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The Fifth Plague: Livestock Diseased

Then the L ord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the L ord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³the hand of the L ord will strike with a deadly pestilence your livestock in the field: the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. ⁴But the L ord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites.’ ” ⁵The L ord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the L ord will do this thing in the land.” ⁶And on the next day the L ord did so; all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died. ⁷Pharaoh inquired and found that not one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

The Sixth Plague: Boils

⁸ Then the L ord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It shall become fine dust all over the land of Egypt, and shall cause festering boils on humans and animals throughout the whole land of Egypt.” ¹⁰So they took soot from the kiln, and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it in the air, and it caused festering boils on humans and animals. ¹¹The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians. ¹²But the L ord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not listen to them, just as the L ord had spoken to Moses.

The Seventh Plague: Thunder and Hail

¹³ Then the L ord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘Thus says the L ord, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. ¹⁵For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. ¹⁶But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth. ¹⁷You are still exalting yourself against my people, and will not let them go. ¹⁸Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. ¹⁹Send, therefore, and have your livestock and everything that you have in the open field brought to a secure place; every human or animal that is in the open field and is not brought under shelter will die when the hail comes down upon them.’ ” ²⁰Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the L ord hurried their slaves and livestock off to a secure place. ²¹Those who did not regard the word of the L ord left their slaves and livestock in the open field.

²² The L ord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that hail may fall on the whole land of Egypt, on humans and animals and all the plants of the field in the land of Egypt.” ²³Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the L ord sent thunder and hail, and fire came down on the earth. And the L ord rained hail on the land of Egypt; ²⁴there was hail with fire flashing continually in the midst of it, such heavy hail as had never fallen in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵The hail struck down everything that was in the open field throughout all the land of Egypt, both human and animal; the hail also struck down all the plants of the field, and shattered every tree in the field. ²⁶Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the L ord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. ²⁸Pray to the L ord! Enough of God’s thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” ²⁹Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the L ord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the L ord’s. ³⁰But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear the L ord God.” ³¹(Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. ³²But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) ³³So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the L ord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. ³⁴But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials. ³⁵So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the L ord had spoken through Moses.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

13. And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up. God returns again to threats, to try the mind of the wicked king; not that there is any hope of a cure, but that his obstinacy may be more and more discovered. For it was desirable as an example, that it should be known openly how madly those, who are cast into a reprobate state of feeling, and who are possessed by a spirit of willfulness, rush upon their own destruction. Surely it would be incredible, that any human being should have ever resisted God with such headstrong folly and obstinacy, unless this picture had been presented to us. How often was Pharaoh commanded to send the people away, and on every occasion a ratification of the command¹⁰⁷¹⁰⁷ The French Version supplies “avec menaces;” with threatenings. was added! So that God no less thundered from heaven than He spoke on earth by the mouth of His servant and ambassador; yet still the mind of the tyrant was not subdued into obedience, because Satan alienates the minds of those, whom by God’s permission he holds in devotion, and bondage, to himself. Meanwhile, they heap up more terrible vengeance against themselves by their impious contempt of warnings.

14. For I will at this time. The unexpressed condition is implied, “unless he should submit himself to God.” The meaning is, that although he had already chastised his pride, yet that this had been done gently and in moderation; but that He now would use a heavier scourge, since the lighter rods had been unavailing. Thus his ingratitude is reproved, because he had not acknowledged that he had been spared, in order that, having suffered only some trifling losses,¹⁰⁸¹⁰⁸ Dommages temporels. — Fr. he might return to his right mind. Wherefore, because God had proceeded gradually with his punishments, He now threatens that He will inflict many on him at once; as he is wont to act with the rebellious. On which account also David exhorts us not to be

“as the horse and mule — whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle when they are restive,” (Psalm 32:9;)

whence he concludes, that “many sorrows shall be to the wicked” and rebellious. But Moses here denounces plagues, which shall not only affect the head and arms, but which shall reach to the heart itself, and inflict a deadly wound in his very bowels; for Pharaoh was so obstinate that it was not enough to batter his sides. In flue, he is enjoined to make haste and provide against the awful judgement which impended, unless he chose rather to perish with all his (servants.) The expression, “all my plagues,” embraces whatever chastisement we shall hereafter see inflicted on him; and therefore the word, דבר, deber, designates every kind of death; as much as to say, that He would heap punishment upon punishment, until He had destroyed the tyrant together with his whole nation. What is afterwards added, “that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth,” implies that Pharaoh had hitherto struggled against Him, because he had never really and seriously apprehended the extent of the divine power; for wherever it is really felt, it is impossible but that pride must be humbled before it. And, doubtless, the reprobate, although in some measure they recognize the power of God, still rush on with a kind of frenzied impulse, and their wickedness is combined with blindness of heart, so that seeing, they do not see. Meantime we are reminded, that the reprobate only gain this by their stupidity, that God should proceed against them with all His forces, and drag and compel them against their will to understand His power, from which they fly. But that he may expect no longer truce, God affirms in the next verse that He is advancing with an outstretched hand. For God is not here commending His patience in the slowness of His procedure, as some prefer to explain it; but He rather admonishes him that the execution was nigh at hand, since He had armed Himself, and prepared His forces before He had spoken a word.

16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up. The word, העמדתי, hagnemadthi, is variously explained; it properly signifies “to appoint;” some, therefore, refer it to his eminent position, as if God had placed Pharaoh on the throne, for the purpose of better manifesting His glory.¹⁰⁹¹⁰⁹ העמדתיך. By the Greek interpreter we should generally understand the LXX. to be meant, but it has διετηρήθης, which is obviously a less close rendering than ἐξήγειρά σε, the version adopted by Paul. As the root עמד, means to stand up, it is perfectly regular that the Hiphil, or causal preterite, I have made thee to stand up, should be held equivalent to I have raised thee up, as in our A.V. S. M., I have preserved thee. — W.
Calvin’s Latin is “excitavi te.” See Rev. J. Owen’s note on Calvin’s Commentary on Romans 9:17. Cal. Soc. Transl., p. 360. The Greek interpreter extends the meaning, translating it ἐξήγειρά σε, “I have stirred thee up, as much as to say, that Pharaoh had been chosen by the secret counsel and providence of God that His power might be exercised upon him; as He is constantly said to stir up those whom He brings forward, to apply them to those objects for which he has destined them. Others think that this sentence depends on what has gone before, and interpret it “I have preserved thee,” or “chosen that thou shouldest survive.” For the Hebrew verb, which is transitive in Hiphil, is derived from עמד, gnamod, which means “to stand up.” Since, therefore, God had restrained Himself, He now assigns the cause of His moderation, because if Pharaoh had fallen in one trifling engagement, the glory of His victory would have been less illustrious. In fine, lest Pharaoh should flatter himself, or harden himself by vain confidence, God affirms that He does not want strength to destroy him immediately, but that He had delayed his ultimate punishment for another purpose, viz., that Pharaoh might slowly learn that he strove in vain against His incomparable power; and that thus this remarkable history should be celebrated in all ages. But although Paul follows the Greek interpreter, there is no reason why we should not embrace this latter sense; for we know that the Apostles were not so particular in quoting the words, but that they rather considered the substance. But, although we admit that by God’s long-suffering Pharaoh continued to hold out, until he became a clear and notorious proof of the madness and folly of all those who resist God, yet this also has reference to the eternal prescience of God; for therefore did God spare Pharaoh to stand for a time, because, before he was born, he had been predestinated for this purpose. Wherefore, also, Paul rightly concludes, that

“it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth.”
(Romans 9:16.)

For whether God raises up or upholds the reprobate, He wonderfully manifests His glory by their perverseness. Thus is their ignorance refuted, who, by this cavil, endeavor to overturn the eternal predestination of God; because it is not said, that He created Pharaoh with this intention, but that he suspended His judgment for a. time. For this intermediate and progressive course of proceeding arose from this source, that Pharaoh was the organ or instrument of God’s wrath.

¹⁰⁷ The French Version supplies “avec menaces;” with threatenings.

¹⁰⁸ Dommages temporels. — Fr.

¹⁰⁹ העמדתיך. By the Greek interpreter we should generally understand the LXX. to be meant, but it has διετηρήθης, which is obviously a less close rendering than ἐξήγειρά σε, the version adopted by Paul. As the root עמד, means to stand up, it is perfectly regular that the Hiphil, or causal preterite, I have made thee to stand up, should be held equivalent to I have raised thee up, as in our A.V. S. M., I have preserved thee. — W. Calvin’s Latin is “excitavi te.” See Rev. J. Owen’s note on Calvin’s Commentary on Romans 9:17. Cal. Soc. Transl., p. 360.