3868 not G3361 him that speaketh. G2980 For G1063 if G1487 they G1565 escaped G5343 not G3756 who refused him G3868 that spake G5537 on G1909 earth, G1093 much G4183 more G3123 shall not we G2249 escape, if we turn away from him G654 that speaketh from G575 heaven: G3772
Or G2228 despisest thou G2706 the riches G4149 of his G846 goodness G5544 and G2532 forbearance G463 and G2532 longsuffering; G3115 not knowing G50 that G3754 the goodness G5543 of God G2316 leadeth G71 thee G4571 to G1519 repentance? G3341
And she hath changed H4784 my judgments H4941 into wickedness H7564 more than the nations, H1471 and my statutes H2708 more than the countries H776 that are round about H5439 her: for they have refused H3988 my judgments H4941 and my statutes, H2708 they have not walked H1980 in them.
This evil H7451 people, H5971 which refuse H3987 to hear H8085 my words, H1697 which walk H1980 in the imagination H8307 of their heart, H3820 and walk H3212 after H310 other H312 gods, H430 to serve H5647 them, and to worship H7812 them, shall even be as this girdle, H232 which is good H6743 for nothing.
Before H6440 destruction H7667 the heart H3820 of man H376 is haughty, H1361 and before H6440 honour H3519 is humility. H6038
His prayer H8605 also, and how God was intreated H6279 of him, and all his sin, H2403 and his trespass, H4604 and the places H4725 wherein he built H1129 high places, H1116 and set up H5975 groves H842 and graven images, H6456 before H6440 he was humbled: H3665 behold, they are written H3789 among the sayings H1697 of the seers. H2374 H2335
If my people, H5971 which are called H7121 by my name, H8034 shall humble H3665 themselves, and pray, H6419 and seek H1245 my face, H6440 and turn H7725 from their wicked H7451 ways; H1870 then will I hear H8085 from heaven, H8064 and will forgive H5545 their sin, H2403 and will heal H7495 their land. H776
And Elijah H452 came H5066 unto all the people, H5971 and said, H559 How long H5921 halt H6452 ye between two H8147 opinions? H5587 if the LORD H3068 be God, H430 follow him: but if Baal, H1168 then follow H3212 H310 him. And the people H5971 answered H6030 him not a word. H1697
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 10
Commentary on Exodus 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Ex 10:1-20. Plague of Locusts.
1. show these my signs, &c.—Sinners even of the worst description are to be admonished even though there may be little hope of amendment, and hence those striking miracles that carried so clear and conclusive demonstration of the being and character of the true God were performed in lengthened series before Pharaoh to leave him without excuse when judgment should be finally executed.
2. And that thou mayest tell … of thy son, and of thy son's son, &c.—There was a further and higher reason for the infliction of those awful judgments, namely, that the knowledge of them there, and the permanent record of them still, might furnish a salutary and impressive lesson to the Church down to the latest ages. Worldly historians might have described them as extraordinary occurrences that marked this era of Moses in ancient Egypt. But we are taught to trace them to their cause: the judgments of divine wrath on a grossly idolatrous king and nation.
4. to-morrow will I bring the locusts—Moses was commissioned to renew the request, so often made and denied, with an assurance that an unfavorable answer would be followed on the morrow by an invasion of locusts. This species of insect resembles a large, spotted, red and black, double-winged grasshopper, about three inches or less in length, with the two hind legs working like hinged springs of immense strength and elasticity. Perhaps no more terrible scourge was ever brought on a land than those voracious insects, which fly in such countless numbers as to darken the land which they infest; and on whatever place they alight, they convert it into a waste and barren desert, stripping the ground of its verdure, the trees of their leaves and bark, and producing in a few hours a degree of desolation which it requires the lapse of years to repair.
7-11. Pharaoh's servants said—Many of his courtiers must have suffered serious losses from the late visitations, and the prospect of such a calamity as that which was threatened and the magnitude of which former experience enabled them to realize, led them to make a strong remonstrance with the king. Finding himself not seconded by his counsellors in his continued resistance, he recalled Moses and Aaron, and having expressed his consent to their departure, inquired who were to go. The prompt and decisive reply, "all," neither man nor beast shall remain, raised a storm of indignant fury in the breast of the proud king. He would permit the grown-up men to go away; but no other terms would be listened to.
11. they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence—In the East, when a person of authority and rank feels annoyed by a petition which he is unwilling to grant, he makes a signal to his attendants, who rush forward and, seizing the obnoxious suppliant by the neck, drag him out of the chamber with violent haste. Of such a character was the impassioned scene in the court of Egypt when the king had wrought himself into such a fit of uncontrollable fury as to treat ignominiously the two venerable representatives of the Hebrew people.
13-19. the Lord brought an east wind—The rod of Moses was again raised, and the locusts came. They are natives of the desert and are only brought by an east wind into Egypt, where they sometimes come in sun-obscuring clouds, destroying in a few days every green blade in the track they traverse. Man, with all his contrivances, can do nothing to protect himself from the overwhelming invasion. Egypt has often suffered from locusts. But the plague that followed the wave of the miraculous rod was altogether unexampled. Pharaoh, fearing irretrievable ruin to his country, sent in haste for Moses, and confessing his sin, implored the intercession of Moses, who entreated the Lord, and a "mighty strong west wind took away the locusts."
Ex 10:21-29. Plague of Darkness.
21-23. Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness—Whatever secondary means were employed in producing it, whether thick clammy fogs and vapors, according to some; a sandstorm, or the chamsin, according to others; it was such that it could be almost perceived by the organs of touch, and so protracted as to continue for three days, which the chamsin does [Hengstenberg]. The appalling character of this calamity consisted in this, that the sun was an object of Egyptian idolatry; that the pure and serene sky of that country was never marred by the appearance of a cloud. And here, too, the Lord made a marked difference between Goshen and the rest of Egypt.
24-26. Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord—Terrified by the preternatural darkness, the stubborn king relents, and proposes another compromise—the flocks and herds to be left as hostages for their return. But the crisis is approaching, and Moses insists on every iota of his demand. The cattle would be needed for sacrifice—how many or how few could not be known till their arrival at the scene of religious observance. But the emancipation of Israel from Egyptian bondage was to be complete.
28. Pharaoh said, … Get thee from me—The calm firmness of Moses provoked the tyrant. Frantic with disappointment and rage, with offended and desperate malice, he ordered him from his presence and forbade him ever to return.
29. Moses said, Thou hast spoken well.