Exodus 10:17
in Exodus 10Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat Jehovah your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
KJV
Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste
on Exodus 10:16-17
This is the second time Pharaoh says I have sinned, after 9:27 where he added that the LORD is righteous, and 9:27 is the first place in Scripture where anyone is recorded saying the words. What he asks to have taken away is the death and not the sin, and the word only carries his request twice over. Matthew Henry reads the confession as fear of the plague rather than a change of mind, and verse 20 puts a hardened heart directly after it.
This site's exposition
please forgive my sin once more
Pharaoh asks for forgiveness and for prayer, and he calls the locusts this death. John Wesley observes that Pharaoh prays against the locusts while leaving the plague of his hard heart in place. Albert Barnes adds that Pharaoh now admits the danger his officials named in verse 7.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart.
Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart.
Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin, only this once,.... Pretending that he would never offend any more, and if he did, he did not desire it should be forgiven him, but that due punishment should be inflicted on him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord brought an east wind--The rod of Moses was again raised, and the locusts came. They are natives of the desert and are only brought by an east wind into Egypt, where they sometimes come in sun-obscuring clouds, destroying in a few days every green blade in the track they traverse.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once - What a strange case! And what a series of softening and hardening, of sinning and repenting! Had he not now another opportunity of returning to God? But the love of gain, and the gratification of his own self-will and obstinacy, finally prevailed.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| שָׂ֣א | sa' | forgive | H5375 → | 656 times |
| נָ֤א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| חַטָּאתִי֙ | chatati | sin my | H2403 → | 295 times |
| אַ֣ךְ | ʾakh | only | H389 → | 161 times |
| הַפַּ֔עַם | hapaam | this time | H6471 → | 118 times |
| וְהַעְתִּ֖ירוּ | veha'tiru | and pray | H6279 → | 20 times |
| לַיהוָ֣ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְיָסֵר֙ | veyaser | so may he remove | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מֵֽעָלַ֔י | mealai | from on <the> me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רַ֖ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמָּ֥וֶת | hamavet | the death | H4194 → | |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
שָׂ֣אforgive
sa'H5375 →656 times
נָ֤אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
חַטָּאתִי֙sin my
chatatiH2403 →295 times
אַ֣ךְonly
ʾakhH389 →161 times
הַפַּ֔עַםthis time
hapaamH6471 →118 times
וְהַעְתִּ֖ירוּand pray
veha'tiruH6279 →20 times
לַיהוָ֣הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
וְיָסֵר֙so may he remove
veyaserH5493 →299 times
מֵֽעָלַ֔יfrom on <the> me
mealaiH5921 →5755 times
רַ֖קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמָּ֥וֶתthe death
hamavetH4194 →
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 8:24Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
it leads to
- Numbers 21:7
Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 42:8
So now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer…
- Numbers 21:7
Through
1 Kings 13:6Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the…
it leads to
- Exodus 8:8
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 9:28
Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 8:24
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
- Luke 6:27–28
But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
- Exodus 8:8
Through
Exodus 8:8Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the…
it leads to
- Exodus 8:25–28
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within this land.”
- Exodus 12:31–32
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.
- Exodus 8:25–28
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.