Exodus 9WEB
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Exodus9

World English Bible · Public Domain

1Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,

3behold, Yahweh’s hand is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence.

4Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”

5Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.”

6Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

7Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.

8Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.

9It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

10They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became boils and blisters breaking out on man and on animal.

11The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

12Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

13Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.

15For now I would have stretched out my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth;

16but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth,

17because you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.

18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now.

19Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. The hail will come down on every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, and they will die.”’”

20Those who feared Yahweh’s word among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses.

21Whoever didn’t respect Yahweh’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.

22Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

23Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder and hail; and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.

24So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

27Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

28Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

29Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, and there will not be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s.

30But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”

31The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley had ripened and the flax was blooming.

32But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up.

33Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread out his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.

34When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders had ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Exodus 9.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The murrain of beasts. (1–7). The plague of boils and blains. (8–12). The plague of hail threatened. (13–21). The plague of hail inflicted. (22–35).

vv1-7

God will have Israel released, Pharaoh opposes it, and the trial is, whose word shall stand. The hand of the Lord at once is upon the cattle, many of which, some of all kinds, die by a sort of murrain. This was greatly to the loss of the owners; they had made Israel poor, and now God would make them poor. The hand of God is to be seen, even in the sickness and death of cattle; for a sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father. None of the Israelites' cattle should die; the Lord shall sever. The cattle died. The Egyptians worshipped their cattle. What we make an idol of, it is just with God to remove from us. This proud tyrant and cruel oppressor deserved to be made an example by the just Judge of the universe. None who are punished according to what they deserve, can have any just cause to complain. Hardness of heart denotes that state of mind upon which neither threatenings nor promise, neither judgements nor mercies, make any abiding impression. The conscience being stupified, and the heart filled with pride and presumption, they persist in unbelief and disobedience. This state of mind is also called the stony heart. Very different is the heart of flesh, the broken and contrite heart. Sinners have none to blame but themselves, for that pride and ungodliness which abuse the bounty and patience of God. For, however the Lord hardens the hearts of men, it is always as a punishment of former sins.

vv8-12

When the Egyptians were not wrought upon by the death of their cattle, God sent a plague that seized their own bodies. If lesser judgments do not work, God will send greater. Sometimes God shows men their sin in their punishment. They had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now the ashes of the furnace are made a terror to them. The plague itself was very grievous. The magicians themselves were struck with these boils. Their power was restrained before; but they continued to withstand Moses, and to confirm Pharaoh in his unbelief, till they were forced to give way. Pharaoh continued obstinate. He had hardened his own heart, and now God justly gave him up to his own heart's lusts, permitting Satan to blind and harden him. If men shut their eyes against the light, it is just with God to close their eyes. This is the sorest judgment a man can be under out of hell.

vv13-21

Moses is here ordered to deliver a dreadful message to Pharaoh. Providence ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as this Pharaoh to deal with; and every thing made it a most signal instance of the power of God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. When God's justice threatens ruin, his mercy at the same time shows a way of escape from it. God not only distinguished between Egyptians and Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield, and so prevent the judgment itself, yet those that will take warning, may take shelter. Some believed the things which were spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle, and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants of Pharaoh, some trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons of Israel dread it? But others believed not, and left their cattle in the field. Obstinate unbelief is deaf to the fairest warnings, and the wisest counsels, which leaves the blood of those that perish upon their own heads.

Cross References

Exodus 9
v16Romans 9:17quotation

Paul explicitly quotes Exodus 9:16 to establish the doctrine of God's sovereign purpose in raising up Pharaoh.

Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole

Paul quotes the exact truth declared here: 'the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.'

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v29Psalms 24:1thematic

Declares that 'the earth is the Lord's,' directly corresponding to Moses' words of sovereign ownership.

Supported by Matthew Poole

The 'iron furnace' of Egypt is converted to ashes of judgment to chastise Israel's oppressors.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v23Psalms 105:32thematic

Direct historical poetic reflection on God sending hail and flaming fire upon Egypt.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v23Psalms 78:47thematic

Poetic recounting of the plague destroying Egyptian vines and sycamore trees with frost and hail.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v34Exodus 8:15thematic

Matches Pharaoh's pattern of hardening his heart as soon as he saw there was respite.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v7Romans 9:18thematic

Paul uses Pharaoh's hardening to illustrate that God has mercy on whom He will, and hardens whom He will.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v8Jeremiah 11:4thematic

Verbal link to the 'furnace' symbolizing Egypt's crucible of cruel oppression.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

The 'botch of Egypt' is threatened as a covenant curse, referencing these historical boils and blains.

Supported by JFB

v112 Timothy 3:8thematic

Paul names Jannes and Jambres, the magicians who withstood Moses but could not stand before his miracles.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v21Deuteronomy 4:20thematic

Refers to Egypt as the 'iron furnace,' reflecting the symbolic source of the ashes of plague.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v231 Samuel 12:17thematic

Parallel where God sends unseasonable thunder and rain at a prophet's word to show his power.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v35Romans 9:17thematic

Paul cites Pharaoh's hardening to demonstrate God's sovereign purpose in raising him up.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v9Job 2:7thematic

Job is smitten with sore boils from head to foot, using the same physical affliction.

Supported by JFB

v14Leviticus 26:21thematic

Calvin notes the grading of judgments: sevenfold plagues are sent on those who remain obstinate.

Supported by John Calvin

v16Proverbs 16:4thematic

God has made all things for himself, even the wicked Pharaoh for the day of evil.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v20Hebrews 11:7thematic

Like Noah, those Egyptians who 'feared the word' took warning of unseen events and housed cattle.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v21Genesis 19:14thematic

Those who mock warnings perish, mirroring Pharaoh's servants who disregarded God's word.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v21Proverbs 22:3thematic

A prudent man foresees evil and hides, while the simple pass on and are punished.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v22Revelation 16:21thematic

Eschatological parallel where men blaspheme God due to a great plague of plague-like heavy hail.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v26Exodus 10:23thematic

Parallels the strict geographical separation between the plagued Egyptians and the light-filled dwellings of Israel.

Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB

v27Exodus 10:16thematic

Pharaoh's identical, insincere confession of sin under the pressure of the next severe plague.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v4Exodus 8:22thematic

Repeats the divine severing/distinction between Goshen and Egypt to demonstrate Yahweh's unique presence.

Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin

v11Exodus 8:19thematic

Magicians who previously confessed 'the finger of God' are now utterly overcome by the boils.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v12Exodus 4:21fulfillment

Fulfills the early prediction that God would progressively harden Pharaoh's heart.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v14Micah 6:13allusion

Poole links God making Pharaoh's heart sick with the wording of making sick by smiting.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v271 Samuel 15:24thematic

Saul's insincere 'I have sinned' confession, driven by fear of consequences rather than true repentance.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v28Acts 8:24thematic

Simon Magus, like Pharaoh, asks others to entreat God to avert consequences without true repentance.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v12Revelation 16:10thematic

The plague of darkness and sores in Revelation causes the obstinate to blaspheme rather than repent.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v15Exodus 9:15thematic

Refers to the potential of immediate pestilential destruction which God has withheld to display power.

Supported by Matthew Poole