saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

16 And in very deed for 'this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

20 He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21 And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.

22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 So there was hail, and fire mingled

* Rom. 9. 17.

3 Heb. made thee stand.

| with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

28 Intreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more 'mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.

29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD'S.

30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.

31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

32 But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were 'not grown up.

33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

4 Heb. set not his heart unto. 5 Heb. voices of Goa. 7 Heb. hidden, or, dark. 8 Heb. by the hand of Moses.

6 Psal. 24. 1.

Verse 3. "Camels."-Here it is positively affirmed that the Egyptians had camels; and we see also in Gen. xii. 16, that camels were among the gifts of Pharaoh to Abraham. But the great French work on Egypt having stated that the figure of the camel never occurred in Egyptian sculptures and paintings, some learned persons conjectured that the camel was not known in Egypt, or even in Africa, until after the Arabian conquest. If it were true that the camel is not really figured on the Egyptian monuments, the inference against the existence of the camel in Egypt, at the time of the Mosaic history, would be exceedingly illogical and gratuitous. It would have been safer to infer, with Reynier, that the camel, however useful, was too much associated with the idea of the nomade shepherds, whom the priests detested, to be allowed to appear in their sacred places. But the fact is, that the camel does occur in the Egyptian sculptures. The head and long necks of these animals are repeated several times, two by two, upon the obelisks at Luxor. This discovery, made by Minutoli, confirms the truth of the Scripture account, which however no one had a right to question on the ground of the alleged absence of the camel from the Egyptian sculptures, which we are not bound to take as

the manual of Egyptian zoology. This negative testimony could have no legitimate weight in showing that the camel was unknown in Egypt, when we recollect that it was common among the nomade tribes which occupied the borders of Egypt, and which even found their way into the valley of the Nile: besides which, the caravans, like that of the Ishmaelites who purchased Joseph of his brethren, must often have brought under their notice the camel in a state of useful domestication.

6. "All the cattle of Egypt died."-This must be understood with some limitations, because subsequently, in the same chapter, there are cattle still threatened by the next plague of hail. We are probably to understand that all the cattle in the open fields were destroyed on this occasion; those Egyptians, who were convinced by the previous miracles, having probably, as we find them doing afterwards, taken such precautions as they judged necessary to protect them from the threatened calamity. If, however, we will take the text literally as saying that all the cattle of the Egyptians were killed by the murrain; we may account for their afterwards having cattle liable to be destroyed by the plague of hail, by supposing that they had in the meantime replenished their stock, by obtaining, either by purchase or compulsion, cattle from the Israelites, whose flocks and herds had been unaffected by the plague.

10. "A boil breaking forth with blains."-The word M, shechin, occurs as one of the indications of leprosy in Lev. xiii. 18. 20; in 2 Kings xx. 7, it is characterized as "the boil or botch of Egypt." It is also used to denote the grievous disease with which Job was afflicted. It would seem, from its root, to denote some inflamed swelling ending in an ulcer. Gesenius thinks it means the elephantiasis, which is endemic in Egypt: he understands the term elephantiasis of the thick leg to which that name applied, whereas, if he is right in his first conjecture, we apprehend it should be rather understood to denote that tubercular affection of the whole body to which the term elephantiasis is also applied. Dr. J. M. Good (Study of Medicine) allows that the disease of Job was probably elephantiasis. This disease has generally been considered a stage or form of leprosy, and accordingly we find it forming one of the cutaneous disorders indicative of leprosy, of which the priest, under the law, was directed to take cognizance, as well as of the other indications which will require to be more particularly noticed in the notes to Lev. xiii. It seems very likely that the word here used denotes in general a boil or swelling, without determining its class or character at all.

28. "

Mighty thunderings and hail."―This terrible storm of thunder, lightning, and hail, would have been awful any where; but a little consideration of the meteorology of Egypt will suffice to show how much more alarming it must have seemed in that, than in almost any other country, and will sufficiently explain why this plague brought moie conviction, for the time, to the mind of the king than some others which we, in a different climate, should have thought more likely to make an impression upon his stubborn nature. Thunder and lightning are very unfrequent in Egypt, and are so completely divested, when they do occur, of the terrific qualities which they sometimes exhibit in other countries, that the Egyptians never associate the idea of destructive force with these phenomena, and are unable to comprehend how lightning can possibly inflict injury or give occasion of alarm. Thevenot indeed mentions a man who was killed by lightning at Cairo; but adds, that such a circumstance had never before been heard of. Much the same may be said of hail. It does sometimes fall, but rarely and with slight effect.

31, 32. "The flax and barley," &c.-It is interesting to observe, how exactly this agrees with the state of the crops in Egypt at the present day, at the time of the year indicated. We are thus also enabled to fix the season of the year at which these important transactions took place. Flax is ripe in March, when the plants are gathered; and it must therefore have been "bolled," or risen in stalk in February, in which month we would understand this and several of the other miracles to have been effected. Barley is expressly stated in works on Egypt to be gathered befo.e the wheat; and as the wheat harvest takes place in May, in Lower Egypt, and in April in Upper Egypt, the barley must have been in ear in February. At the same time the wheat would hardly be grown up; and as to the "rye," it is not well determined what it denotes. These facts seem to concur in denoting the season in or about February; and accordingly we find that the month Abib, in which the Israelites departed from Egypt, and which was directed thenceforward to be the first month in the year to the Hebrews (ch. xii. 2), corresponds nearly to our March. Dr. Richardson, whose observation applies to the early part of March, says, "the barley and flax are now far advanced; the former is in the ear and the latter is bolled, and it seems to be about this season of the year that God brought the plague of thunder and hail upon the Egyptians, to punish the guilty Pharaoh who had hardened his presumptuous heart against the miracles of Omnipotence." ('Travels,' vol. ii. p. 163.)

"Rie" (, kusemeth).—It is generally agreed that the Hebrew word does not mean rye; but it is not at all agreed what it does mean. The Septuagint renders the word by λupa, but it is almost equally uncertain what this word denotes: it is, however, commonly rendered by spelt, although the claims of rye, oats, fitches, rice, maize, and millet, have all been advocated. Spelt certainly has the majority of voices; but it does not appear that this grain

FLAX (Linum usitatissimum .

now exists in Egypt, and it is certainly not cultivated there. The existing state of agriculture in Egypt affords no data to assist our conclusions on the subject, as some important objects of ancient cultivation appear to have been abandoned for millet and maize. Whatever were the grain in question, it must, if really identical with the olyra, have occupied an important place among the cerealia of ancient Egypt, as Herodotus describes this as being that which the Egyptians principally used for bread.

LOCUSTS.

Heb. eye.

with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's

presence.

12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

16 Then Pharaoh 'called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.

17 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.

18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and " cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

21 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.

22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.

25 And Moses said, Thou must give 'us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.

26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.

27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.

28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face

thou shalt die.

29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.

5 Heb. hastened to call. Heb. fastened. 7 Heb. that one may feel darkness. 6 Wisd. 18.1. 9 Heb. into our hands. Verse 7. "How long shall this man be a snare unto us ?"-We agree with Dr. Boothroyd, in understanding this as applying rather to the conduct of Pharaoh than to that of Moses. The king's obstinacy had already nearly ruined Egypt, and he now learns that his courtiers were not at all satisfied with his continued refusal to yield to the demand of the Israelites. We see the influence of this discovery upon his mind, in his declared unwillingness to let them go on certain conditions. First, the men might have liberty to go, if they left their families and property behind (verse 11); and then all the people might go, but the flocks and herds must remain (verse 24). The answer of Moses, that not a hoof should be left behind (verse 26), is still a proverbial expression in the East to imply an entire removal. Mr. Roberts says, that the Hindoos say "not a tail," in the same sense. When the king began to relax a little from his first absolute refusal, his wish naturally was to detain some part of their families and property as a security for their return.

12. "Locusts" (8 Arbeh).—The locust, Gryllus migratorius, belongs to the same family as the cricket and grasshopper. It is about two inches and a half in length, and is for the more part green with dark spots. The mandibles or jaws are black, and the wing coverts are of a bright brown spotted with black. It has an elevated ridge or crest upon the thorax, or that portion of the body to which the legs and wings are attached. The locusts here mentioned, are said to be unlike any that were seen before or after, in size and numbers. There is another species found in Egypt, Barbary, and the south of Europe, the Gryllus Egyptius, which is somewhat larger than the migratorius. The voracity with which the Gryllus migratorius eats up every thing that is green and tender has rendered a visit from a

swarm of these creatures one of the most terrible judgments that can overtake an eastern nation. A more particular account of their ravages will best occur in notes to the detailed and sublime description in Joel ii.

21. "Darkness which may be felt."-Some understand this to mean such a darkness as obliges people to feel about for what they want, or to guide their movements. The Hebrew will indeed bear to be rendered "darkness which causeth to feel;" but we do not see any necessity for the alteration. The expression, as it stands, is a sufficiently intelligible, although strong, poetical indication of a darkness so thick and intense as to seem almost palpable. Hence the "palpable obscure" of Milton. It is often dangerous to inquire too nicely how the extraordinary manifestations of Almighty power were produced, lest the fulness of that power should seem to be called in question; for while we discover that God does often see fit to employ natural agencies in effecting such dispensations, we are apt to forget too often that he does not need such agencies even when it is his pleasure to employ them. The partiality of this darkness, the Israelites having light in their domain, has been considered to render this miracle particularly unaccountable. We do not see much in this, however. In every partial darkness the limit between it and light must be drawn somewhere, and it was the will of God that it should in this instance be so drawn, as to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. Some expositors are disposed to contend for the literal palpability of this darkness, by supposing that the agency employed was a wind densely filling the air with particles of dust and sand, and consequently creating a great darkness. Such winds are not unknown in the eastern deserts, and they are always very appalling, and sometimes destructive in their effects. Others however think that a dense fog was spread over the land; and, without venturing to speak so decidedly on the subject as some commentators do, we can easily conceive that such a fog would, in a climate like that of Egypt, fill the inhabitants with the greatest horror and apprehension; and it would be unquestionably miraculous as it regards that country, because it is what nature never spontaneously produces there. Whether the darkness were exhibited in these or any other forms, the phenomenon must have been not only astounding but humiliating to the Egyptians, since their great deity, the sun, was for three days obscured of his glory, and darkness, another of their deities, was made the instrument of their punishment.

CHAPTER XI.

1 God's message to the Israelites to borrow jewels of their neighbours. 4 Moses threateneth Pharaoh with the death of the firstborn.

AND the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.

2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.

4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, "About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is

behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.

7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.

9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

1 Chap. 3. 22, and 12. 35. * Ecclus. 45. 1. 3 Chap. 12. 29. 4 Heb. that is at thy feet. 5 Heb. heat of anger. Verse 2. "Let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver and jewels of gold.” -The word "borrow" is an exceedingly unfortunate rendering of the Hebrew word shaal. But this unhappy rendering is quite peculiar to our version. The proper meaning of the term is to "ask,” or to “demand," and Horne states that it is so understood in every ancient version, and in every modern version except our own. The fact would seem to be, that the Hebrews were instructed to take advantage of the consternation of the Egyptians at the death of the firstborn (see ch. xii. 33), to demand compensation for having been so long obliged to labour without wages in their service. The Egyptians, in the anxiety they then felt to have the Israelites gone, were in no condition to refuse the demand. Perhaps they feared that there would be some new calamity if they did not comply; and the natural effect of the terrible infliction they had just sustained would be, for the time, to render the precious things which the Hebrews required, of small value in their sight. The word rendered "jewels" does not mean jewellery in precious stones, &c., but denotes in a general way any articles of superior value, whether for personal ornament or any other purpose. Dr. Boothroyd very properly translates: "articles of gold and articles of silver," without specifying what articles. As "raiment” is added in ch. xii. 35, personal ornaments were most probably included among the valuables which the Hebrews obtained on this occasion; and as they almost certainly wore during their forty years' wanderings