8 And Pharaoh calleth for Moses and for Aaron, and saith, `Make supplication unto Jehovah, that he turn aside the frogs from me, and from my people, and I send the people away, and they sacrifice to Jehovah.'
and now, bear with, I pray you, my sin, only this time, and make ye supplication to Jehovah your God, that He turn aside from off me only this death.'
make ye supplication unto Jehovah, and plead that there be no voices of God and hail, and I send you away, and ye add not to remain.'
And Pharaoh calleth unto Moses and to Aaron, and saith, `Go, sacrifice to your God in the land;' and Moses saith, `Not right to do so, for the abomination of the Egyptians we do sacrifice to Jehovah our God; lo, we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes -- and they do not stone us! A journey of three days we go into the wilderness, and have sacrificed to Jehovah our God, as He saith unto us.' And Pharaoh saith, `I send you away, and ye have sacrificed to Jehovah your God in the wilderness, only go not very far off; make ye supplication for me;'
and the people come in unto Moses and say, `We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, and He doth turn aside from us the serpent;' and Moses prayeth in behalf of the people.
And the king answereth and saith unto the man of God, `Appease, I pray thee, the face of Jehovah thy God, and pray for me, and my hand doth come back unto me;' and the man of God appeaseth the face of Jehovah, and the hand of the king cometh back unto him, and it is as at the beginning.
and he calleth for Moses and for Aaron by night, and saith, `Rise, go out from the midst of my people, both ye and the sons of Israel, and go, serve Jehovah according to your word; both your flock and your herd take ye, as ye have spoken, and go; then ye have blessed also me.'
And Simon answering, said, `Beseech ye for me unto the Lord, that nothing may come upon me of the things ye have spoken.'
and Pharaoh saith, `Who `is' Jehovah, that I hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah, and Israel also I do not send away.'
And Moses is brought back -- Aaron also -- unto Pharaoh, and he saith unto them, `Go, serve Jehovah your God; -- who and who `are' those going?' And Moses saith, `With our young ones, and with our aged ones, we go, with our sons, and with our daughters, with our flock, and our herd, we go, for we have a festival to Jehovah.' And he saith unto them, `Be it so, Jehovah `be' with you when I send you and your infants away; see -- for evil `is' before your faces; not so! go now, ye who `are' men, and serve Jehovah, for that ye are seeking;' and `one' casteth them out from the presence of Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh calleth unto Moses and saith, `Go ye, serve Jehovah, only your flock and your herd are stayed, your infants also go with you;' and Moses saith, `Thou also dost give in our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, and we have prepared for Jehovah our God; and also our cattle doth go with us, there is not left a hoof, for from it we do take to serve Jehovah our God; and we -- we know not how we do serve Jehovah till our going thither.' And Jehovah strengtheneth the heart of Pharaoh, and he hath not been willing to send them away;
And it is declared to the king of Egypt that the people hath fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants is turned against the people, and they say, `What `is' this we have done? that we have sent Israel away from our service.'
Say to God, `How fearful `are' Thy works, By the abundance of Thy strength, Thine enemies feign obedience to Thee.
If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly, And they remember that God `is' their rock, And God Most High their redeemer. And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who `are' in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty, to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant -- the Hebrew and the Hebrewess -- free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother; and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away; and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants. And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying, At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear. `And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called. And -- ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure,) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 8
Commentary on Exodus 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
Three more of the plagues of Egypt are related in this chapter,
Exd 8:1-15
Pharaoh is here first threatened and then plagued with frogs, as afterwards, in this chapter, with lice and flies, little despicable inconsiderable animals, and yet by their vast numbers rendered sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued them with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with vultures or other birds of prey; but he chose to do it by these contemptible instruments.
Exd 8:16-19
Here is a short account of the plague of lice. It does not appear that any warning was given of it before. Pharaoh's abuse of the respite granted to him might have been a sufficient warning to him to expect another plague: for if the removal of an affliction harden us, and so we lose the benefit of it, we may conclude it goes away with a purpose to return or to make room for a worse. Observe,
Exd 8:20-32
Here is the story of the plague of flies, in which we are told,
Lastly, The issue of all was that God graciously removed the plague (v. 30, 31), but Pharaoh perfidiously returned to his hardness, and would not let the people go, v. 32. His pride would not let him part with such a flower of his crown as his dominion over Israel was, nor his covetousness with such a branch of his revenue as their labours were. Note, Reigning lusts break through the strongest bounds, and make men impudently presumptuous and scandalously perfidious. Let not sin therefore reign; for, if it do, it will betray and hurry us to the grossest absurdities.