Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt,
Parallel Translations
-
Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt,
-
And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
-
And Moses said: 'Thus saith the LORD: About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt;
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Exodus 11:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 12:29 At midnight, Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock.
- Exodus 12:12 For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am Yahweh.
- Job 34:20 In a moment they die, even at midnight. The people are shaken and pass away. The mighty are taken away without a hand.
- Psalms 60:10 Haven’t you, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God.
- Amos 4:10 “I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven’t returned to me,” says Yahweh.
- Exodus 12:23 For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you.
- 2 Samuel 5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then stir yourself up; for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”
- Isaiah 42:13 Yahweh will go out like a mighty man. He will stir up zeal like a man of war. He will raise a war cry. Yes, he will shout aloud. He will triumph over his enemies.
- Amos 5:17 In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.
- Micah 2:13 He who breaks open the way goes up before them. They break through the gate, and go out. And their king passes on before them, with Yahweh at their head.
- Matthew 25:6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 11:4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD,…
Exo 11:4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Ver. 4. And Moses said,.] sc., Before he went out of Pharaoh’s presence: for afterwards he saw his face no more. {Exo 10:29}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Moses said this to Pharaoh before his departure, as…
Moses said this to Pharaoh before his departure, as appears by comparing Exo 11:8 with Exo 10:29. And therefore the three first verses of this chapter come in by way of parenthesis; and now he returns to the story, and sets down the last words which Moses spake to Pharaoh for a final parting:
God is said to
Read full note →
go out, or go forth, or come down, &c., by way of condescension to the custom and capacity of men, when he doth any eminent act of power either in way of justice or mercy.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Warning is here given to Pharaoh of the last…
Warning is here given to Pharaoh of the last and conquering plague which was now to be inflicted. This was the death of all the first-born in Egypt at once, which had been first threatened (Exo 4:23, I will slay thy son, thy first-born), but is last executed; less judgments were 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 with in the way of his judgments, and to have his anger turned away, and particularly how precious the lives of men are in his eyes: if the death of their cattle had humbled and reformed them, their children would have been spared; but, if men will not improve the gradual advances of divine judgments, they must thank themselves if they find, in the issue, that the worst was reserved for the last. 1. The plague itself is here particularly foretold, Exo 11:4-6. The time is fixed - about midnight, the very next midnight, the dead time of the night; when they were all asleep, all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently and insensibly, so as not to be discovered till morning, but so as to rouse the families at midnight to stand by and see them die. The extent of this plague is described, Exo 11:5. The prince that was to succeed in the throne was not too high to be reached by it, nor were the slaves at the mill too low to be taken notice of. Moses and Aaron were not ordered to summon this plague; no I will go out, saith the Lord, Exo 11:4. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; what is hell but this? 2. The special protection which the children of Israel should be under, and the manifest difference that should be put between them and the Egyptians. While angels drew their swords against the Egyptians, there should not so much as a dog bark at any of the children of Israel, Exo 11:7. An earnest was hereby given of the difference which shall be put in the great day between God's people and his enemies: did men know what a difference God puts, and will put to eternity, between those that serve him and those that serve him not, religion would not seem to them such an indifferent thing as they make it, nor would they act in it with so much indifference as they do. 3. The humble submission which Pharaoh's servants should make to Moses, and how submissively they should request him to go (Exo 11:8): They shall come down, and bow themselves. Note, The proud enemies of God and his Israel shall be made to fall under at last (Rev 3:9), and shall be found liars to them, Deu 33:29. When Moses had thus delivered his message, it is said, He went out from Pharaoh in a 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 would have induced Pharaoh to comply, especially as Pharaoh had complied so far already, and had seen how exactly all Moses's predictions hitherto were fulfilled. But it had not that effect; his proud heart would not yield, no, not to save all the firstborn of his kingdom: no marvel that men are not deterred from vicious courses by the prospects given them of eternal misery in the other world, when the imminent peril they run of the loss of all that is dear to them in this world will not frighten them. Moses, hereupon, was provoked to a holy indignation, being grieved (as our Saviour afterwards) for the hardness of his heart, Mar 3:5. Note, It is a great vexation to the spirits of good ministers to see people deaf to all the fair warnings given them, and running headlong upon ruin, notwithstanding all the kind methods taken to prevent it. Thus Ezekiel went in the bitterness of his spirit (Eze 3:14), because God had told him that the house of Israel would not hearken to him, Exo 11:7. To be angry at nothing but sin is the way not to sin in anger. Moses, having thus adverted to the disturbance which Pharaoh's obstinacy gave him, (1.) Reflects upon the previous notice God had given him of this (Exo 11:9): The Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken to you. The scripture has foretold the incredulity of those who should hear the gospel, that it might not be a surprise nor stumbling-block to us, Joh 12:37, Joh 12:38; Rom 10:16. Let us think never the worse of the gospel of Christ for the slights men generally put upon it, for we were told before what cold entertainment it would meet with. (2.) He recapitulates all he had said before to this purport (Exo 11:10), that Moses did all these wonders, as they are here related, before Pharaoh (he himself was an eye-witness of them), and yet he could not prevail, which was a certain sign that God himself had, in a way of righteous judgment, hardened his heart. Thus the Jews' rejection of the gospel of Christ was so gross an absurdity that it might easily be inferred from it that God had given them the spirit of slumber, Rom 11:8.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Moses said,.... To Pharaoh before he left him,…
And Moses said,.... To Pharaoh before he left him, when he had told him he should see his face no more; for the three preceding verses are to be read in a parenthesis, being placed here by the historian, as giving some light to this last discourse and transaction between Moses and Pharaoh:
thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; perhaps to the capital and metropolis of it, which might stand in the midst of it, as usually does the royal city; or it may only signify that he would go into the very heart of it, and steer his course all around in every part and quarter of it, slaying the firstborn everywhere in all towns and cities throughout the kingdom, as follows; in order to which he is said to go out, either from the place where Moses used to go and pray to him, and where he met him and gave him his orders and instructions, or out of the land of Goshen, where he dwelt among the Israelites; or rather it only signifies the manifestation of himself in some work and action of his, the exertion of his power in inflicting punishment for sin: thus God is sometimes said to go forth out of his place when he is about to exercise judgment in the earth; for this must be understood consistent with his omnipresence, see Isa 26:21 and this was to be done about midnight, the middle of the night following the present day, which was the fourteenth of the month of Abib or Nisan; it was in the morning of that day Moses had this discourse with Pharaoh, and in the evening of it the passover was kept, and about the middle of the night the firstborn were slain, as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. About midnight will I go out] Whether…
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 11:4. I will go out into the midst…
Exo 11:4. I will go out into the midst of Egypt — By an angel, who, as appears from Exo 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And Moses said - The following words must be…
And Moses said - The following words must be read in immediate connection with the last verse of the preceding chapter.
About midnight - This marks the hour, but not the day, on which the visitation would take place. There may have been, and probably was, an interval of some days, during which preparations might be made both for the celebration of the Passover, and the departure of the Israelites.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain I will enter, by means of a good angel,…
I will enter, by means of a good angel, (Wisdom xviii. 14; St. Chrysostom) or by evil angels. (Psalm lxxvii. 49; St. Augustine, ibid.) (Calmet) --- Moses spoke this on the morning of the 14th Nisan; and that same night, after the paschal lamb had been eaten, the dreadful carnage commenced. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord, About midnight--Here is recorded the…
Thus saith the Lord, About midnight--Here is recorded the announcement of the last plague made in the most solemn manner to the king, on whose hardened heart all his painful experience had hitherto produced no softening, at least no permanently good effect.
will I go out into the midst of Egypt--language used after the manner of men.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. And Moses said — Unto Pharaoh, not unto…
4. And Moses said — Unto Pharaoh, not unto Israel. The speech of Exo_10:25-26, interrupted by the parenthesis of Exo_11:1-3, 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 Exo_12:3; Exo_12:6, 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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. And Moses said] viz., as v. 8b shews,…
4. And Moses said] viz., as v. 8b shews, to the Pharaoh.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) And Moses said.—In continuation of the speech recorded…
(4) And Moses said.—In continuation of the speech recorded in Exo_10:29, face to face with Pharaoh, Moses makes his last appeal—utters his last threats. The Pharaoh has bidden him “see his face no more” (Exo_10:28), and he has accepted the warning, and declared “I will see thy face again no more” (Exo_10:29). It is the last interview—the last interchange of speech. Moses had to deliver himself of a message. Hardened as his heart is, Pharaoh is yet to be allowed “a place for repentance” God announces to him, by the mouth of Moses, the coming destruction of the firstborn—emphasizes the terrible nature of the impending calamity by the announcement that through all Egypt there would be “a great cry”—contrasts with their despair the absolute immunity of the Israelites—and finally warns the Pharaoh that he and his people will shortly urge the departure which they now refuse to permit. If Pharaoh had even now relented, it was not too late—the great blows might have been escaped, the death of the firstborn and the destruction of the armed force in the Red Sea. But he had “hardened himself,” and then “been hardened,” until, practically, the time for relenting was gone by. He remained obdurate, and “would not let the children of Israel go out of his land” (Exo_11:10).
About midnight.—The particular night was not specified; and the torment of suspense was thus added to the pain of an unintermittent fear. But the dreadful visitation was to come at the dreadest hour of the twenty-four—midnight. Thus much was placed beyond doubt.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 4-8. The writer returns here to his account…
Vers. 4-8. The writer returns here to his account of the last interview between Moses and Pharaoh, repeating the introductory words of, (Exo_10:29) Moses said." Having accepted his dismissal, and declared that he would not see the face of Pharaoh any more (ibid. ) Moses, before quitting the presence, proceeded to announce the last plague, prefacing the announcement, as usual, (Exo_7:17 Exo_8:2 Exo_9:1, 13 10:3) with the solemn declaration, which showed that he acted in the matter merely as God"s instrument Thus saith Jehovah." He makes the announcement with the utmost plainness, noting the exact Lime of the visitation (ver. 4) its extent (ver. 5) the terrible "cry" that would follow (ver. 6) the complete exemption of the Israelites (ver. 7) the message which Pharaoh would send him by his servants, to depart at once and his own intention of acting on it (ver. 8). Then, without waiting fora reply, in hot anger at the prolonged obstinacy of the monarch, he went out.
About midnight. Compare Exo_12:29. It would add to the horror of the infliction that it should come in the depth of the night. Probably the night intended was not the next night, but one left purposely indefinite, that terror and suspense might work upon the mind of Pharaoh. Shall I go out. The word "I" is repressed in the original, and is emphatic. This crowning plague Jehovah inflicts by no instrumentality, but takes wholly upon himself. . (see Exo_12:12, Exo_12:13, Exo_12:23, Exo_12:27, Exo_12:29)
Read full note →
HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 4-10. A finale.
These verses end the story of how God wrought with Pharaoh to subdue him to his will. They prepare us for the catastrophe which brought the long conflict to a termination, and forced a way of egress for two millions of Hebrews through the barred gates of Egypt.
I LAST WORDS TO PHARAOH (vers. 4-9). Vers. 1-3 of this chapter are obviously parenthetical. They relate to a communication made to Moses prior to the visit to Pharaoh recorded in Exo_10:24-29, and in anticipation of it. The substance of that communication is now conveyed to the king. Having delivered his message as God had directed, Moses finally leaves the royal presence (ver. 9). The present passage is therefore to be read in immediate connection with Exo_10:29. Pharaoh would see the face of Moses no morei.e. , as a commissioner from Jehovah but before leaving, Moses has words to speak which are to Pharaoh the knell of doom. The judgment he announces is the death of the first-born. On this observe
1. It was a judgment-stroke more terrible than any which had preceded. This is plain from the nature of it. What, put one with the other in the balance, was the discomfort, pain, loss, terror, devastation of crops, and darkening of the earth, caused by the previous plagues, to this tremendous horror of finding in one night, in each home throughout the land, a dead first-born? The wound here was truly mortal. The first-born is the special joy of parents. He is loved, fondled, tended, admired, as few of the children are which come after him. The pride of the parents centres in him. Their hopes are largely built up on what he may become. He has drawn to himself, and embodies, a larger share of their thought, interest, sympathy, and affection than perhaps they are well aware of. He is the pillar of their household. They look to him to bear up its honour when their own heads are laid in the dust. To touch him is to touch the apple of their eye, to quench the central illumination of their home. They are proud of him as a babe, the first occupant of the cradle; they are proud of him as a boy, unfolding his mental and physical powers in rivalry with his youthful peers; they are proud of him as a young man, when thought and decision begin to stamp their lines upon his brow, and manly dignity gives a new grace to his deportment. With the help of such considerations, try to estimate the wrench to the heart"s tenderest affections, in the million homes of Egypt, by the simultaneous discovery that in each. there is a ghastly corpse, and that the corpse of the first-born. No wonder there was "a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more" (ver. 6). Natural affection retains a mighty hold of natures often otherwise very depraved. And there is no reason to suppose that, taken in the mass, the people of Egypt were characterised by a greater want of it than others. Even the tiger has a tigerish love of his cubs, and, wicked man though he was, the pride of Pharaoh in his first-born may have been of no ordinary, intensity. Note then the following circumstances as indicative of the especial horror of this judgment.
(1) It would be supernatural. Natural causes were more or less involved in the other plagues, but this judgment was to be inflicted by the direct stroke of the Almighty.
(2) It would be sudden. There would be no preliminary symptoms, no warning of approaching death.
(3) It would be at midnight. The darkest and" eeriest" hour of the whole twenty-four, the hour specially associated with the gasping out of the spirit in death.
(4) It would be universal. There would not be a house in which there was not one dead. (Exo_12:30) Not one left to comfort another. All alike swallowed up in indescribable sorrow, in blackest grief and bitterest lamentation the woe of each intensifying the woe of all the rest. What a horror was this! Death in a house is always oppressive to the spirit. The muffled steps and woe-disfigured faces tell the melancholy tale to every visitor. When the death is of one high in rank, the mourning is proportionately deep and widely spread. But death in every city, in every street, in every house, among high and low alike, who will unfold the misery which this implied, or do justice to the ghastly sense of mortality with which it would fill the breasts of the survivors! The nearest image we can form of it is the state of a town or district where a pestilence is raging, and corpses are being hurried to the dead-house in hundreds. And even this falls immeasurably short of the reality.
(5) It would embrace all ranks and ages. Palace and hovel would have its dead son. The first-born of beasts would be added to the slain. But in the general mourning over dead men this would be but little regarded.
2. It was a judgment-stroke bearing reference to God"s relation to Israel.
The key to the form which it assumed is furnished in Exo_4:22, Exo_4:23. "Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born; and I say unto thee, Let my son go that he may serve me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born." See Homily on Exo_12:29-31. Israel was God"s first-born in relation to the "many nations" of the redeemed world, which in its fulness was to embrace "all kindreds, peoples, and tongues". Gen_17:5; Rom_4:16-19; Rev_7:9) "As the first-born in God"s elect is to be spared and rescued, so the first-born in the house of the enemy, the beginning of his increase and the heir of his substance, must be destroyed the one a proof that the whole family were appointed to life and blessing, the other, in like manner, a proof that all who were aliens from God"s covenant of grace equally deserved, and should certainly in due time inherit, the evils of perdition" (Fairbairn). We may connect the judgment more simply with that law of symmetry which appears in so many of God"s judgments, the retribution being modelled after the pattern of the crime to which it is related. Examples: Haman hanged on his own gallows; (Est_5:14) Adoni-bezek mutilated in his thumbs and great toes; (Jud_1:6, 7) David punished for adultery by dishonour done to his own concubines, (2Sa_16:20-23) etc. So Pharaoh, the would-be destroyer of God"s first-born, is punished in the destruction of his own first-born. The jus talionis has a startling field of operations in the Divine judgments.
1. It was a judgment involving the whole of Egypt in suffering for the sinof the ruler. This was the case in all the plagues; but it is specially noticeable in this, where the judgment strikes a direct blow at every hearth. It may be said, doubtless with truth, that Egypt, in this severe judgment, was punished also for its own wickedness, the people, in the matter of the oppression of the Israelites, having been active partners in the guilt of the monarch. It is obvious, however, that the immediate occasion of this terrible blow falling on the land was the continued hardness of heart of Pharaoh. Had he relented, the judgment would not have fallen; it was because he did not relent that it actually fell. We come back here to that principle of solidarity which rules so widely in God"s moral administration. The many rise or fall with the one; the rewards of righteousness and the penalties of transgression alike overflow upon those related to the immediate agent. The widest applications of this principle are those stated Rom_5:12-21 the ruin of the race in Adam; the redemption of the race in Christ.
2 It was a judgment in which a marked distinction "teas to be put between the Egyptians and the Hebrews (ver. 7). Israel, however, was only exempted from like doom by resort to the blood of atonement a lesson as to their natural state of condemnation, and as to the channel through which alone redeeming grace could flow to them.
II THE WITHDRAWAL OF MOSES. "Moses went out from Pharaoh in a great anger" (ver. 8).
1. There are occasions on which it is lawful to be angry. This was one of them. He would have been a man utterly without soul who would not have been roused to indignation by the towering pride and extraordinary ingratitude and faithlessness of Pharaoh, not to speak of the insults he was heaping on Jehovah, and the violence threatened against Moses himself.
2. The meekest nature is that which, on proper occasions, is capable of the most burning and vehement anger. On the relation of the anger of Moses to his meekness, see Homily on Exo_2:12. Another example is found in the apostle John the apostle of love. The highest example of all is the Son of Man, "meek and lowly in heart," yet capable of terrible and scathing wrath wrath of the Lamb". (Mat_11:29; Rev_6:16, Rev_6:17)
III A SUMMING UP (vers. 9, 10). The conclusion of the series of plagues having been reached, and negotiations with Pharaoh having been finally broken off, Moses sums up the results. The notable point is, that it was all as the Lord had said. It had been foretold that Pharaoh would not hearken, and neither had he hearkened; but his hardening had been the occasion of God"s multiplying his wonders in the land of Egypt. The climax of the hardening was reached under this last warning. Infuriated by his passion, Pharaoh appears to have paid no heed to it. Yet the fact that he did not, illustrates a point already dwelt upon the tendency of hardening against God to involve the whole moral nature, extending at last to the destruction even of the natural affections. We have seen how reckless Pharaoh had become of the well-being of his subjects. (Exo_10:7) See him now perilling the life of his own son, not to speak of the lives of the first-born throughout the whole land, that he may be spared the humiliation of submitting to Jehovah! Perilling, even, is too weak a word, for experience had taught him that God"s threatenings in no case went unfulfilled. "Sacrificing" would be the more proper term. Even to this length was Pharaoh ultimately driven by his enmity against God, and his example remains as a melancholy warning to ourselves. J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Chap. Exo_10:29, Moses says to Pharaoh, "I will see thy face again no more," while in Exo_11:4-8, he is represented as making to Pharaoh an announcement of the last plague. Perhaps the best way of clearing this apparent contradiction is to suppose that in the narrative as it originally stood there was really no break between Exo_10:29 and Exo_11:4, and that the three intervening verses were afterwards introduced in some way which we cannot now explain. So taking the narrative, all is made straightforward and additionally impressive. Moses followed up his intimation that Pharaoh should see his face no more, with a statement which plainly showed the reason why. No more would he come into Pharaoh"s presence uninvited by Pharaoh, simply because there would no more be need to do so. Jehovah was about to deal the last blow without any human instrumentality whatever.
I TRY TO ESTIMATE SOMEWHAT OF THE COMBINATION OF FORCES IN THIS LAST PLAGUE, WHICH MADE IT SO EFFECTIVE FOR ITS PURPOSE.
1. There was the hour chosen midnight. It was not like the rest of the plagues, which extended over a more or less period of time; but, being a momentary blow, the most impressive moment could be chosen for striking it. This was midnight, the time of security, repose, and deep silence. Each family was gathered together under its own roof; not separated, as might have been the case during the day, each one at his appointed work. There was no bustle of business, as there might have been at noon, to help in drowning and qualifying the horror of the transaction.
2. There was an element of peculiar force in the very class of persons who were smitten. Not only had Jehovah advanced to take away the lives of human beings, but he had directed his destructions, with evident and unerring purpose, upon one particular class. The destruction was not as a mere decimation, the taking of one out of so many, it mattered not who, so long as one was taken. In every household it was the first-born who lay dead. No regard was shown to personal character or special circumstances. All the first-born were stricken, the virtuous as well as the vicious; the amiable, promising youth from whom much was expected, and the scapegrace who was bringing a father"s grey hairs with sorrow to the grave; the young man who might be the only son of his mother and she a widow, alike with him who was the first-born among many brethren. The first-born is the centre of so many hopes and calculations, that when he is stricken there may be the instantaneous reaction of an irretrievable despair. Zechariah speaks very emphatically of those who are in bitterness for their first-born. (Zec_12:10) In many cases the firstborn would also be the just-born.
3. There was an element that helped to bring decision in the very greatness of the cry that was elicited. How far the announcement made to Pharaoh had travelled we know not; but it must have gone far enough to produce a consentaneous cry of recognition when the blow was struck. Pharaoh would know, and also his courtiers, and many at different points through the city, even before they came out of their houses, that it was by no ordinary death the first-born had died. Each one, thus already informed, would suspect the whole terrible truth with respect to all the first-born of the land. In this way certainty would come that the prediction was fulfilled, even before information on the point was actually obtained. Bad news travels quickly, and all the quicker when special facilities have been prepared by Jehovah himself, as they evidently were in this instance. Remember, also, the demonstrative, vociferous mode of expressing sorrow in bereavement which prevails among Eastern nations. There was hardly an hour of the day or night but from some home in Egypt there went up the wail of the bereaved; but here was a simultaneous wail from every home, and that not over the aged or the sick whose death was expected, but over those the great majority of whom would be young, strong, and vivacious. Thus the very emotions which produced this extraordinary cry, the cry itself served in turn to intensify, and thus to exalt into complete mastery. What wonder, then, that from the king downward the people were swept away by their emotions, and, without thought of past gains or future losses, hurried Israel out of their land in the precipitate way here recorded! Avarice, pride, worldly consequence all the motives which hold dominion in selfish human breasts lost their seats for the moment. It was only for a moment, but that moment was time long enough effectually to serve the purposes of God.
4. There was the fact that with all these elements of force and terror in thetenth plague itself, there had been nine such serious visitations before it. It was like the last blow of the battering-ram, which, though it may have in itself more force than preceding blows, yet gains not the least part of its efficiency from the shaking which these preceding blows have produced. It is by no means certain that if this destruction of the first-born had come at first it.would have had the same effect.
II Notice, as illustrated by this announcement to Pharaoh, sow DIFFERENTLY THE SAME FACTS ARE STATED TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. Pharaoh is plainly told, that amid all this great smiting of Egypt"s first-born, Israel will continue perfectly secure. The impression we get is, that not only will there be freedom for Israel from the specific effects of this plague, but even an unusual exemption from ordinary mischances. Not a dog is to move his tongue against any living creature in Israel. The protection would be complete; the favour and discrimination of Jehovah most manifest. But whence all this came, and in what it consisted, Pharaoh cannot be informed. The difference between Israel and Egypt will be plain enough; but the virtue of the slain lamb and the sprinkled blood are hidden from his eyes all this could not be explained to him. If it could have been explained to him, it would never have needed to be explained. In other words, Pharaoh would never have come into such an extremity as that where the death of the first-born landed him. Thus we are helped to see the reason why to some there come revelations producing security and gladness of heart, and to others nothing but tidings of disaster and disappointment. Every great fact of God"s dealings has a bright side and a dark side; and if we will not live so that the bright side may be revealed to us, then inevitably we must come face to face with the dark one. Moses told Pharaoh that the death of the first-born was coming, but he only turned away more scornful, stubborn, and infatuated than ever; he told the children of Israel to make the Paschal preparations, and, minute and exact as these preparations were, they at once went away and made them. God might have told Pharaoh all about how Israel was protected, but what would have been the use? If we would discover why great Divine revelations are hidden from us, we must look in our own hearts. A man can never know the comforts and beauties that belong to the temperate zone as long as he stubbornly abides in the frigid one.
III CONSIDER THIS LAST PLAGUE IN THE ACTUAL EFFECTS OF IT.
1. It produced immediate action on the part of Pharaoh, and, what is very noticeable, on the part of the people also. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night. He had sent them away with a menace of death, if they ventured again into his presence; but only a few short hours pass and he has to beg them to hurry and save him. We should never threaten and bluster, for we know not how soon we may have to swallow our words again. He did not wait till morning, even till the early morning. Every moment would bring to him news from a widening circle, and quicken him into the promptest action possible. And yet, immediate as this action appears, we know that it had been led up to very gradually. Jehovah had been for a long time undermining the strength of Pharaoh; and if it now collapsed in a moment instead of crumbling away, it-was because the massive fabric had lost, bit by bit, the foundation on which it had been raised. And in the same way we may be sure that everything in the world which is unjust, ungodly, and tyrannical, is being undermined. There is no proud and stubborn soul but God is working upon it by something substantially the same as the nine plagues; and the tenth plague will come in due time to produce its immediate and decisive effect.
2. The action took the shape of complete and eager liberation. Egypt was filled with panic and terror to the exclusion of every other motive. The full significance of Pharaoh"s words in vers. 31, 32, can only be seen by comparing them, first, with his contemptuous treatment of Moses in the beginning; (Exo_5:2) and next, with his procrastinating, half-giving, half-grasping attitude during the course of the plagues. (Exo_8:10, 25 10:8-11, 24) Pharaoh began as one whose foot was on the rock he was sure he could not be shaken; then he was made to feel himself as more and more in a state of unstable equilibrium; and now at last he is utterly prostrate at Moses" feet. He who said he would grant nothing, now grants everything. He who, in response to the first request of Moses, added to the severities of the bondage already existing, now, when all requests have ceased, not only undoes the fetters, but hurries the captives out of his realm, as if each of them was a mass of fatal infection. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall…
Exo_11:4-10
All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.
Read full note →
The last plague threatened
It was to be.
I. Solemn in its advent. About midnight.
II. Fatal in its issue. All the firstborn . . . shall die.
III. Comprehensive in its design. From the firstborn of Pharaoh, etc.
IV. Heartrending in its cry. None like it.
V. Discriminating in its infliction. The Lord doth put a difference, etc. Piety is the best protection against woe. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A contrast
1. The wicked crying--the good quiet.
2. The wicked dead--the good living.
3. The wicked frightened--the good peaceful.
4. The wicked helpless--the good protected. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Separating the precious from the vile
I. The difference.
1. Eternal.
2. Most ancient. Ordained of God from before foundation of world.
3. Vital. An essential distinction of nature between righteous and wicked.
4. This difference in nature is followed by a difference in Gods judicial treatment of the two classes.
5. This distinction is carried out in providence. To the righteous man every providence is a blessing. To the sinner all things work together for evil.
6. This difference will come out more distinctly on the judgment day.
II. Where is this difference seen?
1. In the Temple.
2. In the whole life.
3. In time of temptation.
4. In the hour of death.
III. Why should this difference be seen? Put your finger on any prosperous page in the Churchs history, and I will find a little marginal note reading thus: In this age men could readily see where the Church began and where the world ended. Never were there good times when the Church and the world were joined in marriage with one another. But though this were sufficient argument for keeping the Church and the world distinct, there are many others. The more the Church is distinct from the world in her acts and in her maxims, the more true is her testimony for Christ, and the more potent is her witness against sin. We are sent into this world to testify against evils; but if we dabble in them ourselves, where is our testimony? If we ourselves be found faulty, we are false witnesses; we are not sent of God; our testimony is of none effect. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Church and the world
Originally there was no difference between the Egyptians and Israel; both were descended from one source, both were tainted with sin. So too, originally, there was no difference between the Church and the world. St. Paul enforces this
(1) as between Jew and Gentile (Rom_10:12);
(2) as between individual members of the human family (Rom_3:22). Consider--
I. The nature of the difference. There can be no doubt but there was a difference--that the Lord put one--between the Egyptians and Israel, and that the Lord doth put one between the world and the Church. What is this difference? Gods choice. He chose Israel, He did not choose the Egyptians; He has chosen the Church, He has not chosen the world. Herein lies the difference; and because it is not a visible or even, in itself, a demonstrable one, the world now, as the Egyptians then, decline to believe in it, and a sign becomes in some sense necessary.
II. The reason for the difference. Not merit on Israels part, or sin on Egypts part; but--
1. Gods love for Israels fathers (Deu_4:37).
2. Gods oath (based upon Gods love) to Israels fathers (Deu_7:7-8). So the Church was chosen because God loved her; though why God loved her, or how He loved her, in a certain sense we cannot tell.
III. The sign of the difference. As said above, Pharaoh declined to believe in the difference, or, whilst tacitly acknowledging it, refused to act in accordance with it. A sign was given, in order that he might know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. That sign consisted in the triumphant exodus of Israel without casualty of any kind, as contrasted with the family distress and national disaster which were about to happen to the Egyptians. Observe that the deliverance was a sign of the difference, not the difference itself. So salvation, in the ordinary but very partial sense of deliverance from future punishment, will be but a sign and a consequence of the choice which God has already made, of the difference which the Lord has already put; a choice and a difference about the existence of which the world is sceptical, but the reality of which all will be forced to acknowledge when the sign is given. (E. Armstrong Hall, M. A.)
The importance of the firstborn
The importance of the firstborn may be thus explained: the firstborn naturally enjoyed both precedence and preeminence over the rest, he was the firstling of his fathers strength (Gen_49:3), the first-fruit of his mother. As the firstborn, he stood at the head of the others, and was destined to be the chief of whatever family might be formed by the succeeding births. As he stood at the head of the whole he represented the entire nation of the Egyptians. Hence the power which slew all the firstborn in Egypt was exhibited as a power which could slay all that were born then, and, in the slaughter of the whole of the firstborn, the entire body of the people were ideally slain. (J. H. Kurtz, D. D.)
The Church and the world
I. The nature of the difference.
1. Not a difference of understanding.
2. Not a difference of physical development.
3. Not even a difference in moral nature. The Israelites were quite as prone to evil, lust, sin, idolatry, as the Egyptians.
4. The difference was that God chose Israel to be His people, He took them for His own, hedged them by special regulations, laws, discipline.
So He has chosen the Church.
II. The reasons for the difference.
1. That God might have a faithful people even in this world of sin.
2. That Christ might not die in vain.
3. That God might fulfil His promise to the patriarchs.
III. The sign of the difference. Deliverance from the sin and bondage of the world. (Homilist.)
Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee.
A peoples efforts for freedom successful
We learn from Professor Bischoff that the steam of a hot spring at Aix-la-Chapelle, although its temperature is only from 133° to 167° F., has converted the surface of some blocks of black marble into a doughy mass. He conceives, therefore, that steam in the bowels of the earth, having a temperature equal to or even greater than the melting point of lava, and, having an elasticity of which even Papins digester can give but a faint idea, may convert rocks into liquid matter. These wonderful facts might suggest useful thoughts to the despots of the world. Despotism interdicts the expression of political convictions, and seeks to bury them under the adamantean weight of oppressive decrees and colossal cruelty. But it is an unerring moral taw that the warm aspirations of a virtuous people shall--like the subtle subterranean gases--arise to freedom, and, despite all impediments, dissolve in due time even the hard and hoary foundations of injustice. (Scientific Illustrations.)
.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_11:4-10
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_11:4-10
THE LAST PLAGUE THREATENED
Read full note →
I. It was to be solemn in its advent. “About midnight I will go out into the land of Egypt.” This plague was threatened (Exo_4:23), and is at last to be executed. God is slow to anger. Human life is precious in His sight. But now the Divine forbearance has reached its limit. The time of the terrible plague is at hand. The first-born are to sleep the sleep of death, not silently and insensibly, but so as to rouse their families at midnight to see them die. The silence of the midnight hour is to be broken by the agonies of the dying, and that in every Egyptian home in the land. The destroying angel will slay the first-born of Egypt. How sad the scene! How solemn the hour! How beyond description! God often plagues the sinner at midnight. When darkness is all around him, then the plagues of Heaven come, and are rendered more awful by the time of their advent.
II. It was to be fatal in its issue. “And all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die.” Thus the last plague was to be intensely real. It was not to affect the events of nature; it was to slay man. It was no mere sickness; it was death. Egypt had destroyed the first-born of Israel. Now they meet a just retribution. No doubt those who suffered death were sinners, and deserved the calamity that came upon them. The first-born of beasts were also included in the devastating plague. Thus the Egyptians were punished for their idolatry, and were deprived of their property. The plagues of Heaven are sometimes fatal—fatal to the temporal and eternal welfare of man.
III. It was to be comprehensive in its design. “From the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts (Exo_11:5). Thus the prince who was to succeed to the throne was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slave at the mill too low to be noticed. It was to extend from the most honourable to the meanest in the realm. The prince is spoken of as sitting upon the throne because he was the next heir to it; or it may be that he was even crowned, as was Solomon while David lived. From the palace to the dungeon would this plague travel. The king is helpless at a time like this. Sometimes the plagues of God are comprehensive; they embrace a vast nation, thousands of homes and families.
IV. It was to be heartrending in its cry. “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.” The cry of those bereaved would be heard in every direction. Parents who had lost their only child would thus proclaim their grief. The voice of this cry should never die away from our hearing; it makes known the penalty of sin. There are many heartrending cries in the world occasioned by sin.
V. It was to be discriminating in its infliction. “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” (Exo_11:7). Thus Israel was to be protected during the terrible retribution. They should be silent. They should be hopeful. The pestilence that walketh in darkness should not come near them. The dog, the most vigilant creature, should not bark at them. The Divine protection of the good is minute; it defends from the most trivial enemy. God will protect the good in the final retribution of the universe. Piety is the best protection against woe. It averts the judgment of God.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_11:4-6. God takes His time at midnight sometimes to visit sinners.
God’s midnight visitations:—
1. Terrible to His enemies.
2. They aim at destroying the choicest possessions of the wicked.
3. They are painful.
4. They are almighty.
5. They are irreparable.
6. They are irrespective of social position.
7. They awaken the anguish of men.
Exo_11:7. A contrast:—
1. The wicked crying—the good quiet.
2. The wicked dead—the good living.
3. The wicked frightened—the good peaceful.
4. The wicked helpless—the good protected.
In executing judgments God makes a difference between His elect and His enemies:—
1. Wonderful
2. Pleasing.
3. Inspiring.
4. Prophetic.
Exo_11:8. Divine vengeance will make those come to God’s servants who have despised and discharged them.
Highest anger against sin becomes the best of God’s servants.
God makes His despicable servants victoriously to scorn the powers that scorn them.
THE RIGHTEOUS ANGER OF A CHRISTIAN MINISTER
“And he went out from Pharaoh in a great rage.”
Anger is not of necessity sinful. There are times when it is righteous to be angry. Moses was not in an unholy passion. He was grieved at the perversity of a wicked soul:—
I. Because the claims of God were rejected. How many of the servants of God are made angry by the wickedness of men! Men are morally perverse. They will not give up their sin. They refuse repeated offers of mercy. They repulse many judgments. They despise many ministers of truth. They awaken the holy indignation of those who have sought their welfare.
II. Because his Christian work was apparently a failure. Moses had seen Pharaoh penitent. He had perhaps indulged a hope that the terrible retribution he had announced would have awakened the wicked king to calm thought and change of purpose. But in vain. His last interview was apparently a failure. How many Christian ministers are grieved by the failure of their best energies to induce men to moral goodness!
III. Because the freedom of Israel was yet unaccomplished. Moses was perhaps too hasty in expecting the accomplishment of his task. Men who are working for the freedom of souls must be patient and hopeful in their spirit and temperament. Ministers are human in their feelings.
Exo_11:9-10. God foretelleth, and sometimes maketh known, that wicked sinners will not hear His ministers sent to them.
Such refusal of the wicked to hear God’s word foreruns usually some strange plagues.
God sometimes aims at the multiplying of prodigious judgments upon multiplied unbelief.
God’s ministers do but His work and deliver His word, and sinners harden themselves by the same.
Ocular demonstration of God’s strongest plagues will not persuade sinners to believe.
Upon such wilful hardening against His word, God justly hardens to destruction.
Sinners hardened by God will do all the mischief against Him and His people.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Divine Interposition! Exo_11:4. In this last plague God is represented as descending in person. “I” will go out. This was designed to impress Pharaoh with the terrible character of the next inflictive judgment. When a great Eastern monarch sent his general to restore order in an insurrectionary province, the rebels would not heed his authority, but attacked and routed the royal troops. This aroused the king’s indignation, and he sent a message that he himself would appear in person at the head of his army, and punish their persistent contumacy. Jehovah warns the Egyptian rebel against His sovereign commands, that He would now personally interpose to secure submission to His supreme authority. If the paw of a bear meet with so thin a substance as the caul of a man’s heart, how easily is it torn to pieces. Pharaoh had fitted himself for the interposition of Jehovah in person, and His judgment would he as fire rushing through the dried prairie grasses.
“Stay, wretched monarch, in thy sinful path,
And hear this message of avenging wrath;
Hear it and tremble—it is GOD’S, not mine!”
First-Born! Exo_11:5. It is computed that more than one-half of the human race die under five years of age. Think of the millions that constitute one generation! Think of the generations that have come and gone!
“There is no flock, however watched and tended,
But one dead lamb is there.”
It has been remarked, that as there are more blossoms upon trees in spring-time than ripe fruits in autumn, so there are more infants than adults that fall away from the circles of earthly affection. Like those flowers which grow on frail, slender vines—disclose their beauties for one hour in the morning, and then fold them to their hearts from the gaze of earth for ever—so our first-born pass swiftly and beautifully away,
“In their spirits young prime,
E’er earth has profaned what was born for the skies.”
Righteous Anger! Exo_11:8. High and gusty passions, says Beecher, are sometimes like fierce storms that cleanse the air, and give the earth refreshment by strong winds and down-pelting rains, provided always that such are justified by the occasions of them. The wrath of Moses was that righteous indignation which noble Christian souls are—under certain contingencies—justified in displaying towards wicked and perverse oppressors. This anger of Israel’s leader was the reflection of Jehovah’s majestic brow—the wrath of truth and love. It was not a current flowing through oozing marshes, gathering foulness from its foul and stagnant waters; but it was a divine stream—
“It did through wild and rock-bound valleys run,
Like glittering dewdrops in the morning sun.”
Sin-Sirens! Exo_11:9. In an Exhibition of Art Treasures held in Manchester some years ago, there was a picture by Haydon, entitled, “The Song of the Syrens.” It represented a ship in full sail passing by an island on whose beach were some beautiful women, slightly clothed, singing (as the spectator might imagine), most melodiously to attract the attention of the men on board the vessel. Lashed to the mast, and making eager and almost frantic gestures, was a man dressed in military armour; but the sailors—utterly heedless—seemed as though they cared for nothing but to get past the island as quickly as possible,—all the more as the beach was strewn with dead men’s bones. That group of women was Circe and her siren-nymphs! That warrior was Ulysses, the hero of Troy, returning from its capture! He had resolved to prevent his destruction and that of his crew as they sailed past the island by filling their ears with wax, and then ordering them to bind him so firmly to the mast that it would be impossible for him to set himself at liberty. Thus deaf to all his cries—as well as to the song of the sirens—the sailors passed safely out of sight and hearing of their tempters. Pharaoh listened to the Siren’s song, and when Moses and Aaron tried to dissuade him, he refused to heed their prudent counsel, and chose to listen to the tempter’s song—
“False as the smooth, deceitful sea,
And empty as the whistling wind.”
Heart-Wickedness! Exo_11:10. However wild the wind and wave, there is stillness far beneath. The waters may surge as mountains to the skies—and sink as valleys in the seas; but away down below the troubled surface of the waters a dead calm prevails, where hideous blind monsters swim, and where loathsome repulsive reptiles crawl. The surface of Pharaoh’s heart was tossed and disquieted, for the wicked are like the troubled sea; but the depths are still—the drear, dread calm of the death of sin reigns—a haunt for the ravenous and ugly monsters of sin. His heart was hardened—
“And, like the billows of the stormy deep,
Onwards he rushed, with desolating sweep,
Until ONE ROOK opposed his crested pride.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This is the time of 12 am (at night)…
midnight
This is the time of 12 am (at night) or 2400 hours.
Read full note →
All the firstborn ... the firstborn of Pharaoh ... the firstborn of the slave girl ... the firstborn of the cattle
The "firstborn" always refers to the oldest male offspring.
who sits on his throne
This phrase refers to Pharaoh.
who is behind the handmill grinding it
"who is grinding at the handmill" or "who is behind the handmill grinding grain"
translationWords
firstborn
throne
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.