Exodus 11:4
in Exodus 11So Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
KJV
And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
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This verse in Exodus 11
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAbout midnight will I go out - Whether God did this by the ministry of a good or of an evil angel is a matter of little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnified it. Both kinds of angels are under his power and jurisdiction, and he may employ them as he pleases. Such a work of destruction as the slaying of the first-born is supposed to be more proper for a bad than for a good angel.
This site's exposition
About midnight will I go out
The nine plagues before this one fall in three groups of three, each triad opening with a warning at the river in the morning, then a warning in the palace, then a stroke with no warning at all. The tenth stands outside that architecture. Moses announces it instead of being told to perform it, no rod is stretched out and no hand is lifted, and the LORD says he will go out himself. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the going out as language used after the manner of men.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The words "I rose at midnight" are not without value. They knew that at that hour the firstborn of the Egyptians were smitten, that at that time the bonds of Peter, Paul and Silas who lay in prison were loosed, that the bridegroom would also …
Midnight stands for the reign of the antichrist, when the destroying angel will pass over the houses.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And Moses said,....
The time is fixed--about midnight, the very next midnight, the dead time of the night; when they were all asleep, all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently and insensibly, so as not to be discovered till morning, but so as to rouse the families at midnight to stand by and see them die. The extent of this plague is described,
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; what is hell but this? The special protection which the children of Israel should be under, and the manifest difference that should be put between them and the Egyptians.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Thus saith the Lord, About midnight--Here is recorded the announcement of the last plague made in the most solemn manner to the king, on whose hardened heart all his painful experience had hitherto produced no softening, at least no permanently good effect. will I go out into the midst of Egypt--language used after the manner of men.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And Moses said - The following words must be read in immediate connection with the last verse of the preceding chapter. About midnight - This marks the hour, but not the day, on which the visitation would take place. There may have been, and probably was, an interval of some days, during which preparations might be made both for the celebration of the Passover, and the departure of the Israelites.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
THUS SAITH THE ETERNAL: ABOUT MIDNIGHT WILL I GO OUT INTO THE MIDST OF EGYPT. Moses said this to Pharaoh and to his servants, as he mentioned at the end of his words, And all these thy servants shall come down unto me. 91 Verse.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The purport thereof is that the Egyptians did not hate them because of the plagues. Instead, they conceived affection for them, and the Israelites found favor in their eyes, the Egyptians acknowledging, “we are the wicked ones.
Who is fit to sit upon Pharaoh’s throne after him. 22 Pharaoh’s first-born did not sit on the throne of Egypt, hence I.E.’s comment.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| כֹּ֖ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כַּחֲצֹ֣ת | kachatzot | about [the] middle of | H2676 → | |
| הַלַּ֔יְלָה | halaylah | the night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יוֹצֵ֖א | yotze' | [am] about to go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| בְּת֥וֹךְ | betokh | in [the] midst of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
כֹּ֖הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כַּחֲצֹ֣תabout [the] middle of
kachatzotH2676 →
הַלַּ֔יְלָהthe night
halaylahH3915 →233 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יוֹצֵ֖א[am] about to go out
yotze'H3318 →1067 times
בְּת֥וֹךְin [the] midst of
betokhH8432 →418 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Exodus 12:12On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn male, both man and beast, and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am…
it leads to
- Numbers 33:4
who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.
- Psalms 82:6
I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
- Exodus 12:23
When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow…
- Isaiah 19:1
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will…
- Numbers 33:4
Through
Exodus 12:29Now 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 prisoner in the dungeon,…
it leads to
- Psalms 78:51
He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
- Exodus 4:23
and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
- Psalms 105:36
Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.
- Psalms 135:8
He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, of both man and beast.
- Psalms 78:51
About Exodus
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 118.62; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Methodius of Olympus, BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 6.4.