Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Genealogy of Moses. EXODUS VII. His Second Tnterview with Pharaoh.
existent God who lives to accomplish it. Rest assured, therefore, that I shall bring it to pass. This passage has occasioned much discussion ; and it has been thought by many to intimate that as the name Jehovah was not known to the patriarchs, at least in the full bearing or practical experience of it, the honour of the disclosure was reserved to Moses, who was the first sent with a message in the name of Jehovah, and enabled to attest of God, and the other must be considered the speaker throughout all the ensuing scenes, even though his name is not expressly mentioned. 3. I will harden Pliaraoh's heart—This would be the result. But the Divine message would be the occasion, not the cau.?e of the king's impenitent obduracy. 4, 5. I may lay mine hand upon Egypt, &c. —The succession of terrible judgments with which the country was about to be scourged would fully demonstrate the supremacy of Israel's God. 7. Moses was fonrscore years—This advanced age was a pledge that they had not been readily betrayed into a rash or hazardous enterprise, and that under its attendant infirmities they could not have carried through the work on which they were entering had they not been supported by a Divine hand. 8. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, &c.— The king would naturally demand some evidence of their having been sent from God; and as he would expect the ministers of his own gods to do the same works, the contest, in the nature of the case, would be one of miracles. Notice has already been taken of the rod of Moses (ch. 4.
it by a series of public miracles. 9-11. Moses spake so luito the chllciren of Israel—The increased severities inflicted on the Israelites seem to have so entirely crushed their spirits, as well as irritated them, that they refused to listen to any more communications (ch. H. 12). Even the faith of Moses himself was faltering; and he would have abandoned the entefprise in despair had he not received a positive command from God to revisit the people without delay, and at the same time renew their demand on the king in a more decisive and peremptory tone. 13. how tlien shall . . . who am of unclrciimclsed lilisl—A metaphorical expression among the Hebrews, who, taught to look on the circumcision of any part as denoting perfection, signified its deficiency or unsuitableness by uncircumcision. The words here express how painfully Moses felt his want of utterance or persuasive oratory. He seems to have fallen into the same deep despondency as his brethren, and to be shrinking with nervous timidity from a difficult, if not desperate cause.
2), but rc Kls were carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court of Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were symbols of authority or rank. Hence God commanded his servants to use a rod. 10. Aaron cast slo'wn his rod before Pharaoh, &c.—It Is to be presumed that Pharaoh had demanded a proof of their Divine mission. 11. then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, <Sc.—His object in calling them was to ascertain whether this doing of Aaron's was really a work of Divine power or merely a feat of magical art. The magicians of Egypt In modern times have been long celebrated adepts in charming serpents, and particularly by pressing the nape of the neck, they throw them into a kind of catalepsy, which renders them stiff and Immov* able—thus seeming to change them Into a rod. They conceal the serpent about their persons, and by acts of legerdemain produce it from their drs, stiff and straight as a rod. Just the same trick was played off by their ancient predecessors, the most renowned of whom, Jannes and Jambxes (2 Timothy 3. 8), were called in on this occasion. They had time after the summons to make suitable preparations—and so It appears they succeeded by their "enchantments" in practising an illusion on the senses, la, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, &c.—Tills was what they could not be prepared for, and the discomfiture appeared in the loss of their rods, which were probably real serpents. 14. Pharaoh's heart is hardened —Whatever might have been his first Impressions, they were soon dispelled; and when he found his magicians making similar attempts, he concluded that Aaron's
If he had succeeded so ill with the people, whose dearest interests were all involved, what better hope could he entertain of his making more impression on the heart of a king elated with pride and strong in the possession of absolute power? How strikingly was the indulgent forbearance of God displayed towards his people amid all their backwardness to hail his announcement of approaching deliverance ! No perverse complaints or careless indifference on their part retarded the development of His gracious purposes. On the contrary, here, as generally, the course of his providence is slow in the
Infliction of judgments, while it moves more quickly, as it were, wlien misery is to be relieved or benefits conferred.
14-30. The Genealogy of Moses. 1*. These be the heads of their fathers' houses—chiefs or governors of their houses. The insertion of this genealogical table in this part of the narrative was Intended to authenticate the descent of Moses and Aaron. Both of them were commissioned to act so Important a part in the events transacted in the court of Egypt, and afterwards elevated to so high offices in tlie government and Churcli of God, that it was of the utmost importance tliat their lineage should be accurately traced. Reuben and Simeon being the eldest of Jacob's sons, a passing notice is taken of them, and then the historian advances to the enumeration of tlie principal persons in the house of Levi. ao. Amram took him .Tochebefl his father's sister to wife —The Septuagint and Syriac versions render It his cousin. 23. Kllsheba i.e., Elizabethan. These minute particuafi'air was a magical deception, the secret of which was not known to his wise men. 13. Get thee unto Pharaoh —Now therefore began those appalling miracles of Judgment by which the God of Israel, through his ambassadors, proved his sole and unchallengeable supremacy over all the gods of Egypt, and which were the natural phenomena of Egypt, at an unusual season, and In a miraculous degree of Intensity. The court of Egypt, whether held at Rameses, or Memphis, or Tanis In the field of Zoan (Psalm lars recorded of the family of Aaron, while lie lias passed over his own, indicate the real modesty of Moses. An ambitious man or an Impostor would have acted In a different manner.
78. 12), was the scene of those extraordinary transactions, and Moses must have resided during that terrible period In the immediate neighbourhood. In the mornings lo, lie goeth out unto the water, &c.—for the purpose of ablutions or devotions perhaps; for the Nile was an object of superstitious reverence, the patron deity of the country.
CHAPTER VII.
Ver. 1-25. Second Interview with PnAiiAOir. 1. the Ijord stiUl itnto Itloses—He Is here eiieoiiraged to
It might be that Moses had been denied admission Into the palace; hut be that as It may, the river was to be the subject of the first plague, and therefore he was ordered to repair to Its banks with the miracle-working rod, now to be raised, not In demonstration, but In Judgment, If the refractory spirit of the king should still refuse consent to v\'ait annin on tlic Ifliig—not, however, as fonneriy, in the attitude of a luuiil)le suppliant, but now armed with cvedentlals as God's ambassador, and to make Ills demand In a tone and manner which no eartlily monarch or court over witnessed. I have ma<Ic thee a Gotl—made,
Israel's departure foV their sacred rites. 17-91. Aaron lifted up the rod and smote the waters, &c.—Whether the water was changed Inf o real blood, or only the appearance of It (and Omnipotence could effect the one as easily as the other), this was a severe calamity. How great must have been the disappointment and disgust throughout the land when the river became of a blood-red colour, of which i.e., set, appointed; "a god," t. e., lie was to act in tills business iis (iod's n-picsentatlve, to act and speak In bis name, an<l to perform things lieyoiid tlic ordinary course of nature. Tlie Orientals familiarly say of a man wiio is eminently tivf.xt or wise "he is a god" among men. Anroii thy brother Mhnll be thy prophet i. c, Interpretei or Hpokesniiiii. Tlie one was to bo the vicegerent 52
Tht Plague of Frogs. EXODUS
VII r, IX. IJie Murrain of BeasU, m of When no precautions could preserve from their painful sting. The very smallness and insignificance of these fierce insects made them a dreadful scourge. The magicians never attempted any imitation, and wliat neither the blood of the river nor the nuisance of the frogs had done, the visitation of this tiny enemy constrained them to acknowledge "this is the finger of God," properly "gods," for they spoke as heathens.
they had a national abhorrence; their favourite beverage became a nauseous draught, and when the fish, which formed so large an article of food, were destroyed. The Immense scale on which the plague was inflicted is seen by its extending to " the streams," or branches of the Nile —to the "rivers"—the canals—the "ponds" and "pools," that which is left after an overflow—the reservoirs, and the many domestic vessels in wliich the Nile water was kept to filter. And accordingly the suflerjpgs of the people ilrom thirst must have been severe. Nothing could more humble the pride of Egypt than this dishonour brought on their national god. 'ZH. Tlie magicians . . . did so with their enchantments, &c.—Little or no pure water could be procured, and therefore their imitation must have been on a small scale—the only drinkable water to be got being dug among the sands. It must have been on a sample or specimen of water dyed red with some colouring matter. But it was suflicient to serve as a pretext or command for the king to turn unmoved and go to his house.
20-32. Plague of Flies, ao. Rise up early . . . Pharaoh s lo, he Cometh forth to the water, <fec.—Pharaoh still appearing obdurate, Moses was ordered to meet him while walking on the banks of the Nile, and repeat his request for the liberation of Israel, threatening in case of continued refusal to cover every house from the palace to tlie cottage with swarms of flies—while, as a proof of the power that accomplished this judgment, the land of Goshen should be exempted from the calamity. The appeal was equally vain as before, and the predicted evil overtook the country in the form of what was not " flies," such as we are accustomed to, but divers sorts of flies (Psalm
78.45), the gad-fly, the dog-fly, the cockroach, the Egyptian beetle, for all these are mentioned by different writers. They are very destructive,'some of them inflicting severe bites on animals, others destroying clotlies, boolcs, plants, every thing—the worship of flies, particularly of the beetle, was a prominent part of the religion of the ancient Egyptians. The employment of these winged deities to chastise them must have been painful and humiliating to the Egyptians, while it must at the same time have strengthened the faitli of the Israelites in tlie God of their fatliers as the only object of worship. 25-3a. Pharaoh called for Moses, . . . and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God In the land, &c.—Between impatient anxiety to be freed from this scourge, and a reluctance on the part of the Hebrew bondsmen, the king followed the course of expediency: he proposed to let tliem free to engage in their religious rites within any part of the kingdom. But true to his instructions, Moses would accede to no such arrangement ; he stated a most valid reason to show the danger of it ; and the king having yielded so far as to allow them a brief holiday across the border, annexed to tills concession a request that Mosts would entreat with Jehovah for the removal of the plague. He promised to do so, and it was removed the following day. But no sooner was the pressure over than the spirit of Pharaoh, lilce a bent bow, sprang back to its wonted obduracy, and, regardless of his promise, he refused to let the people depart.
CHAPTER VIII.
Ver. 1-15. Plague of Frogs. 1. the Liord spake nnto Sloses, Go unto Pharaoh—The duration of the first plague for a whole week must have satisfied all that it was produced not by any accidental causes, but by the agency of Omnipotent power. As a judgment of God, however, it produced no good effect, and Jloses was commanded to wait on the king and threaten hira, in the event of his continued obstinacy, with the infliction of a new and different plague. As Phai'aoh's answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been unfavourable, for the rod was agai n raised. 3. I will smite all tliy borders with frogs—Those animals, though the natural spawn of the river, and therefore objects familiar to the people, were on this occasion miraculously multiplied to an amazing extent, and it is probable that the ova of the frogs, which had been previously deposited in the mire and marslies, were miraculously brought to perfection at once. 3. bedchamber . . . bed—mats strewed on the floor as well as more sumptuous divans of the rich, ovens—holes made In the ground and the sides of which are plastered witli mortar, kneadlug-troughs—those used in Egypt were bowls of wicker or rush-work. What must have been the state of the people when they could find no means of escape from tlie cold, damp touch and unsightly presence of the frogs, as they alighted on every article and vessel of food ! 5, G. Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, &c.—The miracle consisted in the reptiles leaving their marshes at the very time he commanded them. 7. the magicians did so with their enchantments—required great art to make the ot Tensive reptiles appear on any small spot of ground. What they undertook to do already existed in abundance all around. They would better have shown their power by removing the frogs. 8. Pharaoh called, . . . Sntreat the Lord, that he may talcc away the frogs from me—The frog, which was now used as an instrument of affliction, whetlier from reverence or abliorrence, was an object of national superstition with the Egyptians; the god Ptha being represented with a frog's head. But the vast num-
CHAPTER IX.
Ver. 1-7. Murrain of Beasts. 3. Behold, the hand of the Lord is on thy cattle—A fifth application was made to Pharaoh in behalf of the Israelites by Moses, who was instructed to tell him that, if he persisted in opposing their departure, a pestilence would be sent amongst all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, while those of the Israelites would be spared. As he showed no intention of keeping his promise, he was still a mark for the arrows of the Almighty's quiver, and the tlireatened plague of wliich he was forewarned was executed. But it is observable that In tills instance it was not inflicted through tha instrumentality or waving of Aaron's rod, but directly by the hand of the Lord, and the fixing of the precise time tended still further to determine the true character of the calamity (Jeremiah 12. 4). all the cattle of Egypt died— not absolutely every beast, for we find (ti. 19, 21) that there were still some ; but a great many died of eacli herd—the mortality was frequent and wide-spread. The adaptation of this judgment consisted in tlie Egyptians venerating the more useful animals, such as the ox, the cow, and tlie ram ; In all parts of the country temples were reared and divine honours paid to these domesticated beasts, iiiid thus while the pestilence caused a great loss in money, It struck a heavy blow at their superstition. 7. Piiarawli sent . . . there was not one of the cattle of tlie Israell>ers, together with their stench, made them an intolerable nuisance, so that the king was so far humbled as to promise that if Moses would intercede for their removal he would consent to the departure of Israel, and in compliance with this appeal, they were withdrawn at the very hour named by the monarch himself. But many, while suffering the consequences of their sins, make promises of amendment and obedience which they afterwards forget, and so Pharaoh, when he saw there was a respite, was again hardened.
16-19. Plague of Lice. 16. smite the dust of the land, &c.—Aaron's rod, by the direction of Moses, who was commanded by God, was again raised, and the land was filled with gnats, mosquitoes — that Is the proper meanlngof theorlglnal term. In ordinary circumstances they embitter life In Eastern countries, and therefore the ites dead—The despatch of confidential messengers indicates that he would not give credit lo vague reports, and we may conclude that some iiiipressiori had been made ou his mind by that extraordinary exemption, uuk It wan terril/le nature of this Infliction on Egypt may be Judged
Tlie Plague of Haii. EXODUS X. TJtL riaf/ue of Loeuu*.
ened series before Ph.iraoh to leave him without excuse when judgment should be finally executed. 2. and that thou mayest tell . . . of thy son, and of thy son's son, neitheT a good nor a permanent impression. His pride auU obstinacy were in no degree sul Klued.
8-17. PRAGUE OF Boius. 8. Take to you IiancVfnls of ashes, itc —Tlie.next pla Kue assailed the persons of the Egyptians and it appeared in the form of ulcerous eruptions upon tlie skin and flesli (Leviticus 13. 20; 2 Kings 20.
&e.—There was a further and higher reason for the infliction of those awful judgments, viz., that the knowledge of them there, and the permanent record of them still might furnish a salutarj' and impressive lesson to the I'luirch down to the latest ages. Worldly historians might have described them as extraordinary occurrences that marked
7 ; Job 2. 7). That this epidemic did not arise from natural causes was evident from its taking etl'eet from the particular action of Moses done in the sight of Pharaoh. The attitude he assumed was similar to that of Eastern magicians, who; " when they pronounce an imprecation on an individual, a village, or a country, take the aslies of cows' dung I tiiat is, from a common tii-e)and throw llu iii ni ilir <tir, saying to the objects of their displeasure, such a sicline.ss or sucli a curse shall co.me upon you." [Kobki;t;s.] Jloses took aslies from the furnace — //efcrew, brick-lciln. The magicians being sufferers in their own persons, could do nothing, though they liad been called; and as tlie brickkiln was one of the principal instruments of oppi-ession this era of McSes in ancient Egypt. But we are taught to trace them to their cause : the judgments of Divine wrath on a grossly idolatrous king and nation. 4. to-morrow will I bring the locusts—Moses was commissioned to renew the request so often made and denied, with an assurance that an unfavourable answer would be followed on the morrow by an invasion of locusts. This species of insect resembles a large, spotted, red and black, doublewinged grasshopper, about three inches or less in length, with the two hind legs working lilvC hinged springs of immense strength and elasticity. Perhaps no more territo the Israelites, it was now converted into a means of chastisement to the Egyptians, who were made to read ble scourge was ever brought on a land than those voracious insects, which fly in such countless numbers as to darken the land which they infest, and on whatever place they alight, they convert it into a waste and l)arreii tlieir sin in their punishment.
IS-3.J. Plague of Hail. 18. 1 win cause it to rain a very grievous liall, &c.—The seventh plague which Pharaoh's hardened heart provoked was that of hail, a phenomenon which must have produced the greatest astonishment and consternation in Egypt, as rain and hailstones, accompanied by thunder and lightning, were very rare occurrences. sucU as Katli not been in Egypt—In the Delta, or lower Egypt, where the scene is laid, rain occasionally falls between January and March—hail Is not unknown, and thunder sometimes heard. But a storm, not only exhibiting all these elements, but so terrific that hailstones fell of immense size, thunder pealed in awful volleys, and lightning swept the ground like tire, was an unexampled calamity. HO, 'il. He that feared the word of tl»e Lord . . . regarded not, Ac.—Due premonition, it appears, had been publicly given of the impending tempest—the cattle seem to have been sent out to graze, which desert, stripping the ground of its verdure, tlie trees of their leaves and bark, and producing in a few hours a degree of desolation which it requires the lapse of years to repair. T-11. Pharaoh's servants said—Many of liis courtiers must have suf Tered serious losses from the late visitations, and the prospect of such a calamity as that which was threatened, and the magnitude of which former experience enabled them to realize, led them to make a strong remonstrance with the king. Finding himself not seconded by his counsellors in his continued resistance, he recalled Moses and Aaron, and having expressed his consent to their departure, inquired who were to go? The prompt and decisive reply, "all," neither man nor beast shall remain, raised a storm of indignant fury in the breast of the proud king; he would permit the grown-up men to go away. But no other t<>rms would be list(Mied is from January to April, when alone pasturage can be obtained, ahd accordingly the cattle were In the fields. This storm occurring at that season, not only struck unito. they were driven out from Pliaraoh's presence, &c.—In the East, when a person of authority and rank versal terror into the minds of the people, but occasioned the destruction of all—people and cattle — which, in nefeels annoyed by a petition which he is unwilling to grant, he makes a signal to his attendants, who rush forward, and seizins the obnoxious suppliant by the neck, drag him out of the chamber with violent haste. Of such a character was the impassioned scene in the conrt of Egypt, when the king had wrought himself into such a glect of the warning, had been left in the fields, as well as of all vegetation. It was the more appalling that hailstones in Egypt are small and of little force—lightning also is .scarcely ever known to produce fatal effects, and to enhance, the wonder, not a trace of any storm was found fit of uncontrollable fury as to treat ignominiously the two venerable representatives of the Hebrew people. 13.
in G'oshen. 31, the tlax and the barley was smitten, (Sc.-The peculiarities that are mentioned in these tlie Loi-d brought nn east wind—The rod of Moses was again raised, and the locusts came. They are natives of cereal products arise from the climate and physical con Btitution of Egypt. In that country flax and barley are almost ripe when whent and rye (spelt) are green. And the desert, and are only brought by an east wind Into Egypt, where they sometimes come In sun-obscuring hen<-e the flax must have Ijeen " boiled "—i. c, risen in clouds, destroying in a few days every green bl.ade in the track they tr.averse. Man, with all his contrivances, can do nothing to protect himself from the overwhelming in-
Btalli or podded in Eebruary, thus fixing the particular month when the event took place. Barley ripens about a month earlier than wheat. Flax and barley arc generally vasion. Egypt has often suirered from locusts. But the plague that followed the wave of the miraculous rod was altogether unexamiiled. Pharaoh, fearing irretrievable ruin to his country, sent in haste for Moses, and confessripe in March, wheat and rye (properly, spelt) in April.
iiT-S.l. Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, anil said, 1 Iiave sinned—This awful disjilay of Divine displeasure did seriously impress the mind of I'liaraoh, and, undcir the weight of his convictions, lie liumbles lilming his sin, implored the Intercession of Moses, who entreated the Lord, and a "mighty strong west wi ml took away the locusts."
Kclf to confess he has done wrong in opposing the Divine
21-'2!). PLAnuE OF Darkness, ai. Stretch out thine Ikand toward heaven, that there may be darknens— Whatever secondary means were employed in producing will. At the same time lie calls for Moses to Intercede for eessatlon of the calamity. Moses accedes to his earnest wishes, and this most awful vls Hatlon ended. Hut his repentance proved a transient feeling, and his obduracy Boon became as great as before.
it, whether thick clammy fogs and vapours, according to some; a sand-storm, or the cluiinsln, according to others;
It was such that It could be almost perceived by the organs
CHAPTER' X.
of touch, and so protracted as to continue for threi Mlnys which the chamsin does. [Ilr.vcsTF.NnKiUi.l Tin appall-
Ver. 1-20. Plaouk of Locusts. 1. show these my ing character of this calamity consisted In this, that the sun was an object of Egyptian Idolat ry ; that the pure an 1 serene sky of that country was iKver marred by the appearance of a cloud. And here, too, the Lord ma<l<- n marked dlirerence bet ween (Uoslieii aixl the rest of Egypt.
HiguH, Ac—Sinners (!ven of the worst descript ion are to be admonished, even though there mafy be little hope of amendment, and hence; those Rtrlklng mlra(des that carried HO clear and conclusive demonstration of the being
Pliaraoh called unto Moses, and said, Co ye, li,nd character of the true God, were performed In lenglh-