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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 11:4-10

Warning is here given to Pharaoh of the last and conquering plague which was now to be inflicted. This was the death of all the first-born in Egypt at once, which had been first threatened (Exod. 4:23; I will slay thy son, thy first-born), but is last executed; less judgments were tried, which, if they had done the work would have prevented this. See how slow God is to wrath, and how willing to be met with in the way of his judgments, and to have his anger turned away, and particularly how... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:4

And Moses said ,.... To Pharaoh before he left him, when he had told him he should see his face no more; for the three preceding verses are to be read in a parenthesis, being placed here by the historian, as giving some light to this last discourse and transaction between Moses and Pharaoh: thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt ; perhaps to the capital and metropolis of it, which might stand in the midst of it, as usually does the royal city; or it may... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:5

And all the firstborn in the land of Eygpt shall die, .... By the destroying angel inflicting a disease upon them, as Josephus says F17 Antiqu. l. 2. c. 14. sect. 6. , very probably the pestilence; however, it was sudden and immediate death, and which was universal, reaching to all the firstborn that were in the families of the Egyptians in all parts of the kingdom: from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne : this periphrasis, "that sitteth upon his throne", either... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:6

And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt ,.... Of parents for the loss of their firstborn sons, their heirs, the support and glory of their families; children for the loss of their elder brethren; and servants for the loss of the prime and principal in their masters' houses; and all in a dreadful fright, expecting instantly death themselves: such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more ; for though the later destruction of Pharaoh and his host in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:7

But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast ,.... That is, as no hurt should be done to man or beast among them, to the firstborn of either of them, so there would be no noise or cry in their dwellings, but the profoundest silence, stillness, and quietness among them; though this is generally understood of what would be their case when on their march departing out of Egypt, which was immediately upon the slaying of the firstborn; and, if... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:8

And all these thy servants ,.... Pharaoh's nobles, ministers, courtiers and counsellors, who were then in his presence, and stood about him, to whom Moses pointed: shall come down unto me ; from Pharaoh's palace, which might be built on an eminence, to the place where Moses had dwelt during the time he had been in Egypt, which might lie lower; or these should come from Zoan, or from Memphis, whichever of them was now the royal city, to the land of Goshen, which lay lower than the other... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:9

And the Lord said unto Moses ,.... Not at this time when he went out from Pharaoh, but some time before this, for the words may be rendered, "the Lord had said" F24 ויאמר "dixerat autem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Rivet. , for so he had, as is related, Exodus 7:3 , but the historian makes mention of it here, to show that Moses was not ignorant of the event of things; he knew that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened from time to time, and that one plague after another must be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 11:10

And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh , Which are related in the preceding chapters: and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart : one time after another, and yet more and more: so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land ; until the last plague, the slaying of the firstborn, was brought upon him and his people, related in the following chapter. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 11:4

About 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. But the works of God's justice are not less holy and pure than the works of his mercy; and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 11:5

The first-born of Pharaoh, etc. - From the heir to the Egyptian throne to the son of the most abject slave, or the principal person in each family. See Clarke's note on Exodus 12:29 . The maid-servant that is behind the mill - The meanest slaves were employed in this work. In many parts of the east they still grind all their corn with a kind of portable mill-stones, the upper one of which is turned round by a sort of lever fixed in the rim. A drawing of one of these machines as used in... read more

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