The Plagues16 (7:14\u201311:10)<\/p>\n
Pharaoh\u2019s intransigence\u2014as foretold\u2014sets off the \u201cextraordinary chastisements\u201d mentioned in verse 4. These take the form of ten disasters that strike Egypt in the course of a year.17 They are popularly known as the \u201cTen Plagues,\u201d in Hebrew \u02bfeser makkot.
\nThe Hebrew Bible features three accounts of the plagues. The longest and most detailed narrative is the prose version set forth in the ensuing chapters. Psalms 78:43\u201351 and 105:27\u201336 present highly condensed poetic paraphrases. The three sources vary in the sequence, number, and content of the plagues. Psalm 78 makes no mention of lice, boils, and darkness, whereas Psalm 105 ignores boils and pestilence. Due to the uncertain meaning of some of the Hebrew terms in those psalms, it is difficult to determine exactly how many and what kind of plagues the two compositions respectively present. Nor can one establish with certainty whether the differences represent variant traditions or poetic license.
\nThe present narrative is a sophisticated and symmetric literary structure18 with a pattern of three groups each comprising three plagues. The climactic tenth plague possesses a character all its own. The first two afflictions in each triad are forewarned; the last always strikes suddenly, unannounced. Furthermore, in the case of the first, fourth, and seventh plagues Pharaoh is informed in the morning and Moses is told to \u201cstation\u201d himself before the king, whereas in the second of each series Moses is told to \u201ccome in before Pharaoh,\u201d that is, to confront him in the palace. Finally, in the first triad of plagues it is always Aaron who is the effective agent; in the third, it is always Moses.19
\nThe controlling purpose behind this literary architecture is to emphasize the idea that the nine plagues are not random vicissitudes of nature; although they are natural disasters, they are the deliberate and purposeful acts of divine will\u2014their intent being retributive, coercive, and educative. As God\u2019s judgments on Egypt for the enslavement of the Israelites, they are meant to crush Pharaoh\u2019s resistance to their liberation. They are to demonstrate to Egypt the impotence of its gods20 and, by contrast, the incomparability of YHVH, God of Israel, as the one supreme sovereign God of Creation, who uses the phenomena of the natural order for His own purposes.21
\nIn addition to this dominant motif of the plagues narrative, a secondary theme is also discernible: Israel as well as the Egyptians must \u201cknow\u201d YHVH. This is made explicit in 10:2. The early Exodus narratives are very clear about the lack of the people\u2019s faith in its relationship with God.22 In this regard, the mysterious silence of the Israelites throughout the course of the plagues may well be significant. True, the people is said to be shielded from the effects of the catastrophes, but only in the course of five of them;23 nothing is said about this in connection with the others.24 It is only after the culminating miracle at the sea that \u201cthe people feared the LORD; they had faith in the LORD and His servant Moses\u201d (14:31).<\/p>\n
THE FIRST PLAGUE: THE WATERS BECOME BLOODY (dam) (7:14\u201325)25<\/p>\n
This plague has been explained as the extreme intensification of a well-known phenomenon that occurs periodically in the Nile valley. The river is fed by melting snow and summer rains that pour down from the highlands of Ethiopia and carry with them sediment from the tropical red earth that characterizes the region. Following from this explanation, the plague must have resulted from an abnormally heavy rainfall that led to an excessively high rise of the Nile and washed down inordinate amounts of the red sediment. The neutralization of this substance, which normally occurs in the course of the flow of the river, was now retarded, so that the entire river took on a bloody hue. As a result, flagellates and purple bacteria washed down from the high mountain lakes, together with the particles of red earth, disturbed the oxygen balance and killed off the fish, which produced a foul stench.26
\nThe Nile inundation, which reaches its height in September\/October, has a bearing on the explanation for the next plague as well.
\nThe Egyptians personified and deified the river Nile as the god Hapi, to whom offerings were made at the time of inundation. The flooding itself was regarded as a manifestation of the god Osiris. It is quite possible, then, that the contamination of the river served to discredit Egyptian polytheism.27 Also, by commencing the series of plagues with the striking of the Nile waters, the text suggests an underlying notion of retribution, measure for measure, for Pharaoh\u2019s iniquitous decree that all newborn males be cast into the river.28
\nThis type of calamity is found elsewhere in the literature of the ancient Near East. A Sumerian text about the goddess Inanna tells of three plagues that she brought upon the world; in the first she turned all the waters of the land into blood.29 An Egyptian literary work by a certain Ipuwer, which purports to be a description of contemporary chaotic conditions, mentions that \u201cthe river [Nile] is blood\u201d and \u201cpeople thirst for water.\u201d30 In another Egyptian text, supposedly centering on the exploits of a magician who is one of the sons of Ramses II, the young man tells his mother that should he be defeated in a contest, the water she drinks would take on the color of blood.31<\/p>\n
15. as be is coming out to the water The significance of Pharaoh\u2019s act is unexplained. Perhaps it involves some ceremony associated with his morning rituals, or it may be for worship of the god of the Nile during the inundation period.32 It may also have been to measure the height of the river.33<\/p>\n
17. Thus says the LORD See Comment to 4:22.<\/p>\n
18. The Nile and its pools teemed with fish, an important ingredient of the popular daily diet,34 though taboo in certain pious Egyptian circles. The rotting of the fish was therefore a heavy blow.<\/p>\n
impossible The Hebrew stem l-\u02be-h means \u201cnot to be able.\u201d35<\/p>\n
19. in [vessels of] wood and stone \u201cVessels\u201d is not in the Hebrew text, but is so understood by early exegesis.36 However, the Hebrew phrase may be figurative, the opposites constituting a merism for nature in its entirety, that is, \u201ceverything.\u201d37<\/p>\n
22. The magicians\u2019 success offsets the ominous effect of the plague.<\/p>\n
25. The NJPS translation connects this verse with the next, implying that the second plague followed the first by a week.38 The Hebrew could also signify that the first plague lasted seven days, a rendering favored by the Masoretic division of the Hebrew.<\/p>\n
THE SECOND PLAGUE: FROGS (tsefardea\u02bf) (7:26\u20138:11)<\/p>\n
During their reproductive period, frogs concentrate in particular areas such as ponds and lakes; as the Nile begins to recede in September\/October, they usually mass on land. In the present circumstances their habitat had become polluted by the putrefying fish, so the amphibians would have been forced to invade the land much earlier than usual. But the dead fish would have been a source of infection carried by insects, so that the frogs died en masse.
\nIt is possible that this plague, like the first one, was regarded as a judgment on Egyptian polytheism, for a frog-headed goddess named Heqt was the consort of the god Khnum, who was credited with having fashioned man out of clay. She was associated with fertility and was thought to assist women at childbirth. Hence, the plague may have been taken as retribution for the decree ordering the midwives to kill the newborn males at birth.39<\/p>\n
26. Go to Pharaoh That is, to the palace.<\/p>\n
28\u201329. The victims are recorded in descending order of social status.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 8<\/p>\n
4. The process of humbling Pharaoh now begins. His magicians can add to the number of frogs but cannot remove them.<\/p>\n
plead with the LORD Pharaoh acknowledges the existence of YHVH for the first time. He makes a sweeping concession, only to rescind it soon after.<\/p>\n
5. triumph over me The Hebrew phrase hitpa\u02beer \u02bfal usually means \u201cto vaunt\u201d1 but here seems to connote \u201cI defer to you\u201d to select the time for removing the frogs.<\/p>\n
THE THIRD PLAGUE: VERMIN (kinnim) (vv. 12\u201315)<\/p>\n
In accordance with the pattern, the third in the series comes without warning. The land is suddenly hit by a devastating infestation of insects, identified by some as mosquitoes.2 These carriers of deadly diseases, normally troublesome enough in Egypt during October\/November, would have multiplied astronomically all over the land in the wake of the preceding plagues.<\/p>\n
14\u201315. The magicians retire from the scene, their powers entirely exhausted.3<\/p>\n
15. the finger of God A supernatural phenomenon beyond human control.4<\/p>\n
THE FOURTH PLAGUE (\u02bfarov) (vv. 16\u201328)<\/p>\n
The second triad of plagues now begins. Pharaoh is warned as he goes down to the river. The plague cannot be identified with certainty because Hebrew \u02bfarov occurs only in the present context. Indeed, diverse interpretive traditions already existed in ancient times. The word itself was taken to mean \u201cmixture,\u201d and the most widely accepted understanding was \u201cvarious kinds of wild animals.\u201d5 An alternative tradition understands \u201cswarms of insects,\u201d6 which the Septuagint and Philo specify as the dog fly. This would be the stable fly, or Stomoxys calcitrans, a vicious, bloodsucking insect that can multiply prodigiously in tropical and subtropical regions, given the proper environmental conditions. It is known to transmit anthrax and other animal diseases. If \u02bfarov indeed refers to this species, it would explain why Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was exempt, for its climate is Mediterranean. At any rate, for the first time a clear distinction is made between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and the time of the onset of the plague is fixed, both particulars leaving no doubt that the source of the plague is not just any god (v. 15) but YHVH, God of Israel.<\/p>\n
18. the region Hebrew \u02beerets is used here in the sense of a defined territory or district.7<\/p>\n
Goshen In Genesis 45:10 this is the name given to the area of Israelite settlement in Egypt.8 The name has not been identified as Egyptian and is most likely Semitic. It is probably connected with Hebrew gush, \u201ca clod\u201d (Job 7:5), referring to a type of soil. This element appears as a place-name in Gush-\u1e24alav (Giscala) in Upper Galilee. Another \u201cregion of Goshen\u201d is a strip of land south of Hebron in the Land of Israel; it is mentioned in Joshua 10:41 and 11:16. A hill city of the same name, situated in the southern extremity of Judah, southwest of Hebron, is listed in Joshua 15:51. The presence of such a name in Egypt accords with other Semitic place-names such as Succoth (Exod. 12:37), Migdol, and Baal-zephon (Exod. 14:1) in the same region, thus attesting to its early occupation by Semites.
\nAlthough no source defines the precise geographic location of Goshen, the cumulative effect of various items of evidence is to place it in the area of Wadi Tumeilat, which stretches from the eastern arm of the Nile to the Great Bitter Lake. Egyptian texts confirm the presence of Semites and other Asians in the northeastern part of the country, both at the end of the Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2250 B.C.E.) and about 1700 B.C.E., in the wake of the Hyksos invasion. Exodus 12:38 refers to a \u201cmixed multitude,\u201d that is, foreign tribes, dwelling in the area of Israelite settlement.<\/p>\n
19. a distinction While the context requires such a meaning for Hebrew pedut,9 it is unclear how it is obtained, for the other biblical usages of the noun mean \u201crescue, redemption,\u201d and the stem p-d-h invariably conveys \u201cto ransom, redeem.\u201d10<\/p>\n
21. For the second time Pharaoh makes a concession, this time more limited.<\/p>\n
within the land Not in the wilderness.<\/p>\n
22\u201323. The Israelites do not yet know what animal sacrifice the Lord may demand of them. It may turn out to be one that Egyptians would regard as a sacrilegious provocation, given that their religion represents deities in animal form. Hence, the Israelites can only worship their God outside Egypt.<\/p>\n
22. untouchable Moses employs a deliberate ambiguity: Hebrew to\u02bfevah can mean \u201cthat which is taboo\u201d to the Egyptians11 and also \u201cthat which is an [Egyptian] abomination\u201d in the sight of Israel,12 namely, their animal divinities.<\/p>\n
will they not stone us! Would not such a sacrifice on our part evoke a violent reaction?<\/p>\n
23. three days See Comment to 3:18.<\/p>\n
24. Pharaoh seems to accept Moses\u2019 reasoning.<\/p>\n
I will let you go The Hebrew adds the personal pronoun13 before the verb to emphasize the subject. In this way Pharaoh asserts his superior authority while at the same time making a concession.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 9<\/p>\n
THE FIFTH PLAGUE: PESTILENCE (dever) (vv. 1\u20137)<\/p>\n
Allusion to the importance of sacred animals in Egyptian religion is now followed by a visitation that exposes the inherent absurdity of such a notion. The God of Israel strikes the animals with pestilence. Most likely, the soil, contaminated by mounds of rotting frogs, became the breeding ground of disease, probably the highly infectious anthrax, which strikes the cattle in the fields. Once again, the livestock of the Israelites are unaffected, the time of the plague\u2019s onset is forecast, and Pharaoh is warned in his palace.<\/p>\n
3. the hand of the LORD As opposed to the \u201cfinger of God\u201d in 8:15. The \u201chand\u201d is the symbol of power, here exercised both punitively and coercively. In Akkadian, diseases are described as \u201cthe hand of Ishtar,\u201d \u201cthe hand of Nergal,\u201d or of other gods.1<\/p>\n
will strike Hebrew hoyah is undoubtedly a play on YHVH.2<\/p>\n
camels The presence of this animal here and in the patriarchal narratives is a problem because the camel does not figure in Egyptian texts and art until the Persian period. It is conspicuously absent from the published Mari texts from Mesopotamia, which are replete with information about pastoral nomadic groups and their way of life. Thousands of commercial and administrative texts from the Old Babylonian period (ca. 1950\u20131530 B.C.E.) maintain complete silence on the existence of this animal. All available evidence points to the conclusion that the effective domestication of the camel as a widely used beast of burden did not take place before the twelfth century B.C.E., which is long after the patriarchal and Exodus periods.
\nThe key word in this formulation is \u201ceffective,\u201d for evidence of another kind does exist. Certain bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian lexical texts from Mesopotamia equate a domesticated animal called \u201cdonkey-of-the-sea-land\u201d with a dromedary, thus proving a knowledge of the animal in southern Mesopotamia in Old Babylonian times (ca. 2000\u20131700 B.C.E.). Moreover, the scribes knew to differentiate between the dromedary and the Bactrian camel, and a Sumerian text from that period mentions the drinking of camel\u2019s milk. A braided cord made from camel hair (ca. 2000 B.C.E.) has been found in Egypt; a tiny bronze figurine of a camel from before 2100 B.C.E. turned up at Byblos; a frieze of a procession of typically Egyptian animals, including a camel, decorates a pot (1500\u20131400 B.C.E.) uncovered in Greece; a steatite seal from Minoan Crete (1800\u20131400 B.C.E.) features that animal; and a ration list from the North Syrian town of Alalakh from the 18th century B.C.E. in Old Babylonian includes fodder for the camel.
\nIn light of all this, mention of the camel in Exodus and Genesis can be taken at face value. First domesticated in southern Arabia in the third millennium B.C.E., its presence spread very slowly and long remained a rarity. A wealthy man might acquire a few as a prestige symbol. Only much later did it become a beast of burden.3<\/p>\n
7. Pharaoh\u2019s need to learn whether the prediction made in verse 4 was fulfilled betrays a weakened self-confidence. Yet the incontrovertible testimony of God\u2019s transcendent power only serves to reinforce his perversity.<\/p>\n
THE SIXTH PLAGUE: BOILS (she\u1e25in) (vv. 8\u201312)<\/p>\n
As the third in the triad, this affliction arrives without prior warning. The plagues now become more intense. For the first time one of the plagues directly imperils human life. If the interpretation given to the preceding scourges is correct, then the disease referred to here would be anthrax, known to be transmitted by Stomoxys calcitrans to both human beings and animals; the latter are infected through grazing on contaminated pastures. There is much irony in the fact that Pharaoh\u2019s magicians were themselves afflicted by the disease to such an extent as to be totally immobilized. Incidentally, the disease called she\u1e25in must have been quite prevalent in Egypt and notorious for its exceptional virulence, for Deuteronomy 28:27 (cf. v. 35) singles out the Egyptian variety in a list of maledictions.<\/p>\n
8. soot The significance of this substance and of the accompanying action is unclear.<\/p>\n
in the sight of Pharaoh So that he knows that this particular outbreak is not the familiar, common type but one that has been sent by God for a particular time and purpose.<\/p>\n
9. inflammation Hebrew she\u1e25in derives from a stem meaning \u201cto be hot.\u201d4<\/p>\n
breaking out Probably referring to the skin ulcerations and malignant pustules that characterize anthrax.5<\/p>\n
12. See Comment to 4:21.<\/p>\n
THE SEVENTH PLAGUE: HAIL (barad) (vv. 13\u201335)<\/p>\n
The third and final triad of plagues now begins. The escalation in terror and ruin sets the stage for the climactic catastrophe. This accounts for the extraordinary length of the warning given to Pharaoh at dawn. For the first time the Egyptians and their livestock are given the opportunity to take shelter, and some avail themselves of it. Also for the first time Pharaoh openly admits to being at fault.
\nThe information given in verses 31\u201332 clearly dates the plague to early February.<\/p>\n
14. all My plagues This phrase either introduces the last four plagues or alludes to their all-embracing consequences.<\/p>\n
15\u201316. Pharaoh is instructed that he has thus far been spared, not because of any inherent merit or special power but solely by dint of God\u2019s forbearance, which serves a weightier, didactic purpose still to be accomplished.<\/p>\n
17. thwart The meaning of this unique Hebrew phrase is uncertain.6<\/p>\n
19. God shows concern for the needless loss of human and animal life. A rabbinic comment on this verse states: \u201cCome and observe [the extent] of God\u2019s compassion. Even in a moment of anger He has compassion on the wicked and on their animals.\u201d7<\/p>\n
23\u201325. The description is clearly of a long-lasting, savage hailstorm marked by repeated thunderclaps and continual flashes of lightning.8<\/p>\n
26. Thunderstorms originating in Upper Egypt and moving northward may well be trapped within the narrow Nile valley, leaving unaffected the northeastern part of the Delta, where Goshen was located.<\/p>\n
27. Pharaoh\u2019s \u201cthis time\u201d echoes the identical phrase used by God in His forewarning in verse 14.<\/p>\n
28. Pharaoh\u2019s concession now appears to be unqualified.<\/p>\n
29. spread out my hands An attitude of prayer.9<\/p>\n
that the earth is the LORD\u2019s He, not the Egyptian gods, is sovereign over nature.<\/p>\n
30. Moses knows that Pharaoh\u2019s confession of guilt is just empty words.<\/p>\n
31\u201332. This note serves a double purpose. It creates suspense about Moses\u2019 response to Pharaoh\u2019s plea in light of verse 30, and it explains why, despite the devastation of crops caused by the hail, there still remained a residue for the locusts in the next plague (10:5). Ramban sees a didactic purpose in these verses, which he takes to be part of Moses\u2019 speech to Pharaoh\u2014the king is told that if he sincerely repents, the wheat and emmer can still be saved.
\nIn Egypt flax was normally sown at the beginning of January and was in bloom three weeks later; barley was sown in August and harvested in February. Flax was grown primarily for its linen fiber, which was made into yarn, woven into cloth, and then bleached. The linen-making industry was of considerable importance in the economy of Egypt because linen was the preferred fabric for clothing. Barley was cultivated extensively in Egypt; it was used for bread and brewed into beer. The destruction of these crops would be a severe blow.<\/p>\n
31. in bud Hebrew giv\u02bfol refers to the stage of development of the calyx.10<\/p>\n
flax barley, barley flax Note the chiastic design.11<\/p>\n
32. emmer A species of wheat that along with barley and winter wheat made up the three chief cereals of Egypt. The identification of Hebrew kussemet as spelt, found in many translations, is erroneous for the reason that this cereal did not grow in the land of Egypt. Kussemet is mentioned several times in rabbinic texts as one of the principal products of the Land of Israel.12<\/p>\n
ripen late Wheat and emmer are planted in August and harvested in late spring or early summer. Hence, they were less vulnerable than the flax and barley.13<\/p>\n
34. Once again Pharaoh yields to his obstinate and perfidious impulses.<\/p>\n
35. through Moses This implies that Moses had conveyed to the people God\u2019s fore-knowledge of Pharaoh.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 10<\/p>\n
THE EIGHTH PLAGUE: LOCUSTS (\u02bearbeh) (vv. 1\u201320)<\/p>\n
Bo\u02be<\/p>\n
The locust swarm has always been one of the worst scourges to afflict humanity. An area of one square kilometer can contain fifty million such insects, which in a single night can devour as much as one hundred thousand tons of vegetation. Their mass multiplication is fostered by heavy rains and unusually moist conditions.
\nThe introduction to the onset of the plague is again unusually lengthy. It also contains several new features. The king\u2019s courtiers boldly challenge him; Pharaoh makes concessions in advance of the actual plague; the coercive function of the plague for the Egyptians is supplemented by an educative purpose for Israel.<\/p>\n
1. I have hardened his heart See Comment to 4:21.<\/p>\n
in order that \u2026 To the Egyptians, the multiplication of these \u201csigns\u201d enhances the evidence pointing to God\u2019s force and power.<\/p>\n
2. that you may recount The singular form of the verb shows that Moses is addressed as the personification of the people of Israel, for whom the message is really intended. Hence, the last verb is in the plural form.
\nAs the cycle of plagues inexorably draws to its inevitable conclusion, its larger historical and transcendent significance is brought into view. The events are to be indelibly marked upon the collective memory of the people of Israel and thus become a permanent part of the lore that is transmitted from generation to generation. The constant instruction of the young concerning God\u2019s mighty deeds is the medium of such transmission.1 Psalms 78 and 105 provide biblical examples of this practice. The idea is that through the evocative power of narration, rather than by abstract theological discourse, the true knowledge of God is understood, is established in the mind of Israel, and is sustained. See also the Comment to 13:8.<\/p>\n
I made a mockery2 By humbling the mighty Egyptian state, by humiliating Pharaoh, its \u201cdivine king,\u201d and by exposing the impotence of its gods.<\/p>\n
6. your \u2026 fathers\u2019 fathers A neat counterpoint to \u201cyour sons\u2019 sons\u201d in verse 2. For Israel, the future is invoked in a context of enduring inspiration and celebration. For Egypt, the past is recalled in order to paint a picture of impending catastrophe.<\/p>\n
7. The threat of the plague of hail had fractured the ranks of Pharaoh\u2019s courtiers (9:20). The predicted invasion of locusts now leads to an open break with the king\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n
this one A disrespectful allusion to Moses.<\/p>\n
a snare We court disaster.<\/p>\n
9. the LORD\u2019s festival See Comment to 5:1.<\/p>\n
10. The LORD be Hebrew yehi \u2026 YHVH\u2014another play on the divine name and the verb \u201cto be,\u201d as in 3:14 and 9:3.<\/p>\n
you are bent on mischief The literal meaning of the Hebrew\u2014\u201cevil is before your faces\u201d\u2014is ambiguous and has given rise to various interpretations: \u201cYou have evil intentions,\u201d that is, you do not intend returning after three days;3 \u201cyou are foredoomed to disaster,\u201d4 an understanding that would seem to be supported by 32:12. Another explanation construes Hebrew ra\u02bfah, here \u201cmischief,\u201d as the name of a star; Pharaoh makes an astrological prediction that its configuration is an omen of disaster for the departing Israelites.5 Finally, ra\u02bfah has also been taken to be a Hebraized form of the name of the Egyptian god Re.6<\/p>\n
11. The women and children are to be held hostage to ensure the return of the menfolk.<\/p>\n
13. an east wind Hebrew kadim is generally the hot, dry, withering wind known as the khamsin, or sirocco, such as in Genesis 41:6. Here, as in 14:21, it may signify the south wind that blows in from the Sahara, since Egypt was oriented southward to the source and headwaters of the Nile. The kadim is often used in the Bible as the instrument of God without any directional implication.7<\/p>\n
all that day The locust migrates vast distances.<\/p>\n
14\u201315. A bold overstatement to convey something of the magnitude of the plague.<\/p>\n
18. Moses and Aaron, having been recalled by Pharaoh, make no response to his plea. Their cold silence must have been especially humiliating to Pharaoh, since he had summarily dismissed them only a short while before (v. 11).<\/p>\n
19. west wind Literally, \u201csea wind.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE NINTH PLAGUE: DARKNESS (\u1e25oshekh) (vv. 21\u201329)<\/p>\n
Once again, the third in the series arrives without prior warning. For three days the land is engulfed in darkness, a spell corresponding to the three-day journey for worship that Pharaoh had repeatedly refused to grant the Israelites. This affliction can be explained in terms of the khamsin referred to above. This scorching sirocco wind blows in each spring from Saharan Africa or from Arabia, enveloping the land in thick sand and dust. It may often persist for several days and blacken the sky in its wake.
\nIn the present case, the first khamsin to arrive in March would have been far more intense than usual. It would additionally have borne aloft the red soil deposited by the earlier torrential rains and now sunbaked and particulate following the destructive action of the locusts, which had already denuded the land of vegetation. Since the khamsin may travel northward in bands, rather than be diffused, the Israelite area of Goshen, situated at right angles to the Nile valley, could escape its effects.
\nThe blotting out of the light of the sun for three days would have carried a powerful symbolic message for the Egyptians, for the sun was their supreme god, and its worship was pervasive in the official palace ritual.8 The sun\u2019s diurnal rising was conceived to be a triumph over the demon Apophis, the embodiment of darkness, who struggled daily to vanquish him. The plague of darkness, therefore, would have had a devastating psychological impact. The impotence of the Egyptians\u2019 supreme god is exposed, thus foreboding imminent doom.<\/p>\n
21. that can be touched This probably refers to the vast quantities of sand, dust, and particles of soil that filled the air.9<\/p>\n
25. You yourself He who contemptuously denied all knowledge of YHVH will, in the end, provide sacrifices for Him in acknowledgment of His reality and power; compare 12:32.<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 11<\/p>\n
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE TENTH PLAGUE (vv. 1\u201310)<\/p>\n
Pharaoh has closed the door on any further negotiations with Moses. Despite their concentrative force, their timing and intensity, the natural disasters have left the king even more uncompromising than before. Now one final, overwhelming blow is about to descend on the Egyptians, one that is wholly outside the range of nature or of previous human experience. This Moses announces to Pharaoh before he leaves the palace.
\nThis chapter consists of three declarations. It connects with the past by registering the completion of the role of Moses and Aaron as the effective instruments of God\u2019s chastening and coercive measures against the Egyptians. At the same time, it foretells the impending, unmediated, and decisive intervention of God. By focusing on the initial preparations for the Exodus, it forges a transition to the Passover account in the next chapter.<\/p>\n
1\u20133. These verses are a parenthetic aside. It must be assumed that Moses received this communication in the palace just as he was about to leave, for verse 8 shows that he conveyed its content to Pharaoh.<\/p>\n
1. he will drive you out The Exodus will no longer be a concession on Pharaoh\u2019s part. He will earnestly desire your rapid departure.1<\/p>\n
one and all Without restriction, exactly as Moses had demanded.2<\/p>\n
2\u20133. See Comment to 3:22.<\/p>\n
2. Tell the people Throughout the plagues episode, no communication of Moses with the Israelites has been reported. Now that his mission to Pharaoh is concluded, he once again turns his attention to internal affairs.<\/p>\n
silver and gold The Septuagint and Samaritan texts add \u201cand clothing,\u201d as in 3:22 and 12:35.<\/p>\n
3. disposed \u2026 favorably The Egyptians willingly parted with their possessions.3<\/p>\n
Moses himself An additional reason for the Egyptian people\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
4\u20138. This section is a continuation of 10:29.<\/p>\n
4. Toward midnight When everyone would be at home. For psychological effect, the specific night is not disclosed.<\/p>\n
5. For the first time, Pharaoh personally will be afflicted.<\/p>\n
from \u2026 Pharaoh \u2026 to \u2026 the slave girl A merism, in which totality is expressed by the extreme opposites of social status. None will be exempt.<\/p>\n
the millstones Hebrew re\u1e25ayim is a dual form. The utensil with which the grain was ground into flour was the quern and muller type. The grain was placed between two pieces of stone. The smaller, upper one (Heb. rekhev, literally \u201crider\u201d in Deut. 24:6) was moved by hand forward and backward over the larger, stationary stone. This tedious, menial labor was performed by slave girls and captives.4 Sensitive to the problem as to why these unfortunates were to be victims of the tenth plague, the Mekhilta explains that they had gloated over the sufferings of the Israelites at the hands of the Egyptians.5<\/p>\n
the first-born of the cattle These were included because they were objects of Egyptian veneration.6 The Egyptians might have ascribed their misfortune to the work of their own animal-shaped gods instead of to YHVH.7<\/p>\n
6. a loud cry Hebrew tse\u02bfakah is the very term used to give expression to Israel\u2019s misery under Egyptian enslavement.8 The anguished cry of the oppressed yields to the cry of their oppressors and tormentors.<\/p>\n
7. By contrast, the departing, liberated Israelites will not encounter the slightest show of resistance.9<\/p>\n
8. in hot anger At Pharaoh\u2019s death threat (10:28).<\/p>\n
9\u201310. This summary is needed because Moses\u2019 negotiations with Pharaoh are over. He never speaks to him again. The verses conclude the saga that began in chapter 7, just as the summarizing verses of chapter 6 bring to completion the first section of the book.<\/p>\n