Exodus 10:4
in Exodus 10But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring locusts into thy border:
KJV
Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseTo-morrow will I bring the locusts - The word ארבה arbeh, a locust, is probably from the root רבה rabah, he multiplied, became great, mighty, etc.; because of the immense swarms of these animals by which different countries, especially the east, are infested. The locust, in entomology, belongs to a genus of insects known among naturalists by the term Grylli; and includes three species, crickets, grasshoppers, and those commonly called locusts; and as they multiply faster than any other animal in creation, they are properly entitled to the name ארבה arbeh, which might be translated the numerous or multiplied insect.
This site's exposition
to morrow will I bring the locusts
on Exodus 10:4-6
The word locust occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and the threat is that it will finish what the hail began, eating the residue of that which is escaped. Exodus 9:31 and 9:32 had said the flax and the barley were smitten while the wheat and the rie were not grown up, so the two plagues take the harvest in stages. Moses then uses the measure the text keeps for these last strokes, a thing which the fathers and their fathers had never seen, already spoken of the hail at 9:18 and 9:24, and he turns and walks out before Pharaoh has answered.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Isidore of SevilleQUESTIONS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT, EX 14:14 · Written before 636.
proposed
In the eighth place locusts are mentioned. Some interpreters think that this sort of plague confutes the inconstancy of the human race, filled with dissent and discord. In another sense, the locusts can be interpreted as representing flittering mobility, like the pleasures of this world …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Else, if thou refuse to let my people go,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
to-morrow will I bring the locusts--Moses was commissioned to renew the request, so often made and denied, with an assurance that an unfavorable answer would be followed on the morrow by an invasion of locusts.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The locusts - The locust is less common in Egypt than in many eastern countries, yet it is well known, and dreaded as the most terrible of scourges. They come generally from the western deserts, but sometimes from the east and the southeast. No less than nine names are given to the locust in the Bible, of which the word used here is the most common (ארבה 'arbeh); it signifies “multitudinous,” and whenever it occurs reference is made to its terrible devastations.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מָאֵ֥ן | maen | [are] refusing | H3986 → | 4 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לְשַׁלֵּ֣חַ | leshaleach | to let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַמִּ֑י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| מֵבִ֥יא | mevi' | [am] about to bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מָחָ֛ר | machar | tomorrow | H4279 → | 52 times |
| אַרְבֶּ֖ה | ʾarbeh | locust[s] | H697 → | 24 times |
| בִּגְבֻלֶֽךָ׃ | bigvulekha | in territory your | H1366 → | 240 times |
כִּ֛יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
מָאֵ֥ן[are] refusing
maenH3986 →4 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
לְשַׁלֵּ֣חַto let go
leshaleachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַמִּ֑יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
מֵבִ֥יא[am] about to bring
mevi'H935 →2568 times
מָחָ֛רtomorrow
macharH4279 →52 times
אַרְבֶּ֖הlocust[s]
ʾarbehH697 →24 times
בִּגְבֻלֶֽךָ׃in territory your
bigvulekhaH1366 →240 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
Joel 2:25I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:6
I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…
- Joel 1:4–7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Joel 2:2–11
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be…
- Zechariah 10:6
Through
Revelation 9:3And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
it leads to
- Revelation 9:5
The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
- Joel 1:4
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Joel 2:25
I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
- Revelation 9:5
Through
Exodus 9:18Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 20:6
But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will seize and carry away all that is precious to you.’”
- 1 Kings 20:6
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); Isidore of Seville, QUESTIONS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT, EX 14:14; 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) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.