8:1Yahweh
spoke to Moshe, Go in to Par`oh, and tell him, "This is what Yahweh says,
'Let my people go, that they may serve me. 8:2If
you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs: 8:3and the river shall swarm with frogs, which
shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your
bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your
ovens, and into your kneading-troughs: 8:4and
the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your
servants.'" 8:5Yahweh said to
Moshe, "Tell Aharon, 'Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the
rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the
8:8Then
Par`oh called for Moshe and Aharon, and said, "Entreat Yahweh, that he
take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go,
that they may sacrifice to Yahweh."
8:9Moshe
said to Par`oh, "I give you the honor of setting the time that I should
pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be
destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only."
8:10He
said, "Tomorrow."
He said, "Be it according to your word,
that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our Mighty One. 8:11The frogs shall depart from you, and from
your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in
the river only."
8:12Moshe
and Aharon went out from Par`oh, and Moshe cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs
which he had brought on Par`oh. 8:13Yahweh
did according to the word of Moshe, and the frogs died out of the houses, out
of the courts, and out of the fields. 8:14They
gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 8:15But when Par`oh saw that there was a
respite, he hardened his heart, and didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had
spoken.
Yahweh's Prophets Should Pray For Repentant Sinners
8:8-11 shows that when Paroh indicated that he was repentant, and was ready to acquiesce to Yahweh's request delivered to him by Moshe, Moshe agreed to entreat Yahweh by praying for him, his servants and his people that the plague may be removed from them. Showing that Yahweh's prophets are indeed to pray for repentant sinners, even as Avraham prayed for Avimelekh when he undertook to return to him his wife Sarah, before he had sexually lain with her.
Both Moshe And Paroh Were Confident That Yahweh Would
Hear Moshe's Prayer
Moshe's reply to Paroh's request that he prays to Yahweh to remove the plague from the Mitzrim showed that he was indeed confident that Yahweh would hear his prayer. Even Paroh appeared confident that Yahweh would indeed hear Moshe's prayer.
Why were they so confident that Yahweh would indeed hear Moshe's prayer? Simply because Moshe was Yahweh's prophet?
Why Moshe Was Confident That Yahweh Would Hear His
Prayer
8:10 gives Moshe's answer to this question. Yahweh was going to hear Moshe's prayer that he remove the plague from the Mitzrim in order that the Mitzrim may know that there is none like Yahweh, the Mighty One of the Yisraelites. In other words, Yahweh was going to hear Moshe's prayer, and do as Moshe requested, for the purpose of glorifying his name as the supreme and unique Mighty One! Indicating that when a situation arises whereby Yahweh can indeed be shown as supreme and unique, he indeed hears the prayers of his servants, his prophets, when they pray to him to act in a manner so glorifying his name.
Yahweh's Servants Are To Pray For Repentant Sinners
8:20Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Par`oh;
behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, 'This is what Yahweh says,
"Let my people go, that they may serve me. 8:21Else,
if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you,
and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses
of the Mitzrim shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon
they are. 8:22I will set apart in
that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies
shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the
earth. 8:23I will put a division
between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be."'"
8:24Yahweh did so; and there came
grievous swarms of flies into the house of Par`oh, and into his servants'
houses: and in all the land of Mitzrayim the land was corrupted by reason of
the swarms of flies.
8:25Par`oh
called for Moshe and for Aharon, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your mighty
one in the land!"
8:26Moshe
said, "It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the
abomination of the Mitzrim to Yahweh our Mighty One. Behold, shall we sacrifice
the abomination of the Mitzrim before their eyes, and won't they stone us? 8:27We will go three days' journey into the
wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our Mighty One, as he shall command
us."
8:28Par`oh
said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your Mighty One
in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me."
8:29Moshe
said, "Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the
swarms of flies may depart from Par`oh, from his servants, and from his people,
tomorrow; only don't let Par`oh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the
people go to sacrifice to Yahweh." 8:30Moshe
went out from Par`oh, and prayed to Yahweh. 8:31Yahweh
did according to the word of Moshe, and he removed the swarms of flies from
Par`oh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 8:32Par`oh hardened his heart this time also,
and he didn't let the people go.
8:28-31 shows, again, that Yahweh's servants, his prophets, are to pray for repentant sinners. For when Paroh, again, indicated that he was repenting, Moshe agreed to pray for him again. And Yahweh again heard Moshe's voice, that he bring respite to the Mitzrim, that the plague upon them may be removed.
Yahweh Acts To Glorify His Name
9:13Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Par`oh, and
tell him, 'This is what Yahweh, The Mighty One of the Hebrews, says: "Let
my people go, that they may serve me. 9:14For
this time I will send all my plagues on your heart, and on your servants, and
on your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 9:15For now I would have put forth my hand, and
struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off
from the earth; 9:16but indeed for
this cause I have made you stand, to show you my power, and that my name may be
declared throughout all the earth. 9:17As
you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won't let them go. 9:18Behold, tomorrow about this time I will
cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Mitzrayim since
the day it was founded even until now. 9:19Now
therefore command that all of your cattle and all that you have in the field be
brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and
isn't brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall
die."'"
9:20Those
who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Par`oh made their servants
and their cattle flee into the houses. 9:21Whoever
didn't regard the word of Yahweh left his servants and his cattle in the field.
9:22Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be
hail in all the land of Mitzrayim, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of
the field, throughout the land of Mitzrayim."
9:23Moshe
stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and
lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of
Mitzrayim. 9:24So there was very
severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the
land of Mitzrayim since it became a nation. 9:25The
hail struck throughout all the land of Mitzrayim all that was in the field,
both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke
every tree of the field. 9:26Only in
the land of Goshen, where the children of Yisra'el were, there was no hail.
9:27Par`oh
sent, and called for Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, "I have sinned
this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 9:28Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough
of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no
longer."
9:29Moshe
said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread
abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any
more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh's. 9:30But as for you and your servants, I know
that you will not yet fear Yahweh The Mighty One."
9:31The
flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax
was in bloom. 9:32But the wheat and
the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. 9:33Moshe went out of the city from Par`oh, and
spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the
rain was not poured on the earth. 9:34When
Par`oh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned
yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 9:35The heart of Par`oh was hardened, and he
didn't let the children of Yisra'el go, as Yahweh had spoken through Moshe.
9:13-16 shows why Yahweh undertook the various actions that he did in the land of Mitzrayim. He did it to glorify his name. To show the people that there is none like him in all the earth, and to declare his name throughout all the earth.
9:27-30 shows that Yahweh, after Moshe's prayer, was going to bring respite to the plague with which he had just afflicted the Mitzrim. Nevertheless, he would bring this respite not because Paroh was a repentant sinner. No! Paroh had repeatedly shown that he had yet to truly repent, feigning repentance simply for the purpose of averting the plagues upon the Mitzrim. Nevertheless, Yahweh would still bring respite in order to show that all the earth belongs to Yahweh. In other words, he would bring respite to further declare and glorify his name throughout all the earth.
The Time Of Year When Yahweh's Plagues Afflicted The
Mitzrim
9:31-32 shows the time of year that these events took place. The time when the flax and the barley have grown up, but the wheat and the spelt have not grown up. "For the barley was in the ear, and the flax in bloom." It was the time of the beginning of the year, Aviv - the time for green ears of barley.
Why Yahweh Performed His Signs In The Land Of
Mitzrayim
10:1Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Go in to Par`oh, for I have hardened his heart, and the
heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs in the midst of them, 10:2and that you may tell in the hearing of
your son, and of your son's son, what things I have done to Mitzrayim, and my
signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh."
10:3Moshe
and Aharon went in to Par`oh, and said to him, "This is what Yahweh, The
Mighty One of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself
before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 10:4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go,
behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 10:5and they shall cover the surface of the
earth, so that one won't be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue
of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat
every tree which grows for you out of the field. 10:6Your
houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of
all the Mitzrim; as neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen,
since the day that they were on the earth to this day.'" He turned, and
went out from Par`oh.
10:7Par`oh's
servants said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the
men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their Mighty One. Don't you yet know that
Mitzrayim is destroyed? 10:8Moshe
and Aharon were brought again to Par`oh, and he said to them, "Go, serve
Yahweh your Mighty One; but who are those who will go?"
10:9Moshe
said, "We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with
our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold
a feast to Yahweh."
10:10He
said to them, "Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little
ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. 10:11Not
so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you
desire!" They were driven out from Par`oh's presence.
10:12Yahweh
said to Moshe, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Mitzrayim for the
locusts, that they may come up on the land of Mitzrayim, and eat every herb of
the land, even all that the hail has left." 10:13Moshe
stretched forth his rod over the land of Mitzrayim, and Yahweh brought an east
wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the
east wind brought the locusts. 10:14The
locusts went up over all the land of Mitzrayim, and rested in all the borders
of Mitzrayim. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts
as they, neither after them shall be such. 10:15For
they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and
they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees that the hail
had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field,
through all the land of Mitzrayim. 10:16Then
Par`oh called for Moshe and Aharon in haste, and he said, "I have sinned
against Yahweh your Mighty One, and against you. 10:17Now
therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your Mighty One, that
he may also take away from me this death."
10:18He
went out from Par`oh, and prayed to Yahweh. 10:19Yahweh
turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them
into the Sea of Suf. There remained not one locust in all the borders of
Mitzrayim. 10:20But Yahweh hardened
Par`oh's heart, and he didn't let the children of Yisra'el go.
10:1-2 gives Yahweh's explanation why he did the various signs that he did in the land of Mitzrayim. That the Yisraelites may repeat, in the hearing of their progeny in subsequent generations, the signs that Yahweh did in the land of Mitzrayim, that they may know that Yahweh truly is Yahweh the Mighty One.
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