behold, Yahweh’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.
Parallel Translations
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behold, Yahweh’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.
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Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
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behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks; there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Exodus 9:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 7:4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
- Acts 13:11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
- Exodus 5:3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
- Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
- 1 Samuel 5:6-11 But Yahweh’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and its borders. When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us, for his hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god.” They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried over to Gath.” They carried the ark of the God of Israel there. It was so, that after they had carried it there, Yahweh’s hand was against the city with a very great confusion; and he struck the men of the city, both small and great, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent God’s ark to Ekron. As God’s ark came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel here to us, to kill us and our people.” They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said, “Send the ark of the God of Israel away, and let it go again to its own place, that it not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly panic throughout all the city. The hand of God was very heavy there.
- 1 Samuel 6:9 Behold, if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us. It was a chance that happened to us.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The fifth plague.
The fifth plague.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 9:3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is…
Exo 9:3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which [is] in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: [there shall be] a very grievous murrain.
Ver. 3. Is upon thy cattle.] Both those ad esum and those ad usum. Men sin, these suffer, and therefore groan. {Rom 8:22}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The hand of the Lord; in an immediate manner,…
The hand of the Lord; in an immediate manner, not by my rod, that thou mayst know it is not I, but the Lord, which doth all these things to thee.
Thy cattle which they kept for their wool or milk, or manifold uses and services, though not for food and sacrifice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Behold, the hand of the Lord,.... Which was stronger…
Behold, the hand of the Lord,.... Which was stronger than his, with which he held the Israelites:
is upon thy cattle which is in the field: this takes in all in general, of which the particulars follow, though limited to such as were in the field, and so did not take in what were at home in their out houses and stables:
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upon the horses: of which there was great plenty in Egypt, as appears from various places of Scripture:
upon the asses; used for carrying burdens from place to place:
and upon the camels; used the like purposes, and to ride upon, and particularly to travel with through desert places for commerce, being able to proceed on without water for a considerable time:
upon the oxen, and upon the sheep; oxen were for labour to plough with, and sheep for their wool, and all of them to trade with: there shall be
a very grievous murrain: or "pestilence" (y), a very noisome one, and which would carry off great numbers; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it a "death", as the Jews commonly call a pestilence, whether on man or beast, because it generally sweeps away large numbers.
(y) "pestis", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator; "pestilentia", Drusius; so Tigurine version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The hand of the Lord - Immediately, without the…
The hand of the Lord - Immediately, without the stretching out of Aaron's hand, is upon the cattle, many of which, some of all kinds, shall die by a sort of pestilence. The hand of God is to be acknowledged even in the sickness and death of cattle, or other damage sustained in them; for a sparrow falls not to the ground without our father. And his providence is to be acknowledged with thankfulness in the life of the cattle, for he preserveth man and beast, Psalm xxxvi, 6.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The FIFTH plague - the MURRAIN
The FIFTH plague - the MURRAIN
Verse 3. The hand of the Lord] The power of God manifested in judgment.
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Upon the horses] סוסים susim. This is the first place the horse is mentioned; a creature for which Egypt and Arabia were always famous. sus is supposed to have the same meaning with שש sas, which signifies to be active, brisk, or lively, all which are proper appellatives of the horse, especially in Arabia and Egypt. Because of their activity and swiftness they were sacrificed and dedicated to the sun, and perhaps it was principally on this account that God prohibited the use of them among the Israelites.
A very grievous murrain.] The murrain is a very contagious disease among cattle, the symptoms of which are a hanging down and swelling of the head, abundance of gum in the eyes, rattling in the throat, difficulty of breathing, palpitation of the heart, staggering, a hot breath, and a shining tongue; which symptoms prove that a general inflammation has taken place. The original word דבר deber is variously translated. The Septuagint have θανατος, death; the Vulgate has pestis, a plague or pestilence; the old Saxon version, [Anglo-Saxon], from [Anglo-Saxon], to die, any fatal disease. Our English word murrain comes either from the French mourir, to die, or from the Greek μαραινω maraino, to grow lean, waste away. The term mortality would be the nearest in sense to the original, as no particular disorder is specified by the Hebrew word.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 9:3. The hand of the Lord — Immediately,…
Exo 9:3. The hand of the Lord — Immediately, without the stretching out of Aaron’s hand; is upon the cattle — Many of which, some of all kinds, should die by a sort of pestilence. The hand of God is to be acknowledged even in the sickness and death of cattle, or other damage sustained in them; for a sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father. And his providence is to be acknowledged with thankfulness in the life of the cattle, for he preserveth man and beast, Psa 36:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A very grievous murrain - Or “pestilence;” but the…
A very grievous murrain - Or “pestilence;” but the word “murrain,” i. e. “a great mortality,” exactly expresses the meaning. This terrible visitation struck far more severely than the preceding, which had caused distress and suffering; it attacked the resources of the nation.
The camels - These animals are only twice mentioned, here and Gen 12:16, in connection with Egypt. Though camels are never represented on the monuments, they were known to the Egyptians, and were probably used on the frontier.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain My hand. God inflicts the fourth, fifth, and tenth…
My hand. God inflicts the fourth, fifth, and tenth plagues without Moses.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain FIFTH PLAGUE — MURRAIN, Exo_9:1-7.
FIFTH PLAGUE — MURRAIN, Exo_9:1-7.
3. The hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field — This infliction seems to be limited to the cattle which were in the open air. All of the animals here mentioned are represented in the Egyptian monuments except the camel, which, though used in Egypt from the earliest times, yet for some reason never occurs in the hieroglyphic inscriptions, or in the pictured representations of the tombs. Stuart Poole supposes that the camel was unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians, as associated with the hated nomad tribes of the desert and the abominated Shepherd Dynasties. See Gen_46:34, and note. In the populous cities and cultivated fields of the Nile valley the services of the camel would not be required; but to cross the sands which bounded the valley the “ship of the desert” was indispensable: yet perhaps the Egyptians generally employed the Arabs in this caravan service. The horses of Egypt were celebrated from early times: thence Solomon imported his into Palestine. They were greatly esteemed for chariot service and for war, but asses and cattle were generally employed for draught. The cheap, strong, patient ass was, and is, the peasant’s chief dependence for labour. Sheep were reared chiefly for their wool, mutton being rarely used. Large flocks were kept in the neighbourhood of Memphis, even to the number of two thousand.
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 3. cattle] lit. possessions, commonly used of possessions in…
3. cattle] lit. possessions, commonly used of possessions in sheep and oxen (Exo_12:38, Gen_47:14), but including here other animals as well.
camels] Camels were not used, or bred, in ancient Egypt, nor do they appear ‘in any inscription or painting before the Greek period’ (Erman, p. 493; cf. W. Max Müller, EB. i. 634; Sayce, EHH. 169). They look here like an anachronism: the reference may however be to camels belonging to traders, which had brought merchandise into Egypt across the desert from Arabia, or elsewhere (cf. Gen_37:25).
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grievous] i.e. severe: see on Exo_8:24.
murrain] the word which, when used of a disease of men, is commonly rendered pestilence (v. 15, Exo_9:3, and frequently); it is applied to a cattle plague only here and Psa_78:50.
Egypt does not seem to be often visited by cattle plagues. Pruner (Krankheiten des Orients, p. 108 ff.), and Lepsius (Letters from Eg., p. 44), cited by Kn., mention, however, a severe epidemic which began in 1842, and by June, 1843, had raged for nine months (Mrs Poole, The Englishwoman in Egypt, 1844, ii. 114 f.), causing great mortality among oxen and sheep, though it did not affect camels or horses. Pruner attributed this epidemic to the water of the Nile, which was low and impure at the time when it began: cattle which were at a distance from the Nile, and could obtain good water, were not attacked by it. There have also been cattle plagues in Egypt in recent years.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thy cattle which is in the field. The word…
Thy cattle which is in the field. The word "cattle" here is to be taken generally, as including under it the various kinds particularised. The cattle are mentioned as being at this time "in the field," because during the inundation all of them were brought in and housed, while, after the waters had retired, and the land had dried, most of them were turned out to graze. This is always the time at which epidemics break out. The horses, the asses, etc. Horses, which had been unknown prior to the Hyksos invasion, and which consequently do not appear in the list of animals presented to Abraham, (Gen_12:16) first became common under the eighteenth dynasty, when they seem to have been employed exclusively in war. Their use for agricultural purposes, which is perhaps here indicated, was not till later. (See Chabas, Etudes sur l"Antquite" Historic, p. 421.) The ass was employed in great numbers at all times in Egypt. Women and children rode on them, men sometimes in a sort of litter between two of them. They were chiefly used for carrying burthens, which were sometimes of enormous size (Lepsius, Denkmaler, Part 2. pls. 42a, 47, 56, 80 c, etc.). The camels. Camels are not represented on any Egyptian monument; but they are occasionally mentioned in the inscriptions (Chabas, Etudes, pp. 400-13). They are called kauri or kamaru. There is no doubt of their employment by the Egyptians as beasts of burthen in the traffic with Syria and with the Sinaitic peninsula.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:3 Your livestock refers specifically to field animals. Other…
9:3 Your livestock refers specifically to field animals. Other animals would have boils inflicted upon them in the next plague. • The term all (also in 9:6) is not absolute; it does not mean that every single livestock animal was killed. There were still some left to protect from the hail of the seventh plague (9:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.