Phoebe a cat, the wife of Jove a cow,
Whose hue was whiter than the falling snow;
Mercury, to a nasty ibis turn'd,
The change obscene, afraid of Typhon mourn'd,
While Venus from a fish protection craves,
And once more plunges in her native waves - Maynwaring.
These animals therefore became sacred to them on account of the deities, who, as the fable reports, had taken refuge in them. Others suppose that the reason why the Egyptians would not sacrifice or kill those creatures was their belief in the doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls; for they feared lest in killing an animal they should kill a relative or a friend. This doctrine is still held by the Hindoos.
Verse 27
And sacrifice to the Lord - as he shall command us - It is very likely that neither Moses nor Aaron knew as yet in what manner God would be worshipped; and they expected to receive a direct revelation from him relative to this subject, when they should come into the wilderness.
Verse 28
I will let you go only ye shall not go very far away - Pharaoh relented because the hand of God was heavy upon him; but he was not willing to give up his gain. The Israelites were very profitable to him; they were slaves of the state, and their hard labor was very productive: hence he professed a willingness, first to tolerate their religion in the land, ([Exo 8:25]); or to permit them to go into the wilderness, so that they went not far away, and would soon return. How ready is foolish man, when the hand of God presses him sore, to compound with his Maker! He will consent to give up some sins, provided God will permit him to keep others.
Entreat for me - Exactly similar to the case of Simon Magus, who, like Pharaoh, fearing the Divine judgments, begged an interest in the prayers of Peter, [Act 8:24].
Verse 31
The Lord did according to the word of Moses - How powerful is prayer! God permits his servant to prescribe even the manner and time in which he shall work.
He removed the swarms - Probably by means of a strong wind, which swept them into the sea.
Verse 32
Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also - See [Exo 8:15]. This hardening was the mere effect of his self-determining obstinacy. He preferred his gain to the will and command of Jehovah, and God made his obstinacy the means of showing forth his own power and providence in a supereminent degree.
1. As every false religion proves there is a true one, as a copy, however marred or imperfect, shows there was an original from which it was taken, so false miracles prove that there were genuine miracles, and that God chooses at particular times, for the most important purposes, to invert the established order of nature, and thus prove his omnipotence and universal agency. That the miracles wrought at this time were real we have the fullest proof. The waters, for instance, were not turned into blood in appearance merely, but were really thus changed. Hence the people could not drink of them; and as blood in a very short time, when exposed to the air, becomes putrid, so did the bloody waters; therefore all the fish that were in the river died.
2. No human power or ingenuity could produce such frogs as annoyed the land of Egypt. This also was a real, not an imaginary, plague. Innumerable multitudes of these animals were produced for the purpose; and the heaps of their dead carcasses, which putrefied and infected the land, at once demonstrated the reality of the miracle.
3. The lice both on man and beast through the whole land, and the innumerable swarms of flies, gave such proofs of their reality as to put the truth of these miracles out of question for ever. It was necessary that this point should be fully proved, that both the Egyptians and Israelites might see the finger of God in these awful works.
4. To superficial observers only do "Moses and the magicians appear to be nearly matched." The power of God was shown in producing and removing the plagues. In certain cases the magicians imitated the production of a plague, but they had no power to remove any. They could not seem to remove the bloody color, nor the putrescency from the waters through which the fish were destroyed, though they could imitate the color itself; they could not remove the frogs, the lice, or swarms of flies, though they could imitate the former and latter; they could by dexterity of hand or diabolic influence produce serpents, but they could not bring one forward that could swallow up the rod of Aaron. In every respect they fall infinitely short of the power and wonderful energy evidenced in the miracles of Moses and Aaron. The opposition therefore of those men served only as a foil to set off the excellence of that power by which these messengers of God acted.
5. The courage, constancy, and faith of Moses are worthy of the most serious consideration. Had he not been fully satisfied of the truth and certainty of his Divine mission, he could not have encountered such a host of difficulties; had he not been certain of the issue, he could not have preserved amidst so many discouraging circumstances; and had he not had a deep acquaintance with God, his faith in every trial must have necessarily failed. So strong was this grace in him that he could even pledge his Maker to the performance of works concerning which he had not as yet consulted him! He therefore let Pharaoh fix the very time on which he would wish to have the plague removed; and when this was done, he went to God by faith and prayer to obtain this new miracle; and God in the most exact and circumstantial manner fulfilled the word of his servant.
6. From all this let us learn that there is a God who worketh in the earth; that universal nature is under his control; that he can alter, suspend, counteract, or invert its general laws whensoever he pleases; and that he can save or destroy by the most feeble and most contemptible instruments. We should therefore deeply reverence his eternal power and Godhead, and look with respect on every creature he has made, as the meanest of them may in his hand, become the instrument of our salvation or our ruin.
7. Let us not imagine that God has so bound himself to work by general laws, that those destructions cannot take place which designate a particular providence. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are confounded, afflicted, routed, and ruined, while the land of Goshen and the Israelites are free from every plague! No blood appears in their streams; no frogs, lice, nor flies, in all their borders! They trusted in the true God, and could not be confounded. Reader, how secure mayest thou rest if thou hast this God for thy friend! He was the Protector and Friend of the Israelites through the blood of that covenant which is the very charter of thy salvation: trust in and pray to him as Moses did, and then Satan and his angels shall be bruised under thy feet, and thou shalt not only be preserved from every plague, but be crowned with his loving kindness and tender mercy. He is the same to-day that he was yesterday, and shall continue the same for ever. Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!
Introduction
The Lord sends Moses to Pharaoh to inform him that, if he did not let the Israelites depart, a destructive pestilence should be sent among his cattle, [Exo 9:1-3]; while the cattle of the Israelites should be preserved, [Exo 9:4]. The next day this pestilence, which was the fifth plague, is sent, and all the cattle of the Egyptians die, [Exo 9:5], [Exo 9:6]. Though Pharaoh finds that not one of the cattle of the Israelites had died, yet, through hardness of heart, he refuses to let the people go, [Exo 9:7]. Moses and Aaron are commanded to sprinkle handfuls of ashes from the furnace, that the sixth plague, that of boils and blains, might come on man and beast, [Exo 9:5], [Exo 9:9]; which having done, the plague takes place, [Exo 9:10]. The magicians cannot stand before this plague, which they can neither imitate nor remove, [Exo 9:11]. Pharaoh's heart is again hardened, [Exo 9:12]. God's awful message to Pharaoh, with the threat of more severe plagues than before, [Exo 9:13-17]. The seventh plague of rain, hail, and fire threatened, [Exo 9:18]. The Egyptians commanded to house their cattle that they might not be destroyed, [Exo 9:19]. These who feared the word of the Lord brought home their servants and cattle, and those who did not regard that word left their cattle and servants in the fields, [Exo 9:20], [Exo 9:21]. The storm of hail, thunder, and lightning takes place, [Exo 9:22-24]. It nearly desolates the whole land of Egypt, [Exo 9:25], while the land of Goshen escapes, [Exo 9:26]. Pharaoh confesses his sin, and begs an interest in the prayers of Moses and Aaron, [Exo 9:27], [Exo 9:28]. Moses promises to intercede for him, and while he promises that the storm shall cease, he foretells the continuing obstinacy of both himself and his servants, [Exo 9:29], [Exo 9:30]. The flax and barley, being in a state of maturity, are destroyed by the tempest, [Exo 9:31]; while the wheat and the rye, not being grown up, are preserved, [Exo 9:32]. Moses obtains a cessation of the storm, [Exo 9:33]. Pharaoh and his servants, seeing this, harden their hearts, and refuse to let the people go, [Exo 9:34], [Exo 9:35].
Verse 1
The Lord God of the Hebrews - It is very likely that the term Lord, יויה Yehovah, is used here to point out particularly his eternal power and Godhead; and that the term God, אלהי Elohey, is intended to be understood in the sense of Supporter, Defender, Protector, etc. Thus saith the self-existent, omnipotent, and eternal Being, the Supporter and Defender of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may worship me."
Verse 3
The hand of the Lord - The power of God manifested in judgment.
Upon the horses - סוסים susim. This is the first place the horse is mentioned; a creature for which Egypt and Arabia were always famous. סס 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, 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.
Verse 4
The Lord shall sever - See Clarke on [Exo 8:22] (note).
Verse 5
To-morrow the Lord shall do this - By thus foretelling the evil, he showed his prescience and power; and from this both the Egyptians and Hebrews must see that the mortality that ensued was no casualty, but the effect of a predetermined purpose in the Divine justice.
Verse 6
All the cattle of Egypt died - That is, All the cattle that did die belonged to the Egyptians, but not one died that belonged to the Israelites, [Exo 9:4], [Exo 9:6]. That the whole stock of cattle belonging to the Egyptians did not die we have the fullest proof, because there were cattle both to be killed and saved alive in the ensuing plague, [Exo 9:19-25]. By this judgment the Egyptians must see the vanity of the whole of their national worship, when they found the animals which they not only held sacred but deified, slain without distinction among the common herd, by a pestilence sent from the hand of Jehovah. One might naturally suppose that after this the animal worship of the Egyptians could never more maintain its ground.
Verse 7
And Pharaoh sent, etc. - Finding so many of his own cattle and those of his subjects slain, he sent to see whether the mortality had reached to the cattle of the Israelites, that he might know whether this were a judgment inflicted by their God, and probably designing to replace the lost cattle of the Egyptians with those of the Israelites.
Verse 8
Handfuls of ashes of the furnace - As one part of the oppression of the Israelites consisted In their labor in the brick-kilns, some have observed a congruity between the crime and the punishment. The furnaces, in the labor of which they oppressed the Hebrews, now yielded the instruments of their punishment; for every particle of those ashes, formed by unjust and oppressive labor, seemed to be a boil or a blain on the tyrannical king and his cruel and hard-hearted people.
Verse 9
Shall be a boil - שחין shechin. This word is generally expounded, an inflammatory swelling, a burning boil; one of the most poignant afflictions, not immediately mortal, that can well affect the surface of the human body. If a single boil on any part of the body throws the whole system into a fever, what anguish must a multitude of them on the body at the same time occasion!
Breaking forth with blains - אבעבעת ababuoth, supposed to come from בעה baah, to swell, bulge out; any inflammatory swelling, node, or pustule, in any part of the body, but more especially in the more glandular parts, the neck, arm-pits, groin, etc. The Septuagint translate it thus: Και εσται ἑλκη φλυκτιδες αναζεουσαι· And it shalt be an ulcer with burning pustules. It seems to have been a disorder of an uncommon kind, and hence it is called by way of distinction, the botch of Egypt, [Deu 28:27], perhaps never known before in that or any other country. Orosius says that in the sixth plague "all the people were blistered, that the blisters burst with tormenting pain, and that worms issued out of them." Alfred's Oros., lib. i., c. vii.