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Exodus 10:21

in Exodus 10

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.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

KJV

And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

This verse in Exodus 10

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... About the eleventh day of the month Abib: stretch out thine hand toward heaven; where the luminaries are, and from whence light comes: that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt; that is, what caused it, the gross vapours and thick fogs; for otherwise darkness itself, being a privation of light, cannot be felt: Onkelos paraphrases it,"after that the darkness of the night is removed;''so Jonathan; that it might appear to be different from that, and be much grosser.

This site's exposition

even darkness which may be felt

on Exodus 10:21-22

The ninth plague arrives with no warning and no demand attached to it, which closes the third triad the way the lice at 8:16 and the boils at 9:8 closed the first two. The phrase darkness which may be felt occurs nowhere else in Scripture, and the darkness holds for three days. Readings that match each plague to a named Egyptian god, with Ra standing behind this one, are taught by Chuck Missler and others; what Exodus itself says is at 12:12, that against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, and it names no deity.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The plague of darkness brought upon Egypt, and a most dreadful plague it was, and therefore is put first of the ten in Ps. cv. 28 , though it was one of the last; and in the destruction of the spiritual Egypt it is produced by the fifth vial, which is poured out upon the seat of the beast, Rev. xvi. His kingdom was full of darkness.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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. Yet, it has an analogy in physical phenomena. After the vernal equinox the southwest wind from the desert blows some 50 days, not however, continuously but at intervals, lasting generally some two or three days.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses

    moshehH4872765 times

  • נְטֵ֤הstretch out

    netehH5186214 times

  • יָֽדְךָ֙hand your

    yadekhaH30271618 times

  • עַל־to

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens

    hashamayimH8064421 times

  • וִ֥יהִיso may it be

    vihiH19613559 times

  • חֹ֖שֶׁךְdarkness

    choshekhH282280 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH7762504 times

  • מִצְרָ֑יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4714641 times

  • וְיָמֵ֖שׁso they may feel

    veyameshH4959

  • חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃darkness

    choshekhH282280 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Peter 2:4

    For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

    it leads to

    • Matthew 25:41

      Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Jude 1:6

      And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

    • Romans 8:32

      He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

    • Revelation 20:1–3

      Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.

    • Revelation 12:7–9

      Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

  • Through

    Jude 1:6

    And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

    it leads to

    • 2 Peter 2:4

      For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

    • Ephesians 6:12

      For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

    • Matthew 8:29

      “What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

About Exodus

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Chuck Missler, Learn the Bible in 24 Hours; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.