Exodus 10

Chap. XI. ver. 1. And the Lord said] The Hebrew words should rather be translated, “The Lord had said:” for the interview of Moses with Pharaoh in this chapter must have been antecedent to what occurs at ver. 28, 29, of the preceding chapter. Bp. Patrick.

— the maidservant that is behind the mill.] The people of the East commonly make use of handmills. They are female slaves, that are generally employed about them. It is extremely laborious, and esteemed the lowest employment in the house. Sir J. Chardin. The grinder usually sits on the floor; and placing the mill on her lap, by means of the handle works the upper stone round with her right hand. Hence we read of the maidservant who is behind the mill. Fragments to Calmet.

—to you.] To you especially, in the sense before explained, and with a particular reference to your redemption out of Egypt. It was at this time also that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for our redemption: there was always a tradition among the Jews, that as they were redeemed from Egypt on the 15th day of Nisan, so they should on the same day be redeemed by the Messiah. Bp. Kidder.

Exodus 10:3

3. — the man Moses was very great &c.] This seems to be introduced as a reason why the court durst not meddle with Moses, though he had brought so many plagues upon them; and why the people were willing to grant the Israelites what they desired; namely, because they all highly esteemed him, and held him in great reverence, as a person who had extraordinary power from God. Bp. Patrick.

Exodus 10:5

5. — all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.] One manifest purpose of Providence in these signs and judgments was to punish the Egyptians by a series of evils; and this on two accounts. In the first place, because they were blest with noble parts and great knowledge, which they prostituted to a shameful degree. And 2dly, because, after their nation had been preserved by one of the Israelitish family, they had, contrary to all right, and in defiance of original stipulation, enslaved the people, to whom they had been so much indebted. And not contented with this, they had proceeded to murder their offspring, and to render the people’s bondage intolerable by a wanton exertion of power. It had been told them, that the family of the Israelites collectively were esteemed as God’s firstborn, chap. iv. 22: for from that family Christ was to proceed, “who is the firstborn of every creature.” Therefore God said to them, “Let My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn,” chap. iv. 23. But they heeded not this admonition. Hence these judgments came upon them; which terminated in the death of the eldest in each family: a just retaliation for their disobedience and cruelty. Bryant.

Vol. I.

Exodus 10:6

6. — there shall be a great cry &c.] The Egyptians of all nations upon earth were most frantic in their grief. When any person died in a family, all the relations and all the friends of the deceased co-operated in a scene of sorrow. And the process was to quit the house; at which time the women, with their hair loose, and their bosoms bare, ran wild about the streets. The men likewise, with their apparel equally disordered, kept them company; all shrieking, and bowling, and beating themselves, as they passed along. This was upon the decease of an individual: but when there was one dead in every family, every house must have been in a great measure vacated, and the streets quite filled with mourning. Hence we may be assured that those violent emotions were general; and at the same time shocking past all imagination. The suddenness of the stroke, and the immediate and universal cries of death at midnight, that particularly awful season, must have filled every soul with horreur. It was therefore very truly said by the Prophet of God, “There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt; such as there was none like it” (before,) “nor shall be like it any more."—“And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt,” chap. xii. 30. Bryant.

Exodus 10:8

8. — he went out — in a great anger.] It moved even Moses, the meekest man upon earth, to a just indig-

M The beginning of the year changed. The passover instituted. Babre CHRIST 1401. that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 10:10

10. — Let the Lord be so with you.] These words are either a form of imprecation, as if he had said, “I wish you may prosper no better than I shall accord to your desire:” or else they are spoken scoffingly, as if he had said, “You trust in the Lord; let Him do all He can to deliver you, as I am resolved to keep you here.” Bp. Patrick.

— look to it; for evil is before you.] Look to it; go, if you will, at your own peril. Bp. Hall.

10.—did all these wonders] The gradual increase of these judgments is remarkable. The first four plagues were loathsome, rather than fatal, to the Egyptians. After that of the flies came the murrain, which chiefly spent its rage upon the cattle. The boils and blains reached both man and beast; though there was still a reserve of life. The hail and locusts extended, in a great measure, even to life itself; the first, by an immediate stroke; and both in their consequences, by destroying the fruits of the earth. That of darkness added consternation to their minds, and lashes to their conscience. And when all this would not reclaim, at length came the decisive blow: first, the cutting off of the firstborn; and then the drowning of the incorrigible tyrant, and all his host. Stackhouse.

By the infliction of these plagues we are taught, that punishment, and a continuance of judgments and correction, becomes a necessary discipline, while the heart persists in rebellion. Nevertheless, from the tenure of the whole, it is obvious to observe that however severe the chastisements of God in this world may seem, they are ever tempered with mercy, and graciously designed to lead us to repentance: but that, if we repent not, mercy must and will give place to justice, and deliver us up to destruction. For, as Divine justice is seasoned with mercy, so mercy itself is ever perfectly just. Wogan.

Chap. XII. ver. 2. This month] Which in process of time was called Abib, because the corn was then in ear; for Abib signifies an ear of corn: and also, in after ages, Nisan. It answers to part of our March and April. It was now made the first month of the year; that is, of the sacred, not of the civil year. For the seventh month, or Tisri, answering to our September and October, was, even after this time, the first month of the year in some respects. Tisri began the civil year, and was reckoned the first month, not only for civil purposes, but for the sabbatical year, and the jubilee. But Abib was the beginning of the sacred or ecclesiastical year, with respect to the holy days and festivals which God appointed. Bp. Patrick. See note on chap. xiii. 4.

Exodus 10:15

15. — they covered the face of the whole earth.] I had once an opportunity to see large swarms of locusts in the island of Cyprus: and till that time had no adequate idea of their numerous hosts and rapacious depredations. In going in a chaise from Larnica to a garden at a distance of four or five miles, the locusts lay swarming, above a foot deep, in several parts of the high road, and thousands were destroyed by the wheels of the carriage crashing over them. Dr. Russell.

— they did eat every herb &c.] Of the insect tribes, the locust is the most dreadful in its depredations; it sets all the defensive arts of man at defiance, and destroys in a few days the beautiful verdure of vast tracts of cultivated country. Dr. Russell.

Those which I saw in Barbary were much bigger than our common grasshoppers. They appeared first towards the end of March, the wind having been some time southerly: in the middle of April their numbers were so increased, that in the heat of the day they formed themselves into large bodies, appeared like a succession of clouds, and darkened the sun. In June the new broods gradually made their appearance: on being hatched, they immediately collected together, forming compact bodies of several hundred yards square: and marching directly forward, climbed over trees, walls, and houses, ate up every plant in their way, and let no-

thing escape them. The inhabitants made trenches, and filled them with water; and placed in rows great quantities of combustible matter, and set them on fire. But in vain. The trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires put out, by infinite swarms succeeding one another: the last gnawing off the young branches, and the very bark of such trees, as had escaped before with the loss only of their fruit and foliage. Dr. Shaw.

Exodus 10:17

17. — this death] Death, being the extremity of temporal sufferings, in the Hebrew idiom, which expresses every thing strongly, signifies any very dreadful evil or hazard. Archbishop Secker.

Exodus 10:19

19. — a mighty strong west wind.] Strong winds are the only remedies to free a country from this plague; for if the locusts die in the fields, the air is so corrupted with the stench, that it breeds pestilential diseases. Bp. Patrick. As the direction of the flights of the locusts in Barbary is always to the northward, it is probable they perish in the sea. Dr. Shaw.

— there remained not one locust] The power of God appeared no less in sweeping them all away, than in bringing them upon the country: for both were done at the instance of Moses. Bp. Patrick.

Exodus 10:21

21. And the Lord said, &c.] He now left off treating with Pharaoh, and only proceeds in the execution of the sentence of utter destruction, which had been decreed against him. Bp. Patrick.

— darkness which may be felt] Darkness caused by thick and clammy fogs, which might be felt by the bare faces and hands of those who were exposed to them. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells. So thick, black, and dreadful a mist fell upon the country, as affected all people in the most sensible manner, and with the most frightful apprehensions. Pyle.

Pharaoh sueth unto Moses.

] hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

Exodus 10:22

22.—there was a thick darkness] This judgment was very extraordinary: nor had any thing similar been ever experienced by this or any other nation. It bore a strict analogy with the sentiments and idolatry of the people who suffered. The Egyptians were a people of great learning; and seem to have been superior in science to all other nations. But they prostituted these noble gifts: and, through an affectation of mystery and refinement, they abused the knowledge afforded them: for, by vailing every thing under a type, they at last lost sight of their original intelligence. They at first looked upon light, and fire, and the great fountain of light, the sun, merely as proper emblems of the true Deity, the God of all purity and brightness. But such was the reverence which they paid to them, that in process of time they forgot the hand by which these things were framed; and looked upon the immediate means and support of life, as the primary efficient cause, to the exclusion of the real Creator. What then could be more reasonable and apposite, than for a people, who had thus abused their intelligence, and prostituted their faculties; who raised to themselves a god of day, their Osiris, and instead of that intellectual light, the wisdom of the Almighty, substituted a created and inanimate element, as a just object of worship: what, I say, could be more apposite, than for a people of this cast to be doomed to a judicial and temporary darkness? The judgment bore a strict analogy with the crime: and, as it was a just punishment to them, so it was a proper warning to others, not to give way to the like mystery and illusion.

Nor was this all. As the Egyptians betrayed an undue reverence for the sun, and light; so they shewed a like veneration for night and darkness: regarding them as real, sensible, substantial beings; and giving them a creative power. They were therefore very justly condemned to undergo a palpable and coercive darkness; such as prevented all intercourse for three days. In short, they suffered a preternatural deprivation of light, which their luminary Osiris could not remedy; and they were punished with that essential night, which they so foolishly had imagined, and at last found realized. Bryant.

Exodus 10:23

23. They saw not one another.] Some of the Roman writers mention a darkness for a short time so great, that one man could not know another. But of such a darkness as this, which continued to obscure all things for three days, there is no other record in history. It appears to have been caused by God, both to punish the Egyptians, and to relieve the Israelites, who were probably preparing, during these three days, for their departure. Dr. Wells. The same prodigy, but of shorter continuance, attended our Lord’s crucifixion, when “there was darkness over all the land from the sixth

hour,” the time of His crucifixion, “till the ninth hour,” when He expired: emblematic likewise of that mental darkness and destruction, which awaited His murderers. Dr. Hales.

23.—neither rose any from his place for three days:] The consternation of the Egyptians is strongly represented by their total inaction: “neither rose any from his place for three days,” petrified, as they were, with horreur. Dr. Hales.

Exodus 10:26

26.—not an hoof be left behind:] The hoof put for the whole beast: not one animal shall be left. By Patrick.

Exodus 10:27

27.—and he would not let them go.] Thus was this unhappy prince by the obstinacy of his heart carried on, through many great misfortunes to himself and his people, at length to his ruin. He had all along sufficient means of conviction; yet he was resolved not to be convinced. If it be asked, how could a man of common sense and understanding be so wonderfully absurd? —it may be answered, sense and understanding are not the only requisites to make men judge rightly of even the clearest religious truths. The inspired writer most justly advises, to “take heed of an evil heart of unbelief,” Heb. iii. 12. “Out of the heart are the issues of life,” Prov. iv. 23. Our passions and affections have a very powerful influence over us; and where they are not carefully managed and governed, it is amazing to see, how the slightest occasions will pass for most weighty and conclusive arguments; and how the brightest truths will be thought to be of little moment, even to persons of the greatest sense and sagacity in other matters, where their interest or their humours do not contradict the truths which are offered to them. Pharaoh’s fault was in his heart; and that made him unfortunate in the use of his understanding. The Israelites were numerous and serviceable slaves; and it was a terrible shock and diminution to his wealth and grandeur to dismiss them; and not being able to reconcile his inclinations to the thoughts of parting with them, the vague and ill-grounded learning of the times he lived in, was thought to afford arguments sufficient to take off the force of all the miracles, that were offered to induce him to it. It is no hard matter to judge of truth, if we are sincerely disposed to embrace it; “If any man will do God’s will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God,” John vii. 17. A common capacity, and an ordinary share of understanding, will afford light enough, if evil passions do not make the light that is as to become darkness: but, if our heart is not duly disposed to embrace the truth, neither may we be persuaded by the greatest arguments and demonstrations that can be offered for it, even though we have uncommon abilities to judge of, and understand the force of what is represented to us. Shuckford.

God’s message to the Israelites. Death of the firstborn threatened. day thou seest my face thou shalt die.