Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.” Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
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Exodus 9:4-6 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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. For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, 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. Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.” Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ”
Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.”
Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.
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And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.
And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.
And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
Show all 3 translations
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And the LORD shall make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel.'
And the LORD appointed a set time, saying: 'Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.'
And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
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 (17)
- Exodus 8:22 (v4) I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know…
- Psalms 78:48 (v6) He gave over their livestock also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
- Exodus 8:23 (v5) I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.” ’ ”
- Exodus 9:25 (v6) The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the…
- Psalms 78:50 (v6) He made a path for his anger. He didn’t spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
Show all 17 cross-references
- Exodus 9:18 (v5) Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded…
- Exodus 9:19-20 (v6) Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on…
- Exodus 10:4 (v5) Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
- Exodus 10:23 (v4) They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
- Exodus 12:13 (v4) The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you…
- Numbers 16:5 (v5) He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to…
- Job 24:1 (v5) “Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (v5) For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a…
- Isaiah 65:13-14 (v4) Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be…
- Jeremiah 28:16-17 (v5) Therefore Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth. This year you will die, because you have spoken…
- Malachi 3:18 (v4) Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
- Matthew 27:63-64 (v5) saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 He shall declare his heavenly judgment against his enemies,…
He shall declare his heavenly judgment against his enemies, and his favor toward his children.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 Exo 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the…
Exo 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all [that is] the children’s of Israel.
Ver. 4. And there shall nothing die.] It is fair weather oft with the saints when it is foulest with the wicked. God hideth his in the hollow of his hand, {Psa 91:1-16} till the indignation be overpast. {Isa 26:20} He gives the like charge of them as David did of Absalom. {2Sa 18:5}
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 On v6 All the cattle; either of all sorts, or a…
All the cattle; either of all sorts, or a very great number of them, as the word all is frequently used; or rather, all that were in the field, as it is expressly limited, Exo 9:3, but not all absolutely, as appears from Exo 9:9,19,25; 14:23.
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 On vv4–6 And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of…
And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt,.... Make such a difference and distinction between them, that the murrain should not be on the one, when it was on the other, and which was a very marvellous thing; and especially in the land of Goshen, where the Egyptians had much cattle, and Pharaoh himself, see Gen 47:6 and yet, though the cattle of Israel breathed in the same air, drank of the same water, and fed in the same pastures, they had not the murrain as the cattle of Egypt had; and the word here used signifies a marvellous separation, as has been observed on Exo 7:22,
and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel; not an horse, nor an ass, nor an ox, nor a sheep.
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 On v6 All the cattle died - All that were in…
All the cattle died - All that were in the field. The creature is made subject to vanity by the sin of man, being liable, according to its capacity, both to serve his wickedness, and to share in his punishment. The Egyptians worshipped their cattle; it was among them that the Israelites learned to make a God of a calf; in that therefore this plague meets with them. But not one of the cattle of the Israelites died - Doth God take care for oxen? Yes, he doth, his providence extends itself to the meanest of his creatures.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Verse 4. The Lord shall sever] See Clarke on…
Verse 4. The Lord shall sever] See Clarke on Ex 8:22.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4–6 Exo 9:4. Shall nothing die of the children’s of…
Exo 9:4. Shall nothing die of the children’s of Israel — This was the greater miracle, because the Israelites and the Egyptians were mingled together in the land of Goshen; so that their cattle breathed the same air, and drank the same water. By which it appeared that this pestilence was not natural, but proceeded from the immediate hand of God.
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 On v6 All the cattle - i. e. which were left…
All the cattle - i. e. which were left in the field; compare Exo 9:19-21.
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 On vv5–6 Land. Moses related all this to the king, according…
Land. Moses related all this to the king, according to the Samaritan copy.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v6 all the cattle of Egypt died--not absolutely every beast,…
all the cattle of Egypt died--not absolutely every beast, for we find (Exo 9:19, Exo 9:21) that there were still some left; but a great many died of each herd--the mortality was frequent and widespread. The adaptation of this judgment consisted in Egyptians venerating the more useful animals such as the ox, the cow, and the ram; in all parts of the country temples were reared and divine honors paid to these domesticated beasts, and thus while the pestilence caused a great loss in money, it also struck a heavy blow at their superstition.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v6 6. And all the cattle of Egypt died —…
6. And all the cattle of Egypt died — Here the universal term all is not used in its absolute sense, as meaning each and every one, but it means simply very many. We find that there were other cattle left to be smitten by the boils, (Exo_9:10,) and still others to be killed by the hail. Exo_9:25. A like usage is seen in the description of the plague of the locusts, (Exo_10:12,) which are said to have eaten up all that the hail… left, and yet the hail smote every herb and brake every tree. Exo_9:25. The Hebrew idiom often thus uses universal terms in a general sense. See Act_2:5; Col_1:23.
There are several instances on record of a similar murrain in Egypt. Lepsius and Poole describe such an infliction which they witnessed in 1842, and a similar one occurred in 1853, resembling the cattle disease which prevailed so extensively throughout America in 1872. But the occurrence of the plague according to definite prediction, and the sparing of the cattle of the Israelites, were the miraculous marks of this visitation.
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This was, as yet, the heaviest infliction; for as the Egyptian wealth largely consisted in cattle, their means of support were now in a great degree destroyed. Jehovah shows these idolaters that he holds their supplies of food and clothing in his hands. Yet their crops, and many of their cattle, were yet left.
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 On vv4–6 4. The land of Goshen is again, as in…
4. The land of Goshen is again, as in the case of the plague of flies (Exo_8:22 f.), to be immune from the visitation.
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 On vv4–5 (4) The Lord shall sever.—Comp. Exo_8:22. Apparently Israel had…
(4) The Lord shall sever.—Comp. Exo_8:22. Apparently Israel had been subjected to the first, second, and third plagues, which caused annoyance only, and not loss. Their exemption began with the fourth plague, and then probably continued without intermission, though it is not always mentioned.
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 On vv4–5 The Lord shall sever. Compare Exo_8:22. There shall nothing…
The Lord shall sever. Compare Exo_8:22. There shall nothing die, etc The original is more emphatic, and might be rendered literally There shall not die of all that is the children"s of Israel a thing."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v5 fixed a time
fixed a time
"set a time" or "appointed a time"
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All the cattle of Egypt died
This is exaggerated to emphasize the seriousness of the event. There were still some animals alive that were afflicted by later plagues. However, it may be best to translate this with the word "All." (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
cattle of Egypt
Here "Egypt" refers to the people of Egypt. AT: "the cattle belonging to the people of Egypt" (See: Metonymy)
Pharaoh investigated
Pharaoh collected facts about the situation.
behold
The word "behold" here shows that Pharaoh was surprised by what he saw.
his heart was stubborn
Here "heart" refers to Pharaoh. AT: "he refused to change his mind" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
Yahweh
Egypt
Israel
Pharaoh
people group
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 On v5 9:5-6 Prediction again played an important role. These events…
9:5-6 Prediction again played an important role. These events were being directed by the One who is sovereign over all that happens.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.