Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Parallel Translations
-
Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
-
And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
-
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Exodus 9:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 8:20 Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
- Exodus 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.
- Exodus 9:1 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 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 9:13 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise…
Exo 9:13 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Ver. 13. Let my people go.] See Exo 9:1.
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 Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, I. A general declaration of the wrath…
Here is, I. A general declaration of the wrath of God against Pharaoh for his obstinacy. Though God has hardened his heart (Exo 9:12), yet Moses must repeat his applications to him; God suspends his grace and yet demands obedience, to punish him for requiring bricks of the children of Israel when he denied them straw. God would likewise show forth a pattern of long-suffering, and how he waits to be gracious to a rebellious and gainsaying people Six times the demand had been made in vain, yet Moses must make it the seventh time: Let my people go, Exo 9:13. A most dreadful message Moses is here ordered to deliver to him, whether he will hear or whether he will forbear. 1. He must tell him that he is marked for ruin, that he now stands as the butt at which God would shoot all the arrows of his wrath, Exo 9:14, Exo 9:15. "Now I will send all my plagues." Now that no place is found for repentance in Pharaoh, nothing can prevent his utter destruction, for that only would have prevented it. Now that God begins to harden his heart, his case is desperate. "I will send my plagues upon thy heart, not only temporal plagues upon thy body, but spiritual plagues upon thy soul." Note, God can send plagues upon thy soul." Note, God can send plagues upon the heart, either by making it senseless or by making it hopeless - and these are the worst plagues. Pharaoh must now expect no respite, no cessation of arms, but to be followed with plague upon plague, till he is utterly consumed. Note, When God judges he will overcome; none ever hardened his heart against him and prospered. 2. He must tell him that he is to remain in history a standing monument of the justice and power of God's wrath (Exo 9:16): "For this cause have I raised thee up to the throne at this time, and made thee to stand the shock of the plagues hitherto, to show in thee my power." Providence ordered it so that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as he was to deal with; and every thing was so managed in this transaction as to make it a most signal and memorable instance of the power God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. Every thing concurred to signalize this, that God's name (that is, his incontestable sovereignty, his irresistible power, and his inflexible justice) might be declared throughout all the earth, not only to all places, but through all ages while the earth remains. Note, God sometimes raises up very bad men to honour and power, spares them long, and suffers them to grow insufferably insolent, that he may be so much the more glorified in their destruction at last. See how the neighbouring nations, at that time, improved the ruin of Pharaoh to the glory of God. Jethro said upon it, Now know I that the Lord is greater than all gods, Exo 18:11. The apostle illustrates the doctrine of God's sovereignty with this instance, Rom 9:17. To justify God in these resolutions, Moses is directed to ask him (Exo 9:17), As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people? Pharaoh was a great king; God's people were poor shepherds at the best, and now poor slaves; and yet Pharaoh shall be ruined if he exalt himself against them, for it is considered as exalting himself against God. This was not the first time that God reproved kings for their sakes, and let them know that he would not suffer his people to be trampled upon and insulted, no, not by the most powerful of them.
II. A particular prediction of the plague of hail (Exo 9:18), and a gracious advice to Pharaoh and his people to send for their servants and cattle out of the field, that they might be sheltered from the hail, Exo 9:19. Note, When God's justice threatens ruin his mercy, at the same time, shows us a way of escape from it, so unwilling is he that any should perish. See here what care God took, not only to distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield, and so prevent the judgment itself, yet an opportunity is given to those that have any dread of God and his word to save themselves from sharing in the judgment. Note, Those that will take warning may take shelter; and those that will not may thank themselves if they fall by the overflowing scourge, and the hail which will sweep away the refuge of lies, Isa 28:17. See the different effect of this warning. 1. Some believed the things that were spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle (Exo 9:20), like Noah (Heb 11:7), and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants of Pharaoh there were some that trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons of Israel dread it? But, 2. Others believed not: though, whatever plague Moses had hitherto foretold, the event exactly answered to the prediction; and though, if they had had any reason to question this, it would have been no great damage to them to have kept their cattle in the house for one day, and so, supposing it a doubtful case, to have chosen the surer side; yet they were so foolhardy as in defiance to the truth of Moses, and the power of God (of both which they had already had experience enough, to their cost), to leave their cattle in the field, Pharaoh himself, it is probable, giving them an example of the presumption, Exo 9:21. Note, Obstinate infidelity, which is deaf to the fairest warnings and the wisest counsels, leaves the blood of those that perish upon their own heads.
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 the Lord said unto Moses, rise up early…
And the Lord said unto Moses, rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh,.... Who it seems used to rise early in the morning, and so was a fit time to meet with him, and converse with him; it might be one of the mornings in which he used to go to the water early, though not mentioned, unless that was every morning:
and say unto him, thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, let my people go, that they may serve me; thus had he line upon line, and precept upon precept, so that he was the more inexcusable, see Exo 9:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain With the plague of hail begins the last series…
With the plague of hail begins the last series of plagues, which differ from the former both in their severity and their effects. Each produced a temporary, but real, change in Pharaoh’s feelings.
Exo 9:14
Read full note →
All my plagues - This applies to all the plagues which follow; the effect of each was foreseen and foretold. The words “at this time” point to a rapid and continuous succession of blows. The plagues which precede appear to have been spread over a considerable time; the first message of Moses was delivered after the early harvest of the year before, when the Israelites could gather stubble, i. e. in May and April: the second mission, when the plagues began, was probably toward the end of June, and they went on at intervals until the winter; this plague was in February; see Exo 9:31.
Exo 9:15
For now ... - Better, For now indeed, had I stretched forth my hand and smitten thee and thy people with the pestilence, then hadst thou been cut off from the earth. Exo 9:16 gives the reason why God had not thus inflicted a summary punishment once for all.
Exo 9:16
Have I raised thee up - See the margin. God kept Pharaoh “standing”, i. e. permitted him to live and hold out until His own purpose was accomplished.
Exo 9:18
A very grievous hail - The miracle consisted in the magnitude of the infliction and in its immediate connection with the act of Moses.
Exo 9:19
In Egypt the cattle are sent to pasture in the open country from January to April, when the grass is abundant. They are kept in stalls for the rest of the year.
Exo 9:20
The word of the Lord - This gives the first indication that the warnings had a salutary effect upon the Egyptians.
Exo 9:27
The Lord - Thus, for the first time, Pharaoh explicitly recognizes Yahweh as God (compare Exo 5:2).
Exo 9:29
The earth is the Lord’s - This declaration has a direct reference to Egyptian superstition. Each god was held to have special power within a given district; Pharaoh had learned that Yahweh was a god, he was now to admit that His power extended over the whole earth. The unity and universality of the divine power, though occasionally recognized in ancient Egyptian documents, were overlaid at a very early period by systems alternating between Polytheism and Pantheism.
Exo 9:31
The flax was bolled - i. e. in blossom. This marks the time. In the north of Egypt the barley ripens and flax blossoms about the middle of February, or at the latest early in March, and both are gathered in before April, when the wheat harvest begins. The cultivation of flax must have been of great importance; linen was preferred to any material, and exclusively used by the priests. It is frequently mentioned on Egyptian monuments.
Exo 9:32
Rie - Rather, “spelt,” the common food of the ancient Egyptians, now called “doora” by the natives, and the only grain represented on the sculptures: the name, however, occurs on the monuments very frequently in combination with other species.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain G.—The plague of the hail
G.—The plague of the hail
Exo_9:13-35
Read full note →
13And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, God [the God] of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For I will at [will] this time send all my plagues upon thine [into thy] heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15For now I will stretch [I would have stretched]2 out my hand, that I may smite [and smitten] thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be [wouldst have been] cut off from the earth. 16And in very deed [But] for this cause [for this] have I raised thee up [established thee] for to shew in thee [to shew thee] my power, and that my name may be declared [to declare my name] throughout all the earth. 17As yet exaltest thou [Thou art still exalting]3 thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let 18them go? [not to let them go]. Behold, to-morrow about [at] this time 1 will cause it to rain [I will rain] a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. 19Send therefore now [And now send], and gather [save] thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for upon [as for] every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought [gathered] home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 20He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21And he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his 22servants and his cattle in the field. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine [thy] hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field throughout the land of Egypt. 23And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail; and the fire [and fire] ran along upon the ground [came to the earth]; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24So there was hail, and fire mingled with [continuous fire4 in the midst of] the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it [had not been] in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. 27And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous [is the righteous one], 28and I and my people are wicked [the wicked]. Entreat Jehovah (for it is enough) that there be no more [for it is too much that there should be]5 mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone [When I go] out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah: and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how [know] that the earth is Jehovah’s. 30But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will [do] not yet fear Jehovah God. 31And the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled [in the blossom]. 32But the wheat and the rye [spelt] were not smitten; for they were not grown up [for they are late]. 33And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto Jehovah: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more 35[again], and hardened his heart, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Exo_9:15-16. The Perf. שָׁלַחְתִּי and the following Imperfects with the Vav Consecutive certainly cannot be rendered (with the A. V.) by the Future. It is simply a case of apodosis with the protasis omitted. Precisely similar is the construction in 1Sa_13:13, כִּי עַ̈תָּהֵ הֵכין יְהוָה אֶת־מַמְלַכְתְּךָ, which the A. V. correctly renders: “For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom.” Comp. Ewald, Ausfuhrl. Gr. § 358 a. Our translators seem in both these verses to have followed the LXX., the Vulg., and older versions, to the neglect of the Hebrew. Especially does this appear in Exo_9:16, where בַּעֲבוּר הַרְאֹתְךָ is rendered: “for to show in thee.” Literally; “in order to cause thee to see.” There is no possible ambiguity in the Hebrew. God’s power was to be shown to Pharaoh, not in him. Probably our translators were also influenced by the quotation of this verse in Rom_9:17, where Paul follows the LXX. In the translation of הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ, however, the LXX. are more exact than Paul. In Exo_9:15 Jehovah says: “I might have smitten thee,” etc. “But,” he adds, “for this I have preserved thee (literally, caused thee to stand) in order to show thee,” etc. The LXX. have διετηρήθης, in Rom_9:17 εξήγειρά σε.—וְאוּלָם means simply “but,” “nevertheless,” and not “in very deed.”—Tr.]
[Exo_9:17. There is no interrogative particle here, and no need of translating the verse as a question. It might be translated as a conditional clause: “If thou yet exalt thyself,” etc., Exo_9:18 giving the conclusion.—Tr.]
[Exo_9:24. The Hithp. of לָקַח occurs, besides here, only in Eze_1:4, where it is also used of lightning, and is rendered in the A. V.: “infolding itself” (marg. “catching itself”). The idea seems to be that of different flashes of lightning coming so thickly that the one seemed to take hold of the other; or, perhaps, it is descriptive of chain-lightning. Lange, following De Wette, and others understand it to mean balls of fire. This seems hardly to be borne out by the phrase.—Tr.]
[Exo_9:28. Lange renders: “Pray to Jehovah, that it may be enough of God’s voices of thunder.” So, substantially, Murphy, Keil, Knobel, Arnheim, Herxheimer, De Wette, Fürst, Philippson, Rosenmuller, following LXX., Vulg. But it is hard to see what right we have to give the expression this turn, whereas the original simply says: “and much.” If we must supply a verb, we are hardly justified in making it Jussive. And if we were, by what right can the expression: “let there be much of there being thunder and hail,” be made to mean, “let there be no more thunder and hail?” for this is what “enough” is assumed to mean. But while רַב sometimes does mean “enough,” that is a very different conception from “ no more.” If one prays: “let there be enough of thunder,” the presumption is that he wants more rather than less. Furthermore, מִן with the Inf., though often employed to denote the negation of a resul., yet is perhaps never used elsewhere to denote an object negatively, and is certainly no where else used after verbs of entreaty to denote the thing deprecated. There is also no analogy for the use of מִן with the Inf. in a partitive sense, as Keil and others would here understand it. And even if מִן did have the partitive sense (though even in the multitude of instances in which it is connected with nouns after רַב it only once—Eze_44:6—has a partitive sense), the use of the Inf. would be pleonastic. In view of these considerations, there seems hardly to be any other way than to follow Kalisch, Glaire, and Ewald (Gram. § 217 b, § 285 d), and render: “It is too much that there should be.” Literally, “much from being,” or, this being the Hebrew method of expressing a comparison, “more than being.” But our idiom frequently requires “more than” to be rendered by “too much for.” E.g. Rth_1:12, זָקַנְתִּי מִהיות לְאִישׁ, “I am old from belonging to a husband,” i.e. “older than to belong to,” or rather, “too old to belong to.” So here: “it is much from [more than] there being thunder,” etc. That is, “It is too much that there be.” A still more apposite case is to be found in 1Ki_12:28, רַב לָכֶם מֵעֲלוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַםִ, “it is much to you from going up to Jerusalem,” i.e. (as Luther, A. V., and Keil render it), “it is too much for you to go up.” A still more indisputable analogy is found in Isa_49:6, נָקַל מִהְיוֹתְךָ לִי עֶבֶד, “It is light from thy being a servant,” i.e. “It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be a servant.” So Eze_8:17. With this construction we get a clear and appropriate sense without forcing the original.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Exo_9:13. The Seventh Plague. Hail and Thunder-storms.—Rise up early in the morning.—Even in reference to he forms of politeness there seems to be an intentional letting down. According to Exo_8:16 [20] Moses was to avail himself of that time in the morning when Pharaoh was going to the Nile. This consideration here disappears. The demand is more imperative; the threat more fearful.
Exo_9:14. This time all the plagues are to be directed, in a concentrated form, primarily to the heart of Pharaoh, to his own personal interests, affecting first himself, then his servants, then his people, beginning at the top, and going down. “From the plural מַגֵפוֹת it appears that this threat relates not merely to the seventh plague, the hail, but to all the remaining ones” (Keil). It appears also that now Pharaoh’s obduracy is to be regarded as quite determined. This is still more evident from the two following verses (see Comm. on Romans 9). From this time forward, therefore, ensue Jehovah’s acts of hardening Pharaoh’s heart in the narrower sense of the term.—That there is none like me.—Comp. Exo_9:16. The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, following the last act of divine judgment upon Egypt, may be designated as the specific date of the victory of monotheism over the heathen gods, or of the theocratic faith over the heathen religions.
Exo_9:15. For now I would have stretched out my hand.—If Pharaoh’s person and surroundings alone had been in question, Jehovah would have already destroyed him with the pestilence. We do not, with Keil, render: If I had stretched out my hand … thou wouldest have been destroyed; for this would present a tautological sentence, obscuring the connection and fundamental thought. Jehovah’s declaration means: Thou, considered by thyself alone, art already doomed to condemnation; but I establish thee, as it were, anew, in order to judge thee more completely and to glorify my name in thee. Vid. Comm. on Romans 9. This is the gift of divine forbearance which the godless enjoy on account of the pious.—הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ accordingly does not mean merely cause to stand; and Paul, quite in accordance with the sense of the text, chose a stronger expression, whereas the LXX. had weakened it, employing διετηρήθης. The first spread of the news of Jehovah’s victory is recorded in Exo_15:14.
Exo_9:17. A fine antithesis, analogous to that of Exo_8:17 [21]. The form of the thought likewise intimates that man, by the change of his disposition, may become different, and that then Jehovah may, as it were, present Himself to him as a different being.—Exalting thyself.—Properly, setting thyself up as a dam, מִסְתּוֹלֵל. Israel, as the people of the future, is like a stream whose current the hostile powers of the world, like dams and dykes, are checking. First, it breaks through the power of Pharaoh with theocratic impetuosity amidst psalms of triumph. Something like this was true of the Reformation; in the highest sense, it was true of Apostolic Christianity; and it was no mere play of the fancy, when the great Egyptian plagues were associated with the great Christian martyrdoms.
Exo_9:19. And now send.—Had Pharaoh done so, he would at the last moment have acknowledged Jehovah’s power. But the word, which he himself without doubt disregarded, served to warn and preserve other God-fearing Egyptians.
Exo_9:22. Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven.—Still another symbolic form, and that of the finest appropriateness. Here the outstretched hand is more important than the symbolic rod, though the latter serves for a sign this time also.
Exo_9:23. Sublime description of the hail and thunder-storm, like Psalms 18, 29; Job 37, 38. “Thunder-storms are not frequent in Lower and Central Egypt, yet occasionally occur between December and April, and in connection with them hail sometimes falls, but seldom in considerable quantity. Comp. Hengstenberg, Egypt, etc., p. 121 sq.” (Keil.) In Egypt the cattle are driven to the pastures from January to April. Vid. Hengstenberg, l. c., p. 123, where he quotes from Niebuhr and others.
Exo_9:25. כָּל in Exo_9:25, like the preceding “balls of fire” (for lightning), harmonizes with the hyperbolic style of the description.
Exo_9:26-27. In such a heavy storm the exceptional condition of Goshen must have been the more striking. Now even Pharaoh has recognized in the thunder the voice of Jehovah. The first declaration, that Jehovah is righteous, comes, remarkably enough, from his mouth. His repentance, however, soon shows itself to be a mere attritio, a transitory, slavish terror. The contritio is wanting; this was at once seen by Moses. The same is indicated in the characteristic utterance: I have sinned this time.
Exo_9:31-32. This specification gives a clue to the season of the year. It was towards the end of January. Vid. Hengstenberg. p. 124, and Keil, p. 492. The barley was an important article of food for men and cattle, although spelt and wheat furnished finer bread. The flax furnished the light linen which the hot climate made a necessity; “according to Herodotus II. 81, 105, a very important product of Egypt” (Keil).
Footnotes:
[2][Exo_9:15-16. The Perf. שָׁלַחְתִּי and the following Imperfects with the Vav Consecutive certainly cannot be rendered (with the A. V.) by the Future. It is simply a case of apodosis with the protasis omitted. Precisely similar is the construction in 1Sa_13:13, כִּי עַ̈תָּהֵ הֵכין יְהוָה אֶת־מַמְלַכְתְּךָ, which the A. V. correctly renders: “For now would the Lord have established thy kingdom.” Comp. Ewald, Ausfuhrl. Gr. § 358 a. Our translators seem in both these verses to have followed the LXX., the Vulg., and older versions, to the neglect of the Hebrew. Especially does this appear in Exo_9:16, where בַּעֲבוּר הַרְאֹתְךָ is rendered: “for to show in thee.” Literally; “in order to cause thee to see.” There is no possible ambiguity in the Hebrew. God’s power was to be shown to Pharaoh, not in him. Probably our translators were also influenced by the quotation of this verse in Rom_9:17, where Paul follows the LXX. In the translation of הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ, however, the LXX. are more exact than Paul. In Exo_9:15 Jehovah says: “I might have smitten thee,” etc. “But,” he adds, “for this I have preserved thee (literally, caused thee to stand) in order to show thee,” etc. The LXX. have διετηρήθης, in Rom_9:17 εξήγειρά σε.—וְאוּלָם means simply “but,” “nevertheless,” and not “in very deed.”—Tr.]
[3][Exo_9:17. There is no interrogative particle here, and no need of translating the verse as a question. It might be translated as a conditional clause: “If thou yet exalt thyself,” etc., Exo_9:18 giving the conclusion.—Tr.]
[4][Exo_9:24. The Hithp. of לָקַח occurs, besides here, only in Eze_1:4, where it is also used of lightning, and is rendered in the A. V.: “infolding itself” (marg. “catching itself”). The idea seems to be that of different flashes of lightning coming so thickly that the one seemed to take hold of the other; or, perhaps, it is descriptive of chain-lightning. Lange, following De Wette, and others understand it to mean balls of fire. This seems hardly to be borne out by the phrase.—Tr.]
[5][Exo_9:28. Lange renders: “Pray to Jehovah, that it may be enough of God’s voices of thunder.” So, substantially, Murphy, Keil, Knobel, Arnheim, Herxheimer, De Wette, Fürst, Philippson, Rosenmuller, following LXX., Vulg. But it is hard to see what right we have to give the expression this turn, whereas the original simply says: “and much.” If we must supply a verb, we are hardly justified in making it Jussive. And if we were, by what right can the expression: “let there be much of there being thunder and hail,” be made to mean, “let there be no more thunder and hail?” for this is what “enough” is assumed to mean. But while רַב sometimes does mean “enough,” that is a very different conception from “ no more.” If one prays: “let there be enough of thunder,” the presumption is that he wants more rather than less. Furthermore, מִן with the Inf., though often employed to denote the negation of a resul., yet is perhaps never used elsewhere to denote an object negatively, and is certainly no where else used after verbs of entreaty to denote the thing deprecated. There is also no analogy for the use of מִן with the Inf. in a partitive sense, as Keil and others would here understand it. And even if מִן did have the partitive sense (though even in the multitude of instances in which it is connected with nouns after רַב it only once—Eze_44:6—has a partitive sense), the use of the Inf. would be pleonastic. In view of these considerations, there seems hardly to be any other way than to follow Kalisch, Glaire, and Ewald (Gram. § 217 b, § 285 d), and render: “It is too much that there should be.” Literally, “much from being,” or, this being the Hebrew method of expressing a comparison, “more than being.” But our idiom frequently requires “more than” to be rendered by “too much for.” E.g. Rth_1:12, זָקַנְתִּי מִהיות לְאִישׁ, “I am old from belonging to a husband,” i.e. “older than to belong to,” or rather, “too old to belong to.” So here: “it is much from [more than] there being thunder,” etc. That is, “It is too much that there be.” A still more apposite case is to be found in 1Ki_12:28, רַב לָכֶם מֵעֲלוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַםִ, “it is much to you from going up to Jerusalem,” i.e. (as Luther, A. V., and Keil render it), “it is too much for you to go up.” A still more indisputable analogy is found in Isa_49:6, נָקַל מִהְיוֹתְךָ לִי עֶבֶד, “It is light from thy being a servant,” i.e. “It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be a servant.” So Eze_8:17. With this construction we get a clear and appropriate sense without forcing the original.—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain SEVENTH PLAGUE — THE HAIL, Exo_9:13-35.
SEVENTH PLAGUE — THE HAIL, Exo_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 Exo_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.
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 13. Rise up early, &c.] cf. Exo_8:20.
13. Rise up early, &c.] cf. Exo_8:20.
13–35. The seventh plague. The hail. From J, with short passages, probably, from E.
Read full note →
13, 17–18. The announcement of the plague: cf. Exo_8:1-3; Exo_8:20-23, Exo_9:1-4.
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 (13) Early in the morning.—Comp, Exo_7:15; Exo_8:20.
(13) Early in the morning.—Comp, Exo_7:15; Exo_8:20.
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE.
Read full note →
(13-19) The plagues fall into triads, or groups of three. This is the first plague of the third group, and presents to us several new features. (1) It is ushered in with an unusually long and exceeding awful message (Exo_9:13-19), in which Pharaoh is warned that God is now about to “send all His plagues upon his heart,” and that he has been raised up simply that God may show forth His power in his person. (2) It is the first plague that attacks human life; and this it does upon a large scale: all those exposed to it perish (Exo_9:19). (3) It is more destructive than any previous plague to property. It not only slays cattle, like the murrain. but destroys plants and trees (Exo_9:25), and ruins half the harvest (Exo_9:31). (4) It is accompanied with terrible demonstrations—“mighty thunderings,” huge hailstones, rain, and fire that “runs along upon the ground” (Exo_9:23). (5) It is made to test the degree of faith to which the Egyptians have attained, by means of a revelation of the way whereby it may be escaped (Exo_9:20). Though the plagues do not form a regularly ascending series, each transcending the last, yet there is a certain progression observable. The earlier ones cause annoyance rather than injury; those which follow cause loss of property; then God’s hand is laid on men’s persons, so as to hurt, but not to kill; lastly, life itself is attacked. The seventh plague was peculiarly astonishing and alarming to the Egyptians, because hail and thunder, even rain, were rare phenomena in their country; and a thunderstorm accompanied by such features as characterised this one was absolutely unknown. The hailstones must have been of an enormous size and weight to kill men and cattle. The “fire infolding itself amid the hail” must indicate a very unusual form of the electric fluid. It is not surprising that the visitation brought down the pride of Pharaoh more than any preceding one, and made him for the time consent unconditionally to the people’s departure (Exo_9:28).
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. 13-26. THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. The sixth plague had…
Vers. 13-26. THE SEVENTH PLAGUE. The sixth plague had had no effect at all upon the hard heart of the Pharaoh, who cared nothing for the physical sufferings of his subjects, and apparently was not himself afflicted by the malady. Moses was therefore ordered to appear before him once more, and warn him of further and yet more terrible visitations which were impending. The long message (vers. 13-19) is without any previous parallel, and contains matter calculated to make an impression even upon the most callous of mortals. First there is an announcement that God is about to send all his plagues" upon king and people (ver. 14); then a solemn warning that a pestilence might have been sent which would have swept both king and people from the face of the earth (ver. 15); and finally (ver. 18) an announcement of the actual judgment immediately impending, which is to be a hailstorm of a severity never previously known in Egypt, and but rarely experienced elsewhere. Pharaoh is moreover told that the whole object of his having been allowed by God to continue in existence is the glory about to accrue to his name from the exhibition of his power in the deliverance of his people (ver. 16). A peculiar feature of the plague is the warning (ver. 19) whereby those who believed the words of Moses, were enabled to escape a great part of the ill effects of the storm. It is a remarkable indication of the impression made by the previous plagues, that the warning was taken by a considerable number of the Egyptians, who by this means saved their cattle and their slaves (ver. 20). The injury caused by the plague was very great. The flax and barley crops, which were the most advanced suffered complete destruction. Men and beasts were wounded by the hail-stones, which might have been as hail-stones sometimes are jagged pieces of ice; and some were even killed, either by the hail, (see Jos_10:11) or by the lightning which accompanied it. Even trees were damaged by the force of the storm, which destroyed the foliage and broke the branches. Rise up early. Compare Exo_7:15, and Exo_8:20. The practice of the Egyptian kings to rise early and proceed at once to the dispatch of business is noted by Herodotus (ii. 173). It is a common practice of oriental monarchs. And say unto him. The same message is constantly repeated in the same words as a token of God"s unchangingness. Exo_8:1-20 Exo_9:1 Exo_10:3; etc.
Vers. 13-19. The method of the Divine Rule over bad men illustrated by God"s message to Pharaoh.
Read full note →
The message illustrates,
I THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD TOWARDS SINNERS. "For now might I have stretched out my hand and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence"(ver. 15). Pharaoh had opposed himself to God so long, had shown himself in various ways so wicked, that he well deserved to have been stricken with plague and made to perish miserably. He had been insolent and blasphemous, when first appealed to in the name of Jehovah; (Exo_5:2) cruel and vindictive, when he increased the Israelites" burdens (lb. 7-9); hard-hearted, when the taskmasters complained to him (ib. 15-18); obdurate and perverse, in resisting so many signs and wonders wrought for the purpose of moving him; (Exo_7:10-13, 20-23 8:5, 6, 16-19, 20-24 9:6, 7, 10-12) pitiless and false, in twice breaking his promises. (Exo_8:8-15, Exo_8:28-32) Yet God had spared him. He had "made him to stand" (ver. 16)i.e. , preserved him in being and had retained him in his high station, when he might readily have caused his overthrow by conspiracy or otherwise. So long-suffering was he, that he even now addressed to him fresh warnings, and gave him fresh signs of his power, thus by his goodness striving to lead him to repentance.
II THE POWER OF GOD TO BREAK THE WILL EVEN OF THE MOST DETERMINED SINNER. God can so multiply, and vary, and prolong his judgments, that at last the power of endurance,.even in the case of the most obdurate sinner, is worn out. First he sends comparatively slight afflictions, then more serious ones; finally, if the stubborn will still refuses to bend, he visits the offender with "all his plagues" (ver. 14). Man cannot triumph over God. Kings may oppose their wills to his, but they cannot make him succumb. He "refrains the spirit of princes," and shows himself "wonderful among the kings of the earth". (Psa_76:12) Even the greatest monarchs this present Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar are powerless against him. He "refrains" them, breaks them, humbles them, works his will in spite of them. And at what a cost to themselves! Unfortunately kings, and even less exalted sinners, will rarely learn wisdom till too late. He has to send "all his plagues" upon them; whereas, if they had been wise, they might have escaped with a light chastisement.
III THE FACT THAT ALL RESISTANCE OF GOD"S WILL BY SINNERS TENDS TO INCREASE, AND IS DESIGNED TO INCREASE, HIS GLORY. "The fierceness of man turns to God"s praise., He has endowed men with free will, and allows them the free exercise of their free will, because, do as they like, they cannot thwart his purposes. Being, as he is, the God of order, and not of confusion or anarchy, he could not have allowed flee will at all to his creatures, if their employment of it prevented the accomplishment of his own designs and intentions. But it does not; it is foreseen, taken into account, provided for. And the only result of men"s opposition to his will is the increase of his glory and of his praise. Great kings are seen arraying themselves against God, determining to take Jerusalem, like Sennacherib, (2Ki_18:35) or to destroy the infant Church, like Herod Agrippa, (Act_12:1-3) or to rebuild Jerusalem, like the apostate Julian, or to crush the Reformation, like Philip II of Spain and they do their utmost; they levy armies, or man fleets, orcollect materials and engage thousands of workmen, or murder and imprison at their pleasure-but nothing comes of it. Their efforts fail utterly. And the sole result of all their exertions is, that men see and recognise God"s hand in their overthrow, and that his glory is thereby increased. All this is commonly declared in Scripture, and especially in the Psalms. (Psa_2:4 Psa_5:10 Psa_7:11-17 Psa_9:15-20, etc.) The message sent by God to Pharaoh through Moses adds, that the result is designed. "For this cause have I made thee stand (marg.), for to show to thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth" (ver. 16). Compare Exo_14:17, 18 15:14-16; Jos_2:9-11.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 13-35. The plague of hail.
This plague was introduced with ampler remonstrance. Moses was commanded to proceed to Pharaoh, and to warn him in stronger and more decisive language than he had yet employed of the folly of this insane resistance. Ver. 15 should probably be translated, "For now indeed had I stretched forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with the pestilence, thou hadst then been out off from the earth;" and then ver. 16 will give the reason why God had not cut Pharaoh off, but had "made him stand" (marg.), viz.: that he might show forth in him his power. It does not follow that God would not have preferred to use Pharaoh for his glory in another way than that of destroying him. This strong representation of God"s purpose was itself designed to influence the king for good, and had a spark of sense remained to him, it would have wrought an immediate change in his volitions. In that case God"s procedure would have undergone a corresponding alteration. For God wills not the death of any sinner, (Eze_18:28-32) and threatenings of this kind, as shown by the case of the Ninevites, are always conditional. (Jon 4) At the same time, God"s sovereignty is seen in the way in which he utilizes the wicked man whose persistence in his wickedness is foreseen by him. "God might have caused Pharaoh to be born in a cabin, where his proud obstinacy would have been displayed with no less self-will, but without any historical consequence; on the other hand, he might have placed on the throne of Egypt at that time a weak, easy-going man, who would have yielded at the first shock. What would have happened? Pharaoh in his obscure position would not have been less arrogant and perverse, but Israel would have gone forth from Egypt without eclat God did not therefore create the indomitable pride of Pharaoh as it were to gain a point of resistance, and reflect his glory; he was content to use it for this purpose". (Godet on Rom_4:17, Rom_4:18) Notice
I THE TERRIBLE RAISING UP (ver. 16). We are taught,
1. That God can find a use even for the wicked. (Pro_16:4)
2. That God places wicked men in positions in which their true character ismanifested, and his own power and righteousness are glorified in their judgment.
3. That this is not the primary desire of God in relation to any wicked man. He would prefer his conversion. If it be urged that the situations in which men are placed are not always those most favourable to their conversion, this may be conceded. But they are not placed in these positions arbitrarily, but under a system of administration which regards each individual, not simply as an end in himself, but as a means to a yet higher end, the carrying forward of the world purpose as a whole. God cannot deal with the individual as if there were no such thing as history, or as if that individual constituted the sum-total of humanity, or as if his salvation were the only and the all-ruling consideration in the arrangement of the world. God disposes of the evil of the world, decrees the lines and directions of its developments, the persons in whom, and the situations under which, it will be permitted to reveal and concentrate itself, but he neither creates the evil, nor delights in it, and is all the while working for its final and effectual overthrow. No situation in which God places man nessitates him to be evil.
4. That the sinner"s evil, accordingly, is his own, and his ruin self-wrought. This is shown and notably in the case of Pharaoh by the fact that God"s dealings with him are fitted to change him if he will be changed. (Mat_23:37)
II A PLAGUE WITH APPALLING ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCES (verse 18:23-26). This plague, like many of its predecessors, was,
1. Severe in its character (ver. 24).
2. Destructive in its effects (ver. 25).
3. Distinguishing in its range. It spared the land of Goshen (ver. 26). Butthe peculiar circumstance connected with it that which marked it as the first of a new order of plagues was,
4. Its combination of terror with sublimity, its power to appal as well as to punish. A last attempt was to be made to break down the opposition of the monarch by displays of God"s majesty and omnipotence which should shake his very heart (ver. 14). Instead of frogs, lice, flies, pestilence, and boils on man and beast, Pharaoh was now to be made to hear "voices of God" in the thunder (ver. 28, Hebrews); was to see dreadful lightnings, masses of fire, descending from the sky, and rolling in balls of fire along the ground (ver. 23); was to witness his land smitten with terrific hail "very grievous," the like of which had never been seen in Egypt "since it became a nation" (ver. 24). A thunderstorm is at all times terrible, and when very severe, inspires an awe which few natures can resist. Accompanied by preternatural terrors, its effect would be simply overwhelming. This was the intention here. The strokes of God were to go to the king"s heart. They were to convince him that there was "none like Jehovah in all the earth" (ver. 14). They were to be plagues, as Calvin says, "that would not only strike the head and arms, but penetrate the very heart, and inflict a mortal wound." The thunder is introduced as being "the mightiest manifestation of the omnipotence of God, which speaks therein to men, (Rev_10:3, Rev_10:4) and warns them of the terrors of judgment" (Keil). On the peculiar effect of the thunderstorm in awakening the religious nature, see a paper on "God in Nature and History," Expositor, March, 1881. To the superstitious minds of the heathen these unexampled terrors would seem of awful significance.
III TWOFOLD EFFECTS OF WARNINGS (vers. 20, 21).
1. God"s judgments, like his overtures of grace, are seldom wholly ineffectual. If the king was hardened, there were at least some in Egypt who had become alive to the gravity of the situation, "who feared the word of the Lord." Such were to be found even among the servants of Pharaoh, in the palace itself. The preaching of the Gospel, even under the most unpropitious circumstances, will seldom fail of some fruit. There were "certain men" which "clave" to Paul, "and believed" at Athens; "among the which was Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them". (Act_17:34) There were "saintsmirabile dictu-even in Nero"s palace. (Php_4:22)
2. The division of men, in their relation to the Word of God, is a verysimple one. There are those who fear and regard it, and there are those who disregard and disobey it. Paul speaks of those to whom Gospel-preaching is a savour of death unto death, and of those to whom it is a savour of life unto life. (2Co_2:16) Between the two classes there is no third. The effects of his own preaching are thus summed up, "And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not". (Act_28:24)
1. Faith reveals itself in obedience. He that feared God"s word brought inhis cattle; he that disregarded it left them in the fields.
2. The wisdom of regarding God, and the folly of disregarding him, weremade manifest by the result.
IV PHARAOH"S CAPITULATION (vers. 27, 28). The supernatural concomitants of this appalling visitation so unnerved the king that he was induced again to send for Moses. tie did not yield till the plague was actually on the land, and only then, because he could not help it. The terms in which he makes his submission show,
1. His undisguised terror.
2. His thorough conviction that he was in the hands of the God of thewhole earth. Pharaoh had by this time had a course of instruction in the "evidences," which left no room for further doubt. The most striking feature in his submission, however, is,
3. His confession of sin. "I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, andI and my people are wicked" (ver. 27). It was good that Pharaoh should be brought to see that it was a righteous demand he was resisting, and that he was inexcusable in resisting it. This much at least the plagues had forced him to acknowledge, and it gave his hardening a yet graver character when subsequently he retracted his word given. But the superficiality of the repentance is very obvious. "I have sinned this time; " there is here no adequate sense of the sin he had been guilty of. False repentances have their root in superficial views of sin. They may be produced by terror, under compulsion; but they are accompanied by no real change of heart; and renewed hardening is the only possible outcome of them. "As for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God"(ver. 30).
V JUDGMENT TEMPERED WITH MERCY. God"s mercy in connection with this plague is conspicuous
1. In giving the warning, so that those who regarded his word had theopportunity of removing their servants and cattle (vers. 20, 21).
2. In sparing the wheat and rye (vers. 31, 32).
3. In removing the plague at the request of Pharaoh, presented throughMoses (vers. 28, 29).
VI HARDENING NOTWITHSTANDING.
1. Pharaoh hardened himself (vers. 34, 35). We ask, in surprise, how was such a thing possible? Pride, hate, anger, obstinacy furnish the explanation, though it is truly difficult to conceive how they could so madden a mind as to make it capable of persevering in a course of resistance. There is the fact, however, and it is full of terrible warning to us. The hardening was obviously now of the most serious possible kind. Pharaoh"s nature had been thoroughly awakened. He was no loner sinning in ignorance, but against clear light and conviction. He had confessed his sin, and promised to obey. Hardening, under these circumstances, was as nearly "sin against the Holy Ghost" as was then possible. (Joh_9:41)
2. His servants hardened themselves (vers. 34). This is a fact which should be well pondered. It might have been thought that only a Pharaoh was capable of such fatuousness. We learn here that there were natures among his servants as susceptible of hardening as his own. We do not need to be Pharaohs to be capable of hardening our hearts against God. Persons in obscure positions can do it as readily as those on the pinnacles of greatness. The king"s influence, however, had doubtless much to do with his servants" conduct. They took their cue from their lord. Had he submitted himself, they would have done so also. Because he hardened himself, they must follow suit. What folly! to destroy themselves for the sake of being like a king of being in the fashion. Learn also the potency of example. Those in high positions have a powerful influence over those dependent upon them. Well for them if they use that influence for God"s glory, and not to ruin souls! J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 13-16. The earth is the Lord"s and the fulness of it.
In this comprehensive message from Jehovah, standing as it does about midway in the course of his judgments upon Pharaoh, we have a peculiar and impressive application of the foregoing word of the Psalmist. (Psa_24:1) The word "earth," it will be noticed, stands in a very prominent position in each of the verses 14, 15, 16. Evidently, then, we should give the word an equally prominent position in our thoughts, and connect with it the truths to be drawn out of this message. It will then be seen that Jehovah has many ways of showing that the earth is his and the fulness of it. It is all his; not Pharaoh"s, not any other potentate"s, not even Israel"s except as Israel is chosen by Jehovah, duly trained and prepared by him, subjected and obedient to him. We have to consider this message, then, under three heads, as suggested by the occurrence of the word "earth" in these three verses. Note, however, first, the way in which Moses approaches Pharaoh on this occasion. in Exo_7:15, he is told to get to Pharaoh in the morning and meet him by the river"s brink; thus there is a general indication of time and a particular indication of place. in Exo_8:20, he is told to go early in the morning, as Pharaoh comes forth to the water; thus there is a more particular indication of time, Now, Exo_9:13, there is the same particular indication of time, but no reference to place. Thus it seems as if we got a gradation, a sign of increasing pressure and urgency upon Pharaoh. Moses has to be ready for Pharaoh at the very beginning of the day, and then, whenever and wherever he may meet with him, he can deliver his message at once. Pharaoh had the whole day to consider as to the things Which were about to happen on the morrow. And now
I THERE IS NO ONE LIKE JEHOVAH IN THE WHOLE EARTH, AND PHARAOH 18 TO BE MADE TO KNOW THIS. Such is the statement of ver. 14; and of course the whole gist of it lies in the bringing of Pharaoh to a clear and unmistakable knowledge of the supremacy of God over all terrestrial powers. That there is none like God in all the earth may be true, but the thing wanted is to bring that truth distinctly and practically before our minds, and if profitably for us also, then so much the better This end had to be achieved in the instance of Pharaoh by persistent attacks of Jehovah upon him, attacks ever increasing in effective force, till at last they proved irresistible. It was not enough for others to be assured by Pharaoh"s doom that there was none like God in all the earth. Pharaoh must know it for himself, and confess it, not by the ambiguous channel of speech, but by a most decisive act, the committal of which he cannot avoid. (Exo_12:31-33) And that he may be brought to such a knowledge is the reason of the severe plagues that remain. We might, indeed, count it enough to be told that Jehovah had sent all his plagues. We might rest upon Jehovah"s character, and say that whatever he does is right, even though there be much that at first staggers us, and that continues to perplex. But the reason for all these plagues is plainly stated, and if it be looked into "it will be seen an ample, cheering, and encouraging reason. Though Jehovah is Sovereign of the universe, he does not treat Pharaoh in an arbitrary way; he acts, not as one who says that might makes right, but as using his might in order to secure the attainment of right. Pharaoh"s way, on the contrary, is an arbitrary one, without the slightest mitigation or concealment. Everything rests simply on his will; and yet will is too dignified a word whim would be nearer the mark. And now that proud will is to be subdued and dissolved, so far, at least, as to flow forth in the liberation of Israel, even though immediately they be liberated it hardens again to its former rigidity. The announcement Moses was now to make to Pharaoh we may fairly say would have been inappropriate at an earlier time. It becomes God, in his first approaches to men, to draw them, if perchance for their own sakes they may willingly submit; afterwards, when they will not be drawn, then for the sake of others they have to be driven. It is not until Pharaoh fully manifests his selfishness, his malignity, and the reasonless persistency of his refusal, that God indicates the approach of all his plagues. The man has been humbled in his circumstances, but his pride of heart remains as erect as ever; and so the full force of Jehovah has to be brought upon it in order to lay it low. It is at last to feel in himself, whatever he may say, that the true question is not "Who is Jehovah, that Pharaoh should let Israel go?" but, "Who is Pharaoh, that he should keep Israel back?" He has gotten some rudiments and beginnings of this knowledge already, even though they have made no difference in his practice. Every time he has opened his eyes. he has seen something fresh, which, however quickly he might close his eyes again, he could not unsee. And now he is on the very point of getting more knowledge, and that in a way very disagreeable to a despot. With alarming rapidity, his people are about to be impressed with the supremacy of Jehovah. (Exo_9:20 Exo_10:7)
II Notice the peculiar reference in ver. 15 to THE DESTRUCTION OF PHARAOH. It is spoken of as a being cut off from the earth. It seems that our English version does not give the right tense-rendering in this verse, and that the reference is not to what will happen in the future, but to what might have already happened in the past. If Pharaoh was not already a dead man, and Israel a free people, there was nothing in this delay for Pharaoh to plume himself upon. Jehovah might have smitten him with pestilence, and slain the strong, proud man on his bed, amid humiliations and pains which would have been aggravated by the vanity of the regal splendours around him. tie might have made Egypt one great expanse of the dead, a land which the Israelites could have spoiled at their leisure, and then gone forth at any time most convenient to themselves. And if Jehovah did not thus slay Pharaoh and liberate Israel, it was because he had purposes of his own to accomplish by the lengthened life of the one and the intensified sufferings of the other. But apart from the question,of time, what awful significance there is in the expression, "cut off from the earth!" To this separation, made most effectual, Pharaoh came at last. In considering this expression, notice first of all the suggestion of our connection with the earth. A thing cannot be cut off from the earth unless first of all it is connected with it. In respect of many things the connection may seem very slight and unimportant; but in the instance of a human being, the connection is evidently intimate and important; and, until our connection with heaven is established, not only important, but all-important. We are connected with the earth by what we get from it. The very limitations of our bodily constitution remind us of our dependence upon the earth. We are not like the birds with wings to soar away from it, nor like fishes who can breathe vital air under water; we are emphatically of the solid earth. To its kindly fruits we look for our sustenance, and out of it also comes our clothing and shelter. And then from the earth in its still larger sense, "the great globe itself," consider what comes to us in the way of occupation, instruction, interest, pleasure, opportunities of getting and giving in all sorts of ways. From all this Pharaoh was at last cut off; and from all this we also must one day be cut off. Cut off from the earth, as the tree, at the roots of which the axe has long lain. When the tree has fallen it is still near the earth, but it gets nothing from it. The question for us to ask is, whether, while the tree of our natural earthly life still stands, we are having the roots of a nobler, richer life, even a Divine one, striking down into the heavenly places? The cutting off from earth will matter little, if the vanished life is found elsewhere, more flourishing and fruitful than ever it was here.
III Notice from ver. 16 that THE VERY PURPOSE OF PHARAOH"S EMINENCE IS TO MAKE A UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF THE POWER AND GLORY OF GOD. God did not treat Pharaoh differently from thousands of others, as far as the essence of his decling with him is concerned. All who act as Pharaoh acted will suffer as Pharaoh suffered. He was not a throned puppet, a mere machine in the hands of Divine power; if he had been, no instruction and no warning could be got from him for the guidance of voluntary beings like ourselves. But being a downright selfish, proud, malignant man, God put him in this high position that he might effectually publish both his folly and his doom, and the power and name of that great Being whom he had so pertinaciously defied. He was born a Pharaoh, put in royal prerogative and possessions by no choice of his own, but we may most truly say, by the sovereign disposal of Jehovah. Thousands have been as stubborn against chastisement as he, and have gone down to a destruction as real, even though its circumstances have not been miraculous, imposing and memorable. The difference is that Pharaoh"s career was to be known; and not only known, but known as is the course of the sun and the moon, all round the earth. One such career is enough to be recorded in a way so prominent; one capital instance of human folly and weakness and Divine wisdom and power, blazing up like a beacon-fire out of the darkness of that distant past. Little did Pharaoh dream that, by his very perversity and humiliation, he was making a name for himself such as none made who went before or followed him, either in peace or in war. His memory is dragged in a perpetual procession of triumph at Jehovah"s chariot-wheels. And as it is with evil men, so it is with good. As there have been many of the Pharaoh stubbornness, though only one of the Pharaoh notoriety, so there have been many meek and gentle as Moses, though only Moses has been set for the whole world to gaze upon. It is more important to have Abraham"s faith than it is to have Abraham"s fame; more important to have the spiritual susceptibilities, experiences and aspirations of David, than the power which could put them into immortal Psalms. A man is not to be reckoned more wicked because the story of his execrable deeds is borne on every wind. A man is not better because he is better known. A few are taken for examples and located in history, as only God in his wisdom is able to locate them. He is a God who presides not only over life, but over biography as well. Y.
HOMILIES BY G. A. GOODHART
Harden not your hearts.
Our position in considering the dealings of God with men, resembles the position of scholars in some school observing and criticizing the conduct of the master. Certain inferences cannot be drawn from partial knowledge. Moreover, God"s dealings with us resemble, to some extent, the dealings of a tutor with his scholars. Where intelligent appreciation is impossible through immaturity of intelligence, then action must seem arbitrary, however perfect may be the justification. Consider
I GOD"S DEALINGS WITH PHARAOH. We cannot, in this view, separate Pharaoh from the social conditions which shaped his life. Great king as he was, yet, in God"s sight, he was but a man with great influence a man intimately connected with other men whose training and destinywere as important as his own. Illustration: In school one boy specially influential. The conduct of the master towards him must be regulated by considerations as to what is due to the whole body of scholars. The master must act for the general welfare, without partiality towards any. Had Pharaoh been the sole occupant of Egypt, he might have been treated differently. As one amongst many, the treatment he received is justified, if it can be shown to have tended to the benefit of the community of which he formed a part. Illustration: Suppose boy in school, bigger and stronger than other scholars, exerting a bad influence, bullying. Teacher will speak to him. Knowing, however, his character, may foresee that speech will irritate, make him more obstinate. Still, speech ignored, must go on to enforce it by punishment, well knowing, all the while, that punishment will increase the obstinacy of the individual recipient. Finally, may have to expel; yet, in justice to the rest, only finally, seeing that premature expulsion would but weaken his authority. So God
(1) spoke to Pharaoh by Moses, (Exo_5:1) then
(2) punished him again and again (Exo_9:14) only
(3) finally expelled him; foreseeing all the while that his treatment would but harden the offender, yet persisting in it for the good of others, to strengthen and maintain his own authority. (Exo_9:16)
II EFFECT ON PHARAOH OF GOD"S DEALINGS WITH HIM. Keeping to illustration, the effect on Pharaoh was just what might have been, and was, anticipated.
1. Effect of speech. Warnings and threats alike disregarded. The man so full of his own importance that he would not listen; would not allow the existence of a superior; only irritated; made more obstinate (cf. chapter 5.).
2. Effect of punishment. Pain inflicted proves power to inflict pain. Pain felt prompts to any action which may bring relief. Hence we find:
(1) Verbal confession, "I have sinned"just like boy, feeling punishment, ready to say anything which may remit the pain.
(2) A hardened heart. The disposition was not altered by the infliction. "I have sinned" only meant "I have suffered." Once-remove the suffering, and the sufferer showed himself more obdurate than ever. It would have been easy to remove Pharaoh at once; but he occupied an exemplary position, and must, for the sake of others, be treated in an exemplary manner. Expulsion came at last, but God retained him in his position so long as it was needful thereby to teach others his power. (Exo_9:16) Perfectly just to all; for even Pharaoh, though his conduct was foreseen, yet had it in his own power to alter it. Hardened like clay beneath the sun"s heat, his own self-determination made him like the clay; it might have made him like the snow, in which case his obduracy would have melted.
Apply. Many like Pharaoh, yet all do not act as he did under like treatment. (Cf. Jon 3; Dan 4:31-3-4) The same treatment may soften as well as harden. The heart, the self-will, the seat of the mischief and there is a remedy for that, (cf. Eze 36) but not whether we will or no. (Heb_3:7, Heb_3:8) Other ways in which hearts are hardened Pharaoh"s by active resistance, others by persistent inattention. Illustration the disregarded alarum. So Israel got used to God"s dealing with them; so, too often we do. G. (cf. Rom_2:4, Rom_2:5; Psa_95:8)
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART Vers. 13-21. Mercy in Judgment.
I GOD"S PURPOSE IN DEALING WITH THE WICKED BY CHASTISEMENT AND NOT BY JUDGMENT (13-16). God might have desolated the land, and let Israel pass unquestioned through the midst of it. But in Pharaoh and his people the Lord would, by foretold, continued, deepening chastisements, reveal the terror and resistlessness of his power. He would make the heart of the oppressor quail in every age and nation, and stir up the oppressed to hope and prayer. But for this prolonged contest with Pharaoh we should have lacked much that has gone to deepen holy fear of God and trust in him.
II HOW GOD LEADS UP THE WEAKEST FAITH INTO STRENGTH (20, 21).
1. Warning was given, and those who had merely faith enough to believethat God"s word might be kept, had time to save their servants and their cattle.
2. In the after contrast between themselves and those who had despised thewarning, faith would spring up into full assurance. The trust we give to God, like the seed we cast into the soil, is given back to us a hundredfold. How God answers the prayer, "Lord increase our faith. U.
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 To show in thee My power.
Exo_9:13-16
To show in thee My power.
Read full note →
The plagues of Egypt
I. characteristics.
1. Wonders. Filled men with astonishment and awe.
2. Signs. Instructive. Showed the power and anger of Jehovah. This, the finger, etc.
3. Punitive also. They punished the oppressor, while they opened the doors of the house of bondage.
4. Emblematical of the mission and career of Moses. Thunders of Sinai resounded through them all.
5. Various. Attacked both nature and man; animate and inanimate objects; mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms.
6. Numerous. Ten. Indeed more, for there was the undoing as well as the doing.
II. purpose.
1. To overthrow the deities of Egypt. Jehovah the only true God--Lord of lords.
2. To punish the oppressor. Those who long years had made the life of Israel bitter, now taste a worse bitterness than they had inflicted.
3. To confound the pride of Pharaoh. Though he was master in the land. Had need to be taught that there was One by whom kings rule.
4. To effect the deliverance of the captives. They gradually paved the way, and ultimately secured this.
III. effect.
1. Upon Pharaoh. Hardened his heart. In proportion as he set himself against the manifest will of God. So even the glorious gospel of the blessed God is, to some men, the savour of death unto death. At last even Pharaohs resistance was broken.
2. Upon the Egyptians. They were gradually subdued, till at length they entreated Pharaoh to let Israel go, as earnestly as ever Moses and Aaron did.
3. Upon Israel. They had dwelt secure while these terrors were abroad. God had hidden them in the chambers of His love and mercy. Their confidence restored. They organize their flight. They see the time is at hand. And at last wait for the final word.
Learn--
1. To stand in awe of the great God and sin not.
2. To admire the resources of infinite wisdom and power.
3. To take heed lest the gospel be a source of condemnation.
4. To expect no miracles, but turn to the sure word of prophecy.
5. To rejoice in our great deliverer, Jesus Christ. (J. C. Gray.)
The Divine name as manifested in the history of a wicked and rebellious soul
I. From the history of pharaoh we see that it is not the way of God to remove a wicked soul by the immediate stroke of power. The mercy of the Divine name is declared in the prolonged life of the sinner.
II. From the history of Pharaoh, we see that it is the way of God to surround the wicked soul by many ministries of salvation.
III. From the history of Pharaoh, we see that it is the way of God to follow the wicked soul with continued judgments. The sorrows of the wicked are not fortuitous or casual, but divinely arranged and continuous. Hence in the life of the sinner is seen the power of the Divine hand. Lessons:
1. That God permits wicked men to live in the universe, notwithstanding the continued rebellion against Him.
2. That a life of sin is a life of judgment.
3. That the sovereignty, mercy, power, and justice of God are seen in His dealings with men. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
God to be recognized in the events of life
In listening to a great organ, played by the hand of a master, there is often an undertone that controls the whole piece. Sometimes it is scarcely audible, and a careless listener would miss it altogether. The lighter play goes on, ebbing and flowing, rising and sinking, now softly gliding on the gentler stops, and now swelling out to the full power of the great organ. But amid all the changes and transpositions this undertone may be heard, steadily pursuing its own thought. The careless listener thinks the lighter play the main thing; but he that can appreciate musical ideas, as well as sounds, follows the quiet undertone of the piece, and finds in it the leading thought of the artist. So men see the outward events of life, the actions, the words, the wars, famines, sins; but underneath all God is carrying out His own plans, and compelling all outward things to aid the music He would make in this world. (Christian Age.)
Why Pharaoh was exalted
The words do not mean that the Almighty had created Pharaoh for this purpose; but that He had exalted him to worldly distinction, and preserved him alive, when the pestilence was ready to destroy, that he might serve as a beacon to warn the obstinate and rebellious in after times. It is a fearful thought, that God may allow us to reach positions of influence and authority, towards which our own selfish ambition has drawn us; and all this not for the purpose of imparting a blessing, but really for the manifesting a judgment, or for the display of His omnipotence. (J. H. Norton, D. D.)
Reprobation
I. I am to show that God did destroy Pharaoh. The Deity threatened to cut him off from the earth, which plainly implied something more than barely putting an end to his life, Had He permitted him to die by old age, or by sickness, or even by what is commonly called accident, we should have had no right to conclude from the manner of his dying that he was really destroyed. But there were two circumstances attending his death, which may be justly considered as denoting his destruction. He was cut off in the midst of his wickedness. And another is, that he died by the immediate hand of Divine justice. As God opened the Red Sea in mercy to Israel, so He shut it again in judgment to Pharaoh, whom He had threatened to destroy.
II. I am to show that God raised up Pharaoh to fit him for destruction. God worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. He never does anything without a previous design. If He destroyed Pharaoh in the manner which has been represented, there can be no doubt but that He previously intended to destroy him in such a manner. But the Divine declarations supersede the necessity of reasoning upon this head. God made known, from time to time, His purpose of destroying Pharaoh. Now, if we look into the history of Gods conduct towards Pharaoh, we shall find that He used all the proper and necessary means to form him a vessel of wrath, and fit him for that miserable end to which he was appointed.
1. He raised him up from nothing into being. He gave him a rational and immortal existence.
2. He raised him up to the throne of Egypt. In this splendid situation he was surrounded with everything that could please his taste, flatter his vanity, and inflame his ambition. And this was a natural and necessary step to prepare him for his final fate. For it is a Divine maxim, that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
3. God not only raised Pharaoh to the pinnacle of human glory, but also removed from him outward restraints. Besides giving him the power of an unlimited monarch, was virtually setting him above all legal influence and control. But besides this, God removed Moses from his presence and kingdom, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, and thoroughly acquainted with all the arts and intrigues of a court.
4. God endured this vessel of wrath with much long-suffering and forbearance. Instead of treating him according to his deserts, He waited long to be gracious. He used a variety of means to bring him to repentance. But mercies, as well as judgments, conspired to increase his stupidity and hardness of heart, which prepared him for a more unexpected and more aggravated doom.
5. God hardened his heart. All other methods, without this, would have failed of fitting him for destruction. It is now time to make it appear, if possible--
III. that God is to be justified in his treatment of Pharaoh. We must proceed upon the supposition that God did treat him in the manner which has been represented; and especially that He did, among other things, actually harden his heart.
1. That better judges than we can pretend to be, have approved of Gods treatment of Pharaoh. We find his own testimony in favour of God and against himself. Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. This Pharaoh said after God had raised him up, after He had taken off restraints from his mind, after He had sent severe judgments upon him, after He had hardened his heart, and after He had told him that He had raised him up to destroy him. By this time Pharaoh was nearly ripened for ruin, and properly prepared to judge whether God had injured him, or whether he had injured God. And he freely acknowledges that he was wicked, and had injured God, and that God was righteous, and had never injured him.
2. The sovereignty and justice of God allowed Him to treat Pharaoh in the manner which has just been described. The Deity had a sovereign right to bring Pharaoh into existence, to give him the powers and faculties of a moral agent, to place him at the head of a kingdom, and to operate upon his heart in the same manner in which He operates upon the hearts of other men. And when Pharaoh, under such circumstances, became extremely haughty, cruel, malevolent and obstinate, He had a right, in point of justice, to cut him off from the earth, and send him to endless perdition. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Pharaoh raised up
From all we can find out from a careful comparison of what Moses wrote with what Paul added in his letter (Rom_9:15-18), it would appear that a paraphrase like this might represent the truth: I selected thee for a strong and illustrious example of human insolence in power, its capabilities for wickedness, and the certainty of its final doom; and this I did in order that I might prove My own supremacy over the creatures of My hand, and thus declare My name in all the ages of the world.
1. Observe here that this king was perfectly intelligent concerning what Jehovah asked of him: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. That was the demand. Does any one say he could not let them go, if he tried? It was a simple measure of political economy; he would lose an unreckoned number of valuable slaves. So he made up his mind that the conflict must come on; he would not let them go. But there was in the struggle more than mere political economy; from the beginning it is an undenied fact that he knew it was God with whom he was contending; he was bracing himself for a fight which meant life or death. Why, then, did Menephtah take his stand in defiance of all? The real reason must be found in his wish to try his gods against Israels God; the issue, at first only economic, at last became only spiritual. Those who exercise their sympathy so extensively about this monstrous despot, steeped in conceit and superstition, and who claim that he was treated unfairly and had no chance, ought not to forget that Menephtah was permitted to choose his own forms of contending with Moses. Their weapons were miracles, and the orders of the Hebrew leader were issued in such slow details that for a while the king was able with his magicians to meet the demands of a very respectable rebellion in show. But enough of this.
2. It is more to the point now that we enter on an explanation of this expression about Pharaohs being raised up as an exhibition of Gods power and supremacy. For years of injustice in administration of the government, of tyranny in treatment of the Israelite working-people, and of superstitious idolatry in his worship, it is clear that Menephtah had been known and read of all men. Just then it pleased God to teach Israel, His chosen people, a lesson of dependence upon Himself; He determined to show His complete and irresistible supremacy over any one and every one else who was in a position to defy Him. The government of Israel was a theocracy; that is to say, God in person was the King of it, and Moses was the earthly representative before the people. He therefore needed a conspicuous antagonist. Menephtah was chosen. God might have selected the king of the Philistine nation or the Amorite; it is likely both were as bad as Pharaoh. What He did do was to choose this king of Egypt, the descendant of some awful generations of miscreant tyrants--himself as wicked as the worst. This king, Menephtah, the Lord took when he was at the height of his power. He kept him alive; He endured his defiance; He preserved a balance in His mind so that he should not go insane; He gave him an unbroken season of health; He guarded against any useless or unhelpful insurrection in his realm; He patiently bore with his blasphemy. Then, as the conflict grew more malignant, instead of cutting this rebel off in the midst of his daring impiety, God kept giving him more and harder disciplines--all calculated, mind you, to do him good, if he would only accept and improve them to good; thus kindling anew his passions with fresh fuel. The purpose seems to have been just to draw this one man out, to exhaust his tremendous powers and capabilities to the very utmost, so as to have the Hebrews understand that no king, not even at the highest conception of force and tyranny, was or could be a match for the great Jehovah who was their King and their God. In this sense Pharaoh was raised up, so as to become a recognized sinner for times and races in the unborn future, a shining shame before the world.
3. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. Menephtah does not stand alone in history, by any means. Cain, Saul, the king of Israel, Sihon, Belshazzar, Judas Iscariot, had a similar trial of human will against the Divine. These men were conspicuous; not all men are as much so; but all have the same human nature. Indeed, most of us are distinctly conscious of being perfectly unconstrained in all of our moral decisions. We should say, each one of us, if the inquiry were raised, that there never was a moment in all this mans career in which if he had turned and repented, he might not have been saved, no matter how far on in his guilt he might have advanced: so it seems now to ourselves. There is a theological doctrine called reprobation; the truth appears to be that at some period in the controversy with a human soul, God does judicially withdraw His Spirit, and then there is a solemn crisis reached for the experience of hardness; it looks as if a man could not repent, could not be saved, beyond that line of defiance and despair. Now, everything the Lord does to save a good man, if done to this reprobate, only makes him worse. How can that be helped? The free will is kept up, and the sovereignty does not yield. There is no defence, so far as can be discovered, against the power of an unrighteous man to make a vicious perversion of Gods most generous dealings.
4. There is a reprobation before death. The sentiment is not accurately true as some persons sing it: it is not always sure that while the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return. For in his heart there may be a hardness that will hinder him for ever from coming to ask for a pardon through Jesus Christ, and that is essential. After this point is reached, however, God goes right on doing as He did before. God never does anything to any soul with the intention of hardening it. He never raises up any man for the sake of casting him down again into hell. He has a right to choose as much as we have in any case. He chose Moses instead of Menephtah, and Israel instead of Egypt; He had mercy on whom He would have mercy. The ancient Thracian emblem of the Deity was a sun with three of its broadest beams proceeding from it: of these, one rested upon a sea of ice and was melting it; another, on a cliff of rock, and was causing it to flow; the third, on a dead mans body, and was rousing it to life. Now, just imagine each one of these, or any one of these, was so free-willed as to be able, and so spiteful as to wish, to resist, so a new chill went into the ice, and a fresh hardness into the rock, and a deeper corruption sunk into the dead body; would the warmth-giving and life-giving sun be to blame, if it still went on shining as before? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
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_9:13-16
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_9:13-16
THE DIVINE NAME AS MANIFESTED IN THE HISTORY OF A WICKED AND REBELLIOUS SOUL
Read full note →
We must clearly understand the teaching of the sixteenth verse of this paragraph, or we shall be apt to have a wrong view of the character of God, and to indulge unholy thoughts in reference to the method of the Divine administration over the human soul. We must not imagine that God made Pharaoh obstinate on purpose that He might show His power on him, and thereby get glory to Himself; for God needs not man’s malice for the setting forth of His glory. We must not understand by it that God decreed Pharaoh to be rebellious, and that it was therefore impossible for the proud monarch to be otherwise. The verse does not mean that God created Pharaoh for the purpose of manifesting His power in him. The king of Egypt had been passing through great afflictions, which were enough to be the death of him, and from these God had raised him up to manifest His power and mercy. The same word occurs in Jas_5:15. We have here the principle clearly established—viz., that God reveals His name, character, and method of moral government, in the lives of individual men. God not only reveals Himself in the inspired volume which He has caused to be written; not only in the material universe around us; but also in the experiences and soul-histories of the race. Human society gives us an insight into the character of God, and enables us to understand the method of the Divine procedure. We see the laws of heaven operating in the lives of men. This is an interesting study. It is likewise admonitory.
I. From the history of Pharaoh we see that it is not the way of God to remove a wicked soul by the immediate stroke of power. We know right well that the Divine Being need not have held any controversy with the king of Egypt in reference to the freedom of Israel; as far as power was concerned He could easily have stricken Pharaoh into the grave at the outset. But this would have been contrary to the ordinary method of the Divine government, which is not to subdue men by power, but to win them by moral considerations and by manifestation of Divine mercy. Force is a token of weakness in the moral sphere of life. Hence God does not annihilate the sinner. He does not immediately inflict death upon him, but mercifully prolongs his life through many retributions, until mercy is useless and justice is imperative. Then the sinner meets his just doom, which he might have averted by deep and true repentance. We sometimes wonder that God allows the criminally sinful to live, to reject His claims, and to pollute His universe. His mercy is the only explanation that can be given of their continued existence. Hence the mercy of the Divine name is declared in the prolonged life of the sinner.
II. From the history of Pharaoh, we see that it is the way of God to surround the wicked soul by many ministries of salvation. God did not make known His will to Pharaoh in reference to the freedom of Israel, and then leave him to his own rebellious inclination without further warning. But he sent messenger after messenger to the impious monarch. He sent Moses and Aaron time after time, who uttered the word of the Lord to him. He authenticated the word they uttered. He sent plagues to enforce it. But all in vain. Hence we behold the merciful manner in which God deals with the sinner. How many ministries has heaven sent to lead men to salvation and to the cross. There is the ministry of truth, the ministry of the pulpit, the ministry of conscience, and the ministry of daily events; the sinner is indeed surrounded by messengers who would lead him to repentance.
III. From the history of Pharaoh, we see that it is the way of God to follow the wicked soul with continued judgments. Pharaoh was followed by the judgments of heaven. They came in quick succession. They were grievous in their infliction, and awful in their retribution. The sinner cannot be happy. He is in conflict with God. All nature is against him. He is exposed to innumerable perils. Sin is always associated with plagues. It is punished in this life. But this is ever a merciful arrangement, in that the soul may be led to repentance, and thus escape the retribution of the life to come. We cannot but see in the entire history of Pharaoh, the disasters that overtake a wicked life, and that by Divine permission. The sorrows of the wicked are not fortuitous or casual, but Divinely arranged and continuous. No man need envy the penalties that follow sin. Hence in the life of the sinner is seen the power of the Divine hand. LESSONS:
1. That God permits wicked men to live in the universe, notwithstanding the continued rebellion against Him.
2. That a life of sin is a life of judgment.
3. That the sovereignty, mercy, power, and justice of God are seen in his dealings with men.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_9:13-14. God pursues persecutors early in multiplying His plagues upon them.
Seven times, yea and seven, will God demand His church out of the hand of oppressors, until he deliver them.
God has a time of mustering up all His plagues together, when single ones are despised.
God makes hearts sick with smiting, when blows will do no good upon the outward man.
Heart-evils are more grievous plagues from God upon men.
Heart-plagues are signal to make proud sinners acknowledge the supremacy of God.
God will be known by His judgments to be the one Lord in all the earth.
HEART-PLAGUES
I. The time when they are sent. They are sent when the soul is rebellious to the claims of God, and when those claims have been continuously rejected. These heart-plagues follow other judgments less severe. They are the emphatic voices of heaven. They are indicative of the soul’s ruin. The time of their advent is generally predicted.
II. In what they consist. They consist in the inward suffering of man’s moral nature. Not in external affliction, however terrible, but in the inner agony of the spirit. It is better to be tormented in the body and in the circumstances of life than in the thoughts, sentiments, and affections of the soul.
III. For what they are sent. They are sent to teach men the supremacy of God, and their duty in relation to the Supreme Being. How many are apparently unmindful of the only true God, and are only brought to acknowledge Him by agony of soul.
Exo_9:15-16. Pestilence:—
1. The outcome of Divine power.
2. The outcome of Divine anger.
3. The indication of final destruction.
Though God spares sinners a time, he will manifest His power in them at last.
God will have the whole earth know His name in his judgments.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Sinner’s self-will! Exo_9:13-16. It is not “Raised thee up”—but “made thee stand.” The meaning is that Jehovah permitted him to live and hold out until His own purpose was accomplished This did not make the monarch’s heart any worse. He might have let Israel go without being in the least degree better. The soil from which the hardness sprang would have been just the same. When the clay has not the sunbeams to indurate, it may yet be hardened quite as much by being placed in a furnace. Once hardened, it is easier to break than to soften a brick. Pharaoh had hardened his heart in the fire of self-will, and every fresh message from God—like a warm sunbeam—only made it harder. Pharaoh afterwards could not relent. The fakirs of India keep their arm or leg stretched out, until it becomes stiff; and they are unable to draw it back again. The Egyptian tyrant held out his heart so long against God that at last it was unable to yield. Standing in the Divine way, it must either bend or break:—
“The whole creation’s strange and endless dealing,
In spite of shields, and veils, and arts concealing,
Proclaims that whosoe’er is long a sinner,
Can only be by it of woe a winner.”
—Oriental.
Truth’s Power! Exo_9:14. When Pilate was brought close to Incarnate Truth, there seems to have been a momentary giving way of his former scepticism. The personal presence of the Truth, his bearing under the long and terrible trial—the serenity of soul—the calm, unwearying patience under insult—all seem to have awakened in Pilate a feeling as though he was dealing with a Being of superhuman powers. It was but a flash; for when the Truth uttered His testimony, the sceptic had gained the victory over the rising conviction, and with a sneer said: What is Truth? Equally transient were the emotions of conviction aroused in the heart of Pharaoh. All the miracles—convincing though they were—could not effectually satisfy His prejudiced mind: Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?
“I feel these piercing pains—
Yet still I sin—I sin.”
—Bonar.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Hail Threatened
The Hail Threatened
v. 13. And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let My people go that they may serve Me. The same demand repeated, with maddening emphasIsaiah
Read full note →
v. 14. For I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart and upon thy servants and upon thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth. The threat in this case is more fearful, and seems to include all the remaining plagues, which were to be directed against the obdurate heart of the king, but were also to affect his servants and all his people, since they all consented to the sins of Pharaoh. The final purpose was to establish the fact that the Lord God of the Hebrews was the one true God in all the earth.
v. 15. For now I will stretch out My hand that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. Pharaoh was even now doomed to death, and if the Lord had so chosen, it would have been an easy matter this to destroy him before this.
v. 16. And, in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up, God intended to set Pharaoh forth, as it were, as an example before the whole world and for all times, for to show in thee My power, and that My name be declared throughout all the earth. The manner in which the Lord would carry out the punishment upon Pharaoh would reveal His almighty power and cause His name to be extolled throughout the earth. After this general, impressive threat the Lord turns to the specific case in hand.
v. 17. As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people that thou wilt not let them go? There is a bit of terrible sarcasm here, that a puny man should so proudly glorify and exalt himself as to venture to set himself up as a dam against the will of God.
v. 18. Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. Since the day that the Egyptians had been organized as a nation such an extremely heavy and devastating hail had not been experienced in the land. Pharaoh was given only twenty-four hours’ time for reflection, to save himself and his people from the plague.
v. 19. Send, therefore, now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field, he should put the cattle which had remained after the great pestilence in a safe place, and secure whatever part of the crop could be saved upon such short notice; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. By adopting such measures of precaution as the Lord here advised, the Egyptians would be able to save at least a part of their property in the terrible destruction.
v. 20. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses;
v. 21. and he that regarded not the word of the Lord, whose heart was not set upon the dire prediction and warning, left his servants and his cattle in the field. So the words of Moses and the plagues that had preceded the present one had at least produced a wholesome fear of the Lord, if they had not worked repentance.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 on you yourself
on you yourself
This means that even Pharaoh will be hurt by the plagues. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)
Read full note →
I will do this so that you may know
The word "this" refers to the plagues that Moses had just told Pharaoh about.
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
Pharaoh
God
Hebrew
people of God
worship
send
plague
servant
people group
earth
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:13-33 The seventh plague was a hailstorm (9:18). It…
9:13-33 The seventh plague was a hailstorm (9:18). It rains in Egypt only a few days each year, and hail and thunderstorms are largely unknown, so this storm would have been terrifying. That may be why there is more theological reflection associated with it. The devastating effect of the plague was to destroy the flax and barley crops (9:31).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.