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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

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

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 11:4

Verse 4 4.And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord. I lately said that Moses did not go from Pharaoh’s presence until he had delivered the message of his final destruction. This denunciation is, therefore, connected with the foregoing passage. Whence it appears how courageously Moses sustained the menaces of the tyrant, whilst he willingly encounters him, and boasts that he shall be his conqueror, though he be not in his presence, by the death of his first-born son in the coming night. Nor is it to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 11:1-4

The beginning of the end. I. THE STROKE STILL IN RESERVE ( Exodus 11:1 ). God would bring on Pharaoh "one plague more." This would be effectual. It would lead him to let the people go from Egypt. So eager would he be for their departure, that he would even thrust them out in haste. The nature of this final stroke is described in Exodus 11:4-7 . It would be the death in one night of the first-born of man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. This stroke might have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 11:4

About midnight .—Compare Exodus 12:29 . It would add to the horror of the infliction that it should come in the depth of the night. Probably the night intended was not the next night, but one left purposely indefinite, that terror and suspense might work upon the mind of Pharaoh. Shall I go out. The word " I " is repressed in the original, and is emphatic. This crowning plague Jehovah inflicts by no instrumentality, but takes wholly upon himself. (See Exodus 12:12 , Exodus 12:13 , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 11:4-10

A finale. These verses end the story of how God wrought with Pharaoh to subdue him to his will. They prepare us for the catastrophe which brought the long conflict to a termination, and forced a way of egress for two millions of Hebrews through the barred gates of Egypt. I. LAST WORDS TO PHARAOH (verses 4-9). Verses 1-3 of this chapter are obviously parenthetical. They relate to a communication made to Moses prior to the visit to Pharaoh recorded in Exodus 10:24-29 , and in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 11:4-36

The tenth plague and its decisive result-the destruction of the first-born. In Exodus 10:29 , Moses says to Pharaoh, " I will see thy face again no more," while in Exodus 11:4-8 , he is represented as making to Pharaoh an announcement of the last plague. Perhaps the best way of clearing this apparent contradiction is to suppose that in the narrative as it originally stood there was really no break between Exodus 10:29 and Exodus 11:4 , and that the three intervening verses were... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 11:4

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. read more

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