CHAPTER X. done among them; that ye may AND the LORD said unto Moses, know how that I am the LORD. Go in unto Pharaoh: a for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants; b that I might shew these my signs before him: 2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have a ch. 4. 21. & 7. 14. b ch. 7. 4. Ps. 44. 1. & 71. 18. & 78. 5, &c. c Deut. 4. 9. boldened by this respite of wrath to persist in a course of more determined rebellion. Yet the language of the text implies that this increased hardness of heart was an increased measure of guilt: 'He sinned yet more and more, and hardened his heart;' i. e. sinned by hardening his heart. God's foretelling the result, therefore, and permitting it, did not go to lessen his criminality. CHAPTER X. 3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to dhumble thyself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. d1 Kings 21. 29. 2 Chron. 7. 14. & 31. 27. Job 42. 6. Jer. 13. 18. James 4. 10. 1 Pet. 5.6. sively to Moses, we may understand it as an intimation, that these miraculous inflictions were to be recorded and thus made in his writings a perpetual source of instruction, and admonition to the end of the world. This use they are in fact serving at, this moment. Wherever the word of God is published abroad in the earth, there are these signal events made known, and there are they operat ing to impress the hearts of the children of men with an awful sense of the greatness of God and the danger of provok ing him to jealousy.- -¶ Before him. Heb. 7p bekirbo, in the midst of him; where the person of the king stands for the body of his people collectively. See Note on Gen. 14. 10. Gr. "That yet my signs may come εr' avTOVS upon them.' Chal. 'That I might set my signs in the midst of them ;' i. e. of Pharaoh and his people. Syr. 'That I might do these my signs among them.' 1. Go in unto Pharaoh. That is, to renew the demand so often made and so often resisted; though this is not in so many words asserted in the text. We infer what Moses was ordered to say from what he did say. Wicked men are sometimes to be admonished even where there is no hope that they will be amended. But while the divine message was to be repeated, and new tokens of the vengeance of God denounced as shortly to appear before 3. How long wilt thou refuse to humPharaoh and his people, an additional ble thyself before me? Gr. sws TIVOS ON reason is assigned for the fearful pro- Bovλε εvτpunyai μe; how long wilt thou ceedings thus far and thenceforth re- not reverence me? This is the grand corded. God had providentially and per- controversy of God with sinners, that missively hardened the hearts of Pha- they refuse at his bidding to humble raoh and his servants, in order to take themselves in penitent prostration beoccasion from the event for the display fore him. But to this point they must of such signs and miracles as would come at last, and the more voluntarily furnish a lesson never to be forgotten it is done the better. Pharaoh had into his own people and to their posterity deed on former occasions made some to the latest generation. And not to pretences to humbling himself, but as them only, for as the charge is given he was neither sincere nor constant in more immediately, though not exclu- | it, it passed for nothing in God's esteem, VOL. I 11 4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring the e locusts into thy coast: 5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree e Prov. 30. 27. Rom. 9. 3. fch. 9. 32. Joel. 1. 4. & 2. 25. and he is here addressed as if it were a duty which he had never yet performed in the least degree. Let us learn from this how little value God puts upon those religious acts in which the heart is wanting. which groweth for you out of the field: 6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. g ch. 8. 3, 21. through all the earth.' Heb. 'This is their eye through all the earth;' i. e. their aspect, their visible appearance. So also possibly Zech. 3. 9, 'Upon one stone shall be seven eyes;' i. e. a sevenfold aspect; it shall have the property 4, 5. To-morrow will I bring the lo- of presenting under different circumcusts into thy coast. Heb. stances seven distinct phases.-Swarms of this devouring insect had often before been the scourge of Egypt, but he was told that this irruption of them should be beyond all former precedent, and that their numbers, size, and voracity should be such, that they would eat up every vegetable production in the land. The wheat and the rye, it is clear, had escaped the ravages of the hail, ch. 9. 32, but they were now to be swept away by the locust, and whatever trees had been left with leaves upon their branches were now to be stript bare. hinneni mëbi mahar arbeh, behold me bringing to-morrow the locust; collect. sing. for plur. The original word for locust (arbeh) is derived from rabah, to be multiplied, or increased. It carries, therefore, the import of prodigious numbers, Judg. 6. 5, Jer. 46. 23, and on this account immense swarms of locusts stand in the figurative style of the prophets for multitudinous armies of men. Thus when the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, Rev. 9. 3, 'There came out of the smoke of the bottomless pit locusts upon earth,' denoting the countless hordes of Saracens which arose in the commencement of the seventh century under Mohammed, and overran and depopulated a great portion of Christendom.-- They shall cover the face of the earth. Heb. eth ayin haaretz, the eye of the earth. The phraseology is singular, but it is probably by metonymy of the faculty for the object, denoting that the sight, the visibility, of the earth should be hidden by the dense masses and layers of locusts. A phraseology of perhaps a similar import occurs, Zech. 5 6, in the description of the symbolical ephah; 'This is their resemblance | h ́s answer may be Which neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen; i. e. the like of which for numbers and ravages thy fathers have never seen; not that they had never seen locusts at all before. 6. He turned himself and went out. Seeing no reason to anticipate any better reception of his message than before. Words had hitherto passed be tween them without producing the desired results. Moses now left it with God to deal with him mainly by acts. It is a fearful point which the sinner has reached, when the messenger of God thinks it of very little consequence what 7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be ha snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? 8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the h ch. 23. 33. Eccles. 7. 26. Josh. 23. 13. 1 Sam. 18. 21. LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with ur herds will we go: for iwe must hold a feast unto the LORD. 10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will i ch. 5. 1. Perceiving the feeling that was enter tained by his court and his subjects, he resolved so far to comply with their wishes as to have Moses and Aaron sent for and brought back, that he might at least ostensibly appear disposed to treat with them anew.¶ But who are they that shall go? Heb. 27 who (are) going? The repetition of the interrogative is emphatic, implying that he was to specify with the utmost distinctness who were to go, and who, if any, were to stay behind. Moses in reply tells him plainly that they were to serve God with their all; that their wives and their children, their flocks and their herds, without any exception or reservation, must go with them. 7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him. That is, the principal men that were about him, his nobles and counsellors. After the loss and devastation which the preceding plague had occasioned, they ventured to remonstrate. - How long shall this man be a snare unto us? How long shall he prove the cause of leading us into freshmi va-mi haholekim, who and calamities? As, however, there is no separate word in the original to answer toman,' some have supposed the meaning to be, how long shall this thing, this affair, be a snare to us?' And with this the Gr. coincides, εws rivis εOTAL TOUTO пuív okwdov, how long shall this scandal be to us? But were this the true sense, the original would doubtless bezoth instead of zeh, which latter is the proper designation of a person instead of a thing. Our version is correct. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? Hast thou not yet evidence enough from the calamities experienced, especially by the ravages of the late hail-storm, that the whole country is just upon the verge of destruction? If his own courtiers and counsellors were of this opinion, the king could not but infer that in the course he was now pursuing, he was no lorger sustained by the general consent of the Egyptian people, who now lamented his obstinacy, and had become desirous that, as the least of many evils, the demand of the Israelites should be complied with. This consideration was not without its weight with the king. 10. And he said unto them, Let the Lord, &c. This bold and positive de claration of Moses was too much for Pharaoh. Greatly exasperated by this uncompromising statement he answers in a style of mingled irony and wrath, 'Let the Lord do with you as I will let you go;' q. d. 'If this be the proposed condition of your going, that you take your little ones with you, then may the God whom you serve favor you as much with his presence as I do with my consent, and no more. In this case your prospects are sorry indeed.' It is a very strong and emphatic mode of denying them the permission which they sought. -Look to it, for evil is before you. It is doubted by commentators whether this is to be understood as a threatening let you go and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's pres ence. 12¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, k ch. 7. 19. of evil to happen to them, or as an accusation of evil intended by them. Probably the words will admit the union of both senses; 'You are harboring an evil design, and are exposing yourselves to the evil of a corresponding punishment.' Gr. 'See that mischief is proposed by you.' Vulg. 'Who doubteth but that you intend very wickedly?' Chal. 'See how the evil which you were thinking to do shall return to your own faces.' 11. Not so. I do not consent to your going on these conditions. Go now ye that are men. 'Leave your women and children behind as a pledge for your safe return, and then you have my consent that the 'men,' all the adults of the congregation, should go, for this is the fair interpretation of your request; thus only did I understand it; thus far only will I comply with it.' Yet it is difficult to say what authority he had for such an assertion, as the foregoing narrative attributes no expression to Moses which would seem fairly capable of such a construction. It is possible he intended to say, that that must have been Moses' meaning when he asked permission to sacrifice unto Jehovah. But he had no right to attribute a sense to Moses' words which Moses did not design to convey, and then act as if it were the true sense. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. Heb. D 177 va-yegaresh otham, and one drove them out; an instance of the phraseology in which a that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and leat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night: and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 1 ver. 4. 5. verb active is used indefinitely in the third person singular for the plural passive. See Note on Gen. 16. 14. 'Among natives of rank, when a person is very importunate or troublesome, when he presses for something which the former are not willing to grant, he is told to begone. Should he still persist, the servants are called, and the order is given, 'Drive that fellow out.' He is then seized by the neck, or taken by the hands, and dragged from the premises; he all the time screaming and bauling as if they were taking his life. Thus to be driven out is the greatest indignity which can be offered, and nothing but the most violent rage will induce a su perior to have recourse to it.' Roberts 12. For the locusts, that they may come up. va-yaal, for the locust, that he may come up; collect. sing. ba-arbes בארבה ויעל .Heb 13. The Lord brought an east wind upon the land. Heb. nihag, conducted. The word is remarkable, as it has the import of guiding, leading, directing one's course. The wind may be said to blow where it listeth; but then it listeth or chooseth only as God has ordered it. At his command it blows one day to bring up locusts, and on the next another to sweep them away. Though locusts are common in Arabia, they are comparatively rare in Egypt; the Red Sea forming a sort of barrier against them, as they are not formed for crossing seas, or for long flights. Yet on the present occasion they were 14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rest In Ps. 78. 46. & 105. 34. enabled, by the aid of a 'strong east wind,' to cross that sea from Arabia, which was another remarkable circumstance, as the winds which prevalently blow in Egypt are six months from the south, and six months from the north. ¶ Brought the locusts. nasa, bore up, supported, sustained. Syr. and Vulg. 'The burning rushing wind raised the locusts.' Considering what Pharaoh and his people had already suffered from the preceding plagues, this additional one must have been beyond measure afflictive. The dearth and desolation were now complete. Every leaf and blade of grass left from the previous ravages of the hail, were now devoured. It is difficult to conceive the devastating effects that follow when a cloud of hungry locusts, comes upon a country. They devour to the very root and bark, so that it is a long time before vegetation can be renewed. The account which M. Volney (Travels in Syria, vol. 1. p. 188) gives of the devastations of these insects, contains a striking illustration of this passage :— "Their quantity is incredible to all who have not themselves witnessed their astonishing numbers; the whole earth is covered with them for the space of several leagues. The noise they make in browsing on the trees and herbage may be heard at a great distance, and resembles that of an army plundering in secret. The Tartars themselves are a less destructive enemy than these little animals. One would imagine that fire had followed their progress. Wherever their myriads spread, the verdure of the country disappears; trees and plants stripped of their leaves and reduced to their naked boughs and stems, cause the dreary image of winter to succeed in an instant to the rich scenery of spring. When these clouds of lo ed in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; n before them n Joel 2. 2. custs take their flight, to surmount any obstacles, or to traverse more rapidly a desert soil, the heavens may literally be said to be obscured with them.' To this may be added the narrative of a similar visitation in the Canary Islands Heb. & described by an eye-witness, about two centuries ago. "The air was so full of them, that I could not eat in my chamher without a candle; all the houses being full of them, even the stables, barns, chambers, garrets, and cellars I caused cannon-powder and sulphur te be burnt to expel them, but all to no purpose; for when the door was opened an infinite number came in, and the others went out, fluttering about; and it was a troublesome thing when a man went abroad to be hit on the face by those creatures, so that there was nc opening one's mouth but some would get in. Yet all this was nothing, for when we were to eat, these creatures gave us no respite; and when we cut a bit of meat, we cut a locust with it; and when a man opened his mouth to put in a morsel, he was sure to chew one of them. I have seen them at night, when they sit to rest them, that the roads were four inches thick of them, one upon another; so that the horses would not trample over them, but as they were put on with much lashing, pricking up their ears, snorting and treading fearfully. The wheels of our carts and the feet of our horses bruising these creatures, there came forth from them such a stench as not only offended the nose, but the brain. I was not able to endure it, but was forced to wash my nose with vinegar, and hold a handkerchief dipped in it continually at my nostrils.' Gallaudet's Life of Moses, vol. 1. p. 114, See also 'Scrip. Illust.' p. 551 14. The locusts went up over all the From the following passages in land. |