Albert Barnes

then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.

“A very grievous murrain - Or “pestilence;” but the word “murrain,” i. e. “a great mortality,” exactly expresses the meaning. This terrible visitation struck far more severely than the preceding, which had caused distress and suffering; it attacked the resources of the nation.”

Pharaoh sent officials and found that none of the livestock of the Israelites had died. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

“Was hardened - See Exo 4:21. Pharaoh probably attributed the exemption of the Israelites to natural causes.”

It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on man and beast throughout the land.”

“A boil - Means probably a burning tumor or carbuncle breaking out in pustulous ulcers. The miracle consisting in the severity of the plague and its direct connection with the act of Moses.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says…

“With the plague of hail begins the last series of plagues, which differ from the former both in their severity and their effects. Each produced a temporary, but real, change in Pharaoh’s feelings.”

So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

“Hardened - Different words in the Hebrew. In Exo 9:34 the word means “made heavy,” i. e. obtuse, incapable of forming a right judgment; in Exo 9:35 it is stronger, and implies a stubborn resolution.”

Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God.

“For the first time the officers of Pharaoh intervene before the scourge is inflicted, showing at once their belief in the threat, and their special terror of the infliction.”

“We will go with our young and old,” Moses replied. “We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast…

“With our young ... - The demand was not contrary to Egyptian usage, as great festivals were kept by the whole population.”

So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land.

“An east wind - See Exo 10:4. Moses is careful to record the natural and usual cause of the evil, portentous as it was both in extent and in connection with its denouncement.”

Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”

“This death only - Pliny calls locusts a pestilence brought on by divine wrath. Pharaoh now recognizes the justice of his servants’ apprehensions, Exo 10:7.”

And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.

“West wind - Literally, “a sea wind,” a wind blowing from the sea on the northwest of Egypt. Red sea - The Hebrew has the “Sea of Suph”: the exact meaning of which is disputed.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”

“Darkness - This infliction was specially calculated to affect the spirits of the Egyptians, whose chief object of worship was the Sun-god; and its suddenness and severity in connection with the act of Moses mark it as a preternatural withdrawal of light.”

No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.

“Had light in their dwellings - The sandstorm, if such were the cause, may not have extended to the district of Goshen; but the expression clearly denotes a miraculous intervention, whether accomplished or not by natural agencies.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt one more plague. After that, he will allow you to leave this place.

“The Lord said - Or “the Lord had said.” The first three verses of this chapter are parenthetical. Before Moses relates the last warning given to Pharaoh, he feels it right to recall to his readers’ minds the revelation and command which had been previously…”

and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the…

“Two points are to be noticed: 1. The extent of the visitation: the whole land suffers in the persons of its firstborn, not merely for the guilt of the sovereign, but for the actual participation of the people in the crime of infanticide Exo 1:22.”

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,

“This chapter was written some time after the Exodus, probably when Moses put together the portions of the book toward the end of his life.”

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.

“A lamb - The Hebrew word is general, meaning either a sheep or a goat - male or female - and of any age; the age and sex are therefore epecially defined in the following verse.”

Your lamb must be an unblemished year-old male, and you may take it from the sheep or the goats.

“Without blemish - This is in accordance with the general rule (margin reference): although in this case there is a special reason, since the lamb was in place of the firstborn male in each household.”

They are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

“The upper door post - Or lintel, Exo 12:23. This direction was understood by the Hebrews to apply only to the first Passover: it was certainly not adopted in Palestine. The meaning of the sprinkling of blood is hardly open to question.”

Do not eat any of the meat raw or cooked in boiling water, but only roasted over the fire—its head and legs and inner parts.

“Raw - i. e. “half-cooked.” Sodden ... with water - It was probably more common to seethe meat than to roast meat; hence, the regrets expressed by the Israelites for the seething pots of Egypt. The purtenance thereof - or its intestines.”

This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand.

“These instructions are understood by the Jews to apply only to the first Passover, when they belonged to the occasion. There is no trace of their observance at any later time.”

For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses.

“Cut off - The penalty inflicted on those who transgressed the command may be accounted for on the ground that it was an act of rebellion; but additional light is thrown upon it by the typical meaning assigned to leaven by our Lord, Mat 16:6.”

For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut…

“Born in the land - A stranger or foreigner might be born in the land, but the word here used means “a native of the land,” belonging to the country by virtue of descent, that descent being reckoned from Abraham, to whom Canaan was promised…”

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb.

“Draw out - i. e. draw the lamb from the fold and then take it to the house. The passover - The word is here applied to the lamb; an important fact, marking the lamb as the sign and pledge of the exemption of the…”

you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared…

“It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover - or This is the sacrifice of the Passover to Yahweh. The most formal and exact designation of the festival is thus given: but “the Passover” may mean either the act of God’s mercy in sparing the…”

Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the…

“This plague is distinctly attributed here and in Exo 12:23 to the personal intervention of the Lord; but it is to be observed that although the Lord Himself passed through to smite the Egyptians, He employed the agency of “the destroyer” Exo 12:23, in whom…”