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Exodus 9

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The Fifth Plague: Pestilence on Livestock 1–7

1
Then Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. ​
2
For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
3
behold, the hand of Jehovah is upon thy cattle which are in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very grievous murrain. ​
4
And Jehovah shall make a distinction between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel. ​
5
And Jehovah appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Jehovah shall do this thing in the land.
6
And Jehovah did that thing on the morrow; and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. ​
7
And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go. ​

The Sixth Plague: Boils and Blains 8–12

8
And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. ​
9
And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. ​
10
And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast.
11
And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. ​
12
And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken unto Moses. ​

The Seventh Plague Announced: Hail 13–35

13
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. ​
14
For I will this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. ​
15
For now I had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth:
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but in very deed for this cause have I made thee to stand, to show thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. ​
17
As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?
18
Behold, to-morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. ​
19
Now therefore send, hasten in thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field; for every man and beast that shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.
20
He that feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: ​
21
and he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.
22
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
23
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. ​
24
So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
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And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.
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Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. ​
27
And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ​
28
Entreat Jehovah; for there hath been enough of these mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.
29
And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto Jehovah; the thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know that the earth is Jehovah’s. ​
30
But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear Jehovah God. ​
31
And the flax and the barley were smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. ​
32
But the wheat and the spelt were not smitten: for they were not grown up.
33
And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto Jehovah: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
34
And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ​
35
And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by Moses. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 9

Verse 1

the LORD God of the Hebrews — This is the title Moses was first told to use (Ex 3:18), and it is used as 'the God of the Hebrews' at 5:3 and in full at 7:16; this chapter repeats it at v.13. The demand is the same each time, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me' (8:1): shalach, to send away, so that they may abad, serve the LORD.

Verse 3

the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle — Deber, pestilence, the word Moses and Aaron named at 5:3, 'lest he fall upon us with pestilence', and which returns in v.15 and in Ps 78:50. The camels are named only here in Exodus. Ps 78:48 says of the later hail, 'He gave up their cattle also to the hail'.

Verse 4

the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt — Palah, to set apart, as with the flies, 'I will sever in that day the land of Goshen' (8:22). The LORD says again at 11:7 that he 'doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel'. Of all that is the children's of Israel, nothing dies.

Verse 6

the LORD did that thing on the morrow — The time was fixed beforehand: 'To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land' (v.5). Of Israel's cattle 'died not one' (echad, one), which Pharaoh's messengers confirm in v.7. Ps 78:50 counts it among the acts of the LORD's anger against Egypt.

Verse 7

the heart of Pharaoh was hardened — The verb is kabed, to be heavy, the one used of Pharaoh's own act at 8:15, 'he hardened his heart', and 8:32. In v.12 the verb changes to chazaq, to make strong, with the LORD as subject. Paul states the matter in Rom 9:18, 'whom he will he hardeneth'.

Verse 8

handfuls of ashes of the furnace — Kibshan, a kiln or furnace, used of the smoke of Sodom (Gen 19:28) and of Sinai (Ex 19:18), as well as here and v.10. Moses is told to sprinkle it 'toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh'; v.10 records that he did, and the dust became the boil.

Verse 9

a boil breaking forth with blains — Shechin, boil, the 'botch of Egypt' the LORD later names among the curses on a disobedient Israel (Deut 28:27); abaabuah, 'blains', is found only here and in v.10. Job's affliction is the same word (Job 2:7). The dust covers 'all the land of Egypt', upon 'man, and upon beast'.

Verse 11

the magicians could not stand before Moses — Chartom, the magicians who had copied the rod and the water (7:11, 22) and said 'This is the finger of God' (8:19); they do not appear again in Exodus. Paul later names two of them: 'Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses' (2 Tim 3:8). The boil is 'upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians'.

Verse 12

the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh — Chazaq, to make strong. The LORD had said 'I will harden his heart' (Ex 4:21), and 'as the LORD had spoken unto Moses' points back to it. Until here the narrative says that Pharaoh 'hardened his heart' (8:15, 32) or that it 'was hardened'; now the LORD is the subject.

Verse 13

Rise up early in the morning — Shakam, to rise early, with yatsab, to take one's stand. The same command opened the plague of flies: 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh' (8:20). The demand follows word for word that of v.1. A new warning begins here, which runs through v.19.

Verse 14

all my plagues upon thine heart — Maggephah, plague, a blow; this is its first use in the Bible, and it is later the word of the plagues in Numbers (14:37; 16:48). They are sent 'upon thine heart', not only on the land. The aim is knowledge: 'that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth', as Moses had said in 8:10.

Verse 16

for this cause have I raised thee up — Amad, to cause to stand: Pharaoh was set in his place for this. Paul quotes the verse in Rom 9:17: 'that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth'. The purpose is the name, shem, made known 'throughout all the earth'.

Verse 18

such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof — Yasad, to found. The same measure is repeated when it falls: 'such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation' (v.24). Ps 78:47 and Ps 105:32 recall it as hail and 'flaming fire in their land'.

Verse 20

He that feared the word of the LORD — Yare, one who fears. The warning of vv.18–19 divides Pharaoh's servants: this man brings in his servants and cattle, and 'he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field' (v.21). 'He that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded' (Prov 13:13).

Verse 23

the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground — 'Thunder' is qol, a voice; v.28 calls them 'mighty thunderings', where 'mighty' is Elohim, God. The fire is 'mingled with the hail' (v.24). Ps 105:32 says the LORD 'gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land'.

Verse 26

the land of Goshen… no hail — Goshen was set apart under the flies (8:22) and has 'light in their dwellings' in the darkness (10:23). Here too nothing falls on it. The distinction is stated at 11:7: that 'ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel'.

Verse 27

I have sinned this time — Pharaoh says chata', 'sinned', and tsaddiq, 'righteous', of the LORD, and rasha, 'wicked', of himself and his people. He repeats the confession in 10:16. The princes of Israel use the same words of the LORD in 2 Chr 12:6, 'The LORD is righteous', when they humble themselves.

Verse 29

spread abroad my hands unto the LORD — Paras, to spread, with kaph, the palm: the posture of prayer, as when Solomon 'spread forth his hands toward heaven' (1 Kings 8:22). Moses prays after he is 'gone out of the city'. The same words open Ps 24:1, 'The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof', which Paul quotes in 1 Cor 10:26.

Verse 30

ye will not yet fear the LORD God — Moses uses the verb of v.20, yare, to fear. Pharaoh's servants have already divided on it. His knowledge of them agrees with Isa 26:10, 'Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness'.

Verse 31

the barley was in the ear — Abib, the green ear of barley, the word that gave Israel the name of the month: 'This day came ye out in the month Abib' (Ex 13:4). The flax was 'bolled' and the barley smitten; the wheat and rye, 'not grown up' (v.32), were spared.

Verse 34

he sinned yet more — Yasaf, to add, with chata', to sin: he sinned again. Ahaz is described the same way: 'in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD' (2 Chr 28:22). 'Hardened his heart' is again kabed (cf. v.7); Eccl 8:11 notes how sentence not executed quickly emboldens the heart.

Verse 35

as the LORD had spoken by Moses — Literally 'by the hand of Moses' (yad). The verb is chazaq, as in v.12, and the chapter closes on the word of Ex 4:21, 'I will harden his heart'. Pharaoh had said 'I will let you go' (v.28); now 'neither would he let the children of Israel go'.