Exodus 8

— a grievous swarm of flies] How intolerable a plague flies can prove, may be known from places near lakes and pools, which have been on their account deserted, and rendered desolate. Such was the fate of Myuns in Ionia, and of Atarnæ. The inhabitants were forced to quit these cities, not being able to stand the flies and gnats, with which they were pestered. Trajan was obliged to raise the siege of a city in Arabia, before

LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

Exodus 8:2

2.—if thou refuse &c.] God again threatens the plague, before he inflicts it, that Pharaoh might know, it came not by chance, but by His determinate counsel; and that he might prevent it by repentance and submission to the Divine commands. Bp. Patrick.

—I will smite all thy borders with frogs:] This evil, like the former, arose from their sacred river, in which they so much confided, and of whose sanctity and

excellence they were so much persuaded. Its streams by these means became a second time polluted and disgraced, to the utter confusion both of their gods and priests. The land also was equally defiled, and their palaces and temples rendered hateful; so that every native was infected, and had no way to perform any lustration, and to cleanse himself from the filth, with which he was tainted. Every stream and every lake was in a state of pollution. Whether the frog among the Egyptians was an object of reverence or of abhorrence, is uncertain: but thus much is certain, that it was very consistent with Divine wisdom and justice to punish the Egyptians either by what they abominated, or by what they idly revered. Bryant.

Exodus 8:3

3.—come into thine house, &c.] The frogs were to choke up the river, cover the land, crawl upon their houses, beds, tables, vessels, &c. infest the very persons of all ranks from the prince to the beggar, and nothing should be clear from their loathsomeness and annoyance. Pyle.

The production of a number of frogs, if produced in a perfect state, was a very remarkable instance of a power overruling the ordinary course of nature. The miracle further consisted in giving an impulse to these creatures, and raising in them a desire to quit the cool waters, for the dry land, the plains, the city, &c. so contrary to their natural residence. Script illustr.

Exodus 8:7

7. And the magicians did so &c.] They brought forth frogs out of some parts of the river and ponds, where they stood: God permitting them to do what contributed to the greater punishment of the Egyptians. It is probable, that Pharaoh afterwards ordered them to try their skill and power in removing or destroying the frogs, which Moses had brought up; and that they were unable to do it: God hereby shewing them that they could do no more, than He thought fit to permit them. Dr. Wells. In these accounts of the wonders wrought by the Egyptian sorcerers, whether they are supposed to have been wrought in reality, or in appearance only; by sleight of hand, or by the power of evil spirits, through the permission of God, who was willing to make His power known in this grand contest; the superiority of the God of Israel was manifested, and the contest yielded by the adversaries, who could not protect themselves or their friends from

Pharaoh saeth to Moses. The dust turned into lice. Before CHRIST 1491.

Exodus 8:8

8. Intreat the Lord, &c.] Thus Pharaoh is brought to acknowledge, that the Lord had sent the plague, and that He alone was able to remove it. Bp. Patrick.

Exodus 8:9

9.— Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, &c.] Or, as the margin has it, “Have this honour over me, &c.” that is, Take the honour of appointing your own day for your deliverance, at what time I shall intreat, &c. intimating that God, as an encouragement to his obedience, would grant him the favour of naming the very time in which he should be delivered. Pyle.

Exodus 8:15

15. But when Pharaoh saw &c.] This heavy visitation was no sooner removed than forgotten. The king’s fright was over; he retracts his promise, and returns to a worse degree of resolute disobedience than before. Pyle.

Exodus 8:16

16. And the Lord said] God seems to have given Pharaoh no warning of this plague, but to have inflicted it immediately on the removal of the frogs; for his breach of faith deserved a more notable judgment. Bp. Patrick.

— smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice] It has been mentioned, that the Egyptians affected great external purity, and were very nice both in their persons and clothing. Uncommon care was taken, that they might not harbour any vermin. They were particularly solicitous upon this head; thinking it would be a great profanation of the temple which they entered, if any animalcule of this sort were concealed in their garments. It would have been well, if their worship had corresponded with their outward appearance; but on the contrary it seems to have been more foul and base than that of any other nation. Their gods were contemptible and ridiculous, and their rites filthy, and to the last degree bestial and obscene. Yet they were carried on with an appearance of outward purity, and a scrupulous shew of cleanliness. The judgments therefore inflicted by the hand of Moses were directed against the pre-

Exodus 8:18

18.— And the magicians did so,—but they could not:] It is probable that the Egyptian magicians imitated the miracles of Aaron, so far as they did imitate them, by juggling tricks. 1. The turning of their rods into serpents may be supposed to be a substitution on their part, rather than a metamorphosis. 2. There is nothing contrary to possibility in supposing, that they might so change the colour and appearance of water by mixture as to deceive the eyes of spectators; or might even substitute a red liquor which might pass for blood: not to insist upon this, that they might procure and produce the very blood of animals. 3. The frogs, no doubt, came up from the waters, where they were bred; and where they had hitherto remained. They imitated then the miracles of Aaron, which referred to those productions, with which the Egyptians were well acquainted, and of whose properties they were perfectly informed. And this they probably did, by their superior knowledge of nature, and natural powers, united, no doubt, with great dexterity of management in the performance of their tricks. But when they came to attempt those miracles which required a change in the nature, temperature, &c. of the atmosphere, or of which the atmo-

Before CHRIST 1491. The plague of flies threatened. Before CHRIST 1491.

Exodus 8:19

19. — This is the finger of God:] Acknowledging that the power by which Moses was assisted was superior to their’s. Pyle. The power of God is represented by His hand or finger in the Scripture phrase, Psal. viii. 3; Luke xi. 20. Bp. Kidder.

Exodus 8:20

20. — lo, he cometh forth to the water:] Moses was ordered to accost Pharaoh, and to disclose to him the will of God, at the time when he was taking his morning walk upon the banks of the Nile. It was probably a season of customary adoration; when the prince of the country showed his reverence to the stream, which was esteemed so beneficial and sacred. Bryant. See note on chap. vii. 15.

Exodus 8:21

21. — I will send swarms of flies upon thee.] The judgment to be denounced was a plague of flies: which were brought all over the land in vast numbers; and seem to have been not only formidable for their swarms, but for the painfulness of their sting, as well as of their bite, which was intolerable. There is reason to think, that the Egyptians had particular deities, whose department was to ward off those natural evils to which their victories were liable. The province allotted to several deities was particularly to drive away flies. But this is not all those insects, however incredible it may appear, were in many places worshipped. This reverence seems to have been shewn, sometimes, to prevent their being troublesome; at other times, because they were esteemed sacred to the deity. Nor did they only shew an idolatrous regard to flies in general; there was a deity styled Deus Musca, who was particularly worshipped under the characteristic of a fly. This idolatry originated in Egypt, whence it was brought to Palestine, &c. by the Phoenicians to Sidon, Tyre, and Byblus; and so into other regions of the world. Such being the worship of this people, nothing could be more striking and determinate, than the judgment brought upon them. They were punished by the very things which they revered; and though they boasted of spells and charms, yet they could not ward off the evil. They had gods, who, they thought, could avert all mischief; but their power was ineffectual; and both the prince and the people were obliged to acknowledge the inferiority of their own deities, by suing through Moses to the God of Israel. Bryant.

— swarms of flies] Flesh flies, or dog flies, very bold, troublesome, and venomous. Some think the Hebrew word means a mixture of different insects, all manner of flies. Bp. Patrick. Perhaps this is the insect called Zimb in those countries. As soon as this plague appears, and its buzzing is heard, all the cattle

forsake their food, and run wildly about the plain, till they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. Bruce.

Exodus 8:22

22. — I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, &c.] The first three judgments were experienced by the Israelites, as well as by the Egyptians. They were not so grievous as those which succeeded. Yet they were sufficient to teach the inhabitants of Goshen, that there was no illusion in these mighty operations; which perhaps they might have suspected, had they not seen, and felt, and borne some share in the evil. On the other hand Pharaoh and his servants, when they saw God’s people involved in the same calamities with themselves, might have fancied, that there was nothing particular in the judgments; and in consequence of it, not so distinctly seen to whom they were directed. Hence the scope of Providence would have been defeated. It therefore pleased God, in the plague of flies, and in those which came after, to separate the land of His own people and preserve them from these evils. The Israelites, having experienced the former evils, must have been more intimately affected with this immunity, by which they were distinguished. And they must, in consequence of it, have been more ready to follow their great leader; who was the immediate agent of Providence, both to punish and to preserve.

The land of Goshen was a tongue-like piece of land, where the Nile first divided at a place called Cercasora. Said, or Upper Egypt, lay above; and Mears, or Lower Egypt, was in a line downward. Nothing but a miracle could have preserved this intermediate land from flies, which swarmed both above and below. Bryant.

We cannot read the history of the plagues which God brought upon Pharaoh by the hands of Moses, without stopping a moment to consider a singularity, a very principal one, which attended this plague of the fly. It was not till this time, and by means of this insect, that God said He would separate His people from the Egyptians. And it would seem, that then a law was given to it, which fixed the limits of its habitation. The land of Goshen was a land of pasture, not tilled or sown, because it was not overflowed by the Nile. But the land overflowed by the Nile was the black earth of the valley of Egypt; and it was here that God confined the flies: for, He says, it shall be a sign of this separation of the people, which He then made, that not one fly should be seen in the sand or pasture ground, the land of Goshen: and this kind of soil has ever since been the refuge of all cattle, emigrating from the black earth to the lower part of Atbara. Bruce.

Exodus 8:24

24. And the Lord did so; &c.] The land of Egypt, being annually overflowed, was pestered with swarms of flies. They were so troublesome, that the people

The plague of flies. The flies are removed. b Wild. 16. 9.

Exodus 8:26

26. — the abomination of the Egyptians] That is, the oxen, sheep, goats, &c. which they worshipped. Locke. Herodotus expressly tells us, that the Egyptians esteemed it a profanation to sacrifice any kind of cattle, except swine, bulls, clean calves, and geese; and that heifers, rams, and goats were held sacred, either in one province or another: and if he came any thing near the truth, in his account of the early superstition of Egypt, the Israelites, we see, could not avoid sacrificing “the abomination of the Egyptians.” And with what deadly hatred and revenge they pursued such imaginary impieties, the same Herodotus elsewhere informs us. Bp. Warburton.

From what is here said about “animal sacrifices,” it is probable, that the Israelites were debarred from the exercise of their religious rites during their slavery. Their minds were enslaved still more than their bodies, by the most cruel of all despotisms, to render them incapable of the enjoyment of rational liberty, as moderated by religion, pure and undefiled. Dr. Hales.

Exodus 8:28

28. — ye shall not go very far away:] He was apprehensive of their flight, like his predecessor, who first enslaved the Israelites. Dr. Hales.

Exodus 8:32

32. And Pharaoh hardened his heart &c.] No sooner was the scourge taken away, than his pride and covetousness discovered themselves afresh, and made him as unrelenting and perverse as ever. Pyle. This he did after a new plague, that spoke not only the power, but the peculiar providence of God, in severing between His people and the Egyptians. Bp. Kidder.