there were no such locusts as they, neither after then shall be such. 15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in O ver. 5. p Ps. 105. 35. the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and rentreat the LORD your God that q ch. 9. 27. r ch. 9. 28. 1 Kings 13. 6. ther after him arose there any like him.' Here indeed it is not easy to see how the same thing could consistently be said of these two different kings, except on the ground of the correctness of Rosenmuller's remark. On the same principle we are perhaps to interpret the two prophetical declarations of Daniel and our Savior; Dan. 12. 1, 'And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Mat. 24. 21, 'For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.' It may indeed be affirmed that the two predictions refer to the same time, which is indeed possible, though not certain. the Psalms some have thought that the locusts were accompanied by countless swarms of caterpillars. Ps. 78. 46, 'He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust.' Ps. 105. 34, 'He spake, and the locusts zame, and the caterpillars, and that without number.' But it is now generally admitted that the original terms merely imply different species of locusts. Before them there were, &c. This has been thought to be inconsist ent with Joel, 2. 2, when in speaking of an invading army of locusts the prophet says, 'A great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.' To this Abarbanel, the Jewish critic, answers, that Moses' words are to be understood of the country of Egypt only; that there never was before and never was to be again such a plague of lo-earth. custs there. But Rosenmuller contends that this is no more than a common hyperbolical and proverbial mode of speech, which is not to be pressed to the utmost strictness of its import. He adduces the following instances of parallel usage. 2 Kings, 18. 5, 'He (Hezekiah) trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him anong all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.' 2 Kings, 23. 25, 'And like unto him (Josiah) was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, ac cording to all the law of Moses; nei- call. So formidable was this calamity 15. Covered the face of the whole ayin kol עין כל הארץ .Heb haaretz, the eye of the whole earth. See he may take away from me this | Red sea: there remained not one death ouly. 18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. 19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind which took away the locusts, and cast them tinto the s ch. 8. 30. t Joel. 2. 20. locust in all the coasts of Egypt. 20 But the LORD u hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. 21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward X u ch. 4. 21. & 11. 10. x ch. 9. 22. However this may be, he deprecates the plague of locusts more than the plague of his own heart, which was much more deadly. But this is one of the thousand cases continually occur 19. The Lord turned a mighty strong west wind. רוח רם חזק מאד .Heb that although Pharaoh had previously driven Moses and Aaron from his presence, yet he is now constrained to send for them again, to avow his fault, and to beg for one reprieve more. His confession now has more the air of un-ring, where men are more anxious to be feigned repentance than on any former delivered from their troubles than their occasion. He acknowledges that he had sins, and cry upon their beds only from sinned against God and his servants, acuteness of bodily pain or fear of hell humbly asks their forgiveness, and sues They shrink and writhe under the con. for their intercession. Only let him be sequences of their transgressions, but forgiven this once, only let him be de- they do not hate and repent of the livered from this death, and there should transgressions themselves. be no more cause for complaint. Alas! there are but too many who upon reading this will be reminded of something ruah yam hazak meod, a sea-wind strong similar in their own case; too many exceedingly. The Hebrews denominatwho will recollect in the hour of sick-ed the West from the Mediterranean ness and in the fear of death, to have sea, which lay to the west of Palestine. prayed to be delivered only this once, with promises of amendment, but who yet upon recovery have returned, Pharaoh-like, to their former impenitence, worldliness, and sin. But let it not be forgotten that these repeated lapses and broken vows are all the while swelling our guilt to fearful dimensions, and making us more and more ripe for a sudden destruction.- -¶ This death. That is, this deadly plague. Thus, 2 Kings, 4. 40, 'And they cried out and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot ;' i. e. something deadly. The plague of the locusts was in itself deadly in the sense of having been destructive; but it is probable that Pharaoh alluded rather to its apprehended consequences. He may have supposed, that famine and pestilence causing a general mortality would follow in the train of the ravages of the locusts. -T Cast them. Heb. p yithkaëhu, fastened them; i. e. they were so cast or driven into the sea, that as to the event, it was as if they had been 'fastened,' like a tent which is pitched and fast nailed to the ground. This complete removal of the locusts was as miraculous as the bringing them on.— ¶ Into the Red Sea. Heb. 70 yam suph, Sea of Suph, or weedy sea, sea of rushes, from the great quantities of seaweeds and flags which abound upon its shores. It is called 'Red Sea' from its bordering upon the country of Edom, which, in the Hebrew tongue signifies 'red.' 21. Even darkness which may be felt. Heb. va-yamesh hoshek, that one may feel darkness; the same word in the original with that used to express the 'darkness' which covered the deep at the time of the six days' creation. heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven: and there It was a darkness consisting of thick, clammy fogs, of vapors and exhalations so condensed that they might almost be perceived by the organs of touch. Some commentators, supposing that human life could not be sustained an hour in such a medium, imagine that instead of 'darkness that may be felt,' the Heb. phrase may signify a darkness in which men went groping and feeling about for every thing they wanted. But something of a hyperbolical character may be allowed for expressions of this kind, which are not to be pared to the quick. Considering that the sun was one of the deities of Egypt, and that in that counry any darkening of his light in the day time is an extremely rare occurrence, we may imagine the consternation that would sieze upon the inhabitants at such a phenomenon. The cloud of locusts which had previously darkened the land were nothing compared with this. It was truly 'an horror of thick darkness.' 22. There was a thick darkness. Heb. hoshek aphelah, darkness of obscurity or gloom; i. e. a darkness of preternatural density. The expression in the original is peculiarly emphatic, and is, therefore, rendered in the Gr. by three words, 'darkness, thick blackness, and tempestuous gloom.' The description which the author of the Book of Wisdom, chap. 17. 2, 3, 21, gives of their inward terrors and consternation may not be altogether conjectural: "They were not only prisoners of darkness and fettered with the bonds of a long night, but were horribly astonished likewise and troubled with strange apparitions.' Compare with Moses' account of the ninth plague, the woe of the fifth apocalyptic vial, Rev. 16. was a y thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for y Ps. 105. 28. 10, 'And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for anguish.' 23. Neither rose any from his place. Heb. 1 mittahtav, from that which was under him. Gr. εκ της κοίτης avrov, from his bed. The meaning probably is, that no one went out of his house to attend to his usual business. It is probable too that they were prevented by the heavy and humid state of the atmosphere from availing themselves of any kind of artificial light. So Wisdom, chap. 17. 5, 'No power of fire might give light.' We can scarcely conceive a more distressing situation; yet as Pharaoh and his people had rebelled against the light of God's word, conveyed to them by Moses, it was a righteous thing with God thus to punish them with a sensible pre-intimation of that 'blackness of darkness' which enters into the misery of the damned. The children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Again God put a marked difference between his enemies and his people. Well is it said of this miracle in the apocryphal book above quoted, ch. 17. 20, 21, 'The whole world shined with clear light, and none were hindered in their labor; over them only (the Egyptians) was spread a heavy night, an image of that darkness which should afterwards receive them: but yet were they unto themselves more grievous than the darkness!' In allu. sion, perhaps, to the gracious discrimi nation here spoken of we find the prom. ise, Is. 60. 1, 2, 'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, dark ness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall three days: zbut all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and a said, Go ye, serve the LORD: only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your blittle ones also go with you. 25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices, and burnt z ch. 8. 22. a ver. 8. b ver. 10. arise upon thee, and his glory shall be offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. 27 But the LORD hardened c ver. 20. ch. 4. 21. & 14. 4, 8. do part with any, it is with the utmost reluctance, like the mariner who casts his goods overboard to lighten his ship and keep it from sinking. But while Pharaoh would plead for some abate. ment, and shrinks from obeying the Lord wholly, Moses, instead of receding an iota from his previous demand, grows bolder as the crisis approaches, and declares that not only shall the children go, but also that there shall not an 'hoof be left behind.' 25. Thou must give us also sacrifices. Heb. 7 titten be-yadenu, shalt give in, or into, our hands. It is not probably to be understood from this that Moses demanded that animals for sacrifice should be given to them from the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, but that he should freely allow them to take their own; that he should throw no obstacle in the way of their taking their stock of cattle with them. To give into their hands, therefore, is equiva lent to leaving in their power and at their disposal. This is evident from the drift of the next verse. 24. And Pharaoh called unto Moses. That is, after the lapse of three days of darkness.¶ Go ye, serve the Lord, only let the flocks, &c. The visitation of the darkness, so well calculated to appal and terrify the Egyptians, compelled the king to relax his previous determination. Still he is bent on a compromise. He will now permit the 26. Not an hoof be left behind. The children also to go, but the flocks and exact and punctilious obedience of Mothe herds must be stayed behind as a ses to every item of the divine comsecurity for their return. Thus it is mandment is here displayed, as an exthat sinners are disposed to make terms ample from following which we should with the Almighty, instead of yielding be deterred by no persecution or tyrancheerfully to all his demands. They ny of men. The 'not leaving an ho. 1 will consent, under the pressure of judg. behind' intimated their full and comments, to part with some of their sins, plete egress from Egyptian bondage, but not all. They would rather retain | leaving nothing to tempt them to rethem all, if they could do it consistent.y with their hope of heaven. If they turn. 27. He would not let them go. Hep Pharaoh's heart, and he would not spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. let them go. 28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more: for in that day thou seest my face, thou shalt die. 29 And Moses said, Thou hast 3 lo abah, was not willing, was not persuaded, did not consent, to let them go. This word, strongly indicative of the wilfulness of the king, occurs here for the first time in the whole narrative. measure. 28. Get thee from me, &c. 'Has a servant, an agent, or an officer, deeply offended his superior, he will say to him, 'Take care never to see my face again; for on the day you do that, evil shall come upon you.' 6 Begone, and in future never look in this face,' pointing to his own.' Roberts. The firmness of Moses exasperated Pharaoh beyond He here shows himself frantic with disappointment and rage. He not only dismisses the unwelcome messenger with indignation, from his court, but forbids, upon pain of death, the beholding his face again. A desperate madness and an impotent malice are alike conspicuous in this angry order. Had he not had abundant evidence that Moses could plague him without seeing his face? Had he not had time to discover that an almighty power was work, ing with Moses, and that it was idle to threaten him with death, who was the special charge of Omnipotence? But to what length of daring impiety will not a hardened heart bring the presumptuous rebel! 29. I will see thy face again no more. It is a sad farewell when God, in the persons of his servants, refuses any more to see the face of the wicked; especially if in so doing he yields to their desires. For the manner in which this is to be reconciled with the subsequent history, see Note on Ex. 11. 1-3. CHAPTER XI. AND the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you d Hebr. 11. 27. CHAPTER XI. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses. Rather perhaps, 'The Lord had said unto Moses.' From v. 8, it appears that Moses, after announcing the eighth plague, went out from Pharaoh in great anger, and yet previously in ch. 10. 29, he is represented as saying to Pharaoh, 'I will see thy face again no more.' It is consequently to be inferred that the present judgment was denounced to the king before the close of the last-mentioned interview, and the information respecting it communicated to Moses some time previous to that interview. The true construction undoubtedly is to consider the first three verses of this chapter, as a mere parenthesis, and to connect ch. 11. 4, with ch. 10. 29, as a continuation of the same train of narrative. Otherwise there is very great confusion in the incidents detailed. The connexion between this and the last verse of the preceding chapter is undoubtedly very close, however loose at first sight it may appear. Moses does in effect in these words state the ground of the confident and peremptory tone which he assumed in his reply to Pharaoh. They give us to understand that it was not of his own motion that he then intimated that that should be their last interview; for we cannot suppose that it was optional with Moses whether to continue or to break off the negocia tions with Pharaoh. Unless divinely instructed to the contrary, how did he know but that God would have him car ry another message to the king in despite of his lordly interdict? From this passage we learn that he was thus in |