To-morrow the Lord shall do this - By thus foretelling the evil, he showed his prescience and power; and from this both the Egyptians and Hebrews must see that the mortality that ensued was no casualty, but the effect of a predetermined purpose in the Divine justice. read more
All the cattle of Egypt died - That is, All the cattle that did die belonged to the Egyptians, but not one died that belonged to the Israelites, Exodus 9:4 , Exodus 9:6 . That the whole stock of cattle belonging to the Egyptians did not die we have the fullest proof, because there were cattle both to be killed and saved alive in the ensuing plague, Exodus 9:19-25 . By this judgment the Egyptians must see the vanity of the whole of their national worship, when they found the animals... read more
And Pharaoh sent, etc. - Finding so many of his own cattle and those of his subjects slain, he sent to see whether the mortality had reached to the cattle of the Israelites, that he might know whether this were a judgment inflicted by their God, and probably designing to replace the lost cattle of the Egyptians with those of the Israelites. read more
Verse 1 1.Then the Lord said. No complaint or expostulation of Moses is here recounted; and it is possible that he was quiet and silent, whilst God foresaw what it was necessary to do, and even commanded what He would have done. But since he only gives a brief summary of occurrences, we may probably conjecture that, as the evil grew worse, he had recourse from time to time to the remedy. In the denunciation, “the Lord God of the Hebrews” is no unmeaning repetition, that Pharaoh may learn that... read more
Verse 2 2.But if thou refuse. God again urges him to obedience through fear of punishment, as He usually deals with the froward. Yet he permits him a short space of time for repentance, (as before,) if perchance he may lay aside his perverse determination to refuse. And this Moses now relates more distinctly in the fifth verse, both to show the extreme obstinacy of his malice, because the tyrant mocks at God’s forbearance, and follows his own lust; and also to manifest more clearly from the... read more
Verse 7 7.And Pharaoh sent. I leave it undecided, whether he then first sent these inspectors; (104) it may be, that, in the blindness of his obstinacy he neglected this, until he was reminded by Moses; for we know how the reprobate shut their eyes against the manifest marks of God’s wrath, and willfully indulge in their errors. Certainly there is no doubt that Pharaoh, whilst he seeks to harden himself in every way, deliberately passed over what it was very useful for him to know; but, since... read more
Excepting in the designation of Jehovah as "the Lord God of the Hebrews," this verse is an almost exact repetition of the first verse of Exodus 8:1-32 . Such repetitious are very characteristic of the most ancient writings. read more
The burthen of man's sin presses on the brute creation, as well as on man himself. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" ( Romans 8:22 ). Brutes are to a large extent co-partners with man in his sorrows and his wretchedness. But brute suffering is the product of man's sin. Mostly it is directly caused by man. Man not only kills animals for his food, but he chases them for his diversion, mutilates them for his convenience, vivisects them for his supposed... read more
The fifth plague-the murrain among the beasts. I. THE USE WHICH GOD HERE MAKES OF THE LOWER CREATION . In the three plagues immediately preceding God made the lower creation his scourges. He took little creatures, the bare existence of which many, not perceiving the wisdom of God, think to be unnecessary; and these he increased into a vast and most vexatious multitude. The killing of a frog, a gnat, a fly, we are accustomed in our heedlessness to make nothing of; such... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 9:4
The Lord shall sever - See Clarke on Exodus 8:22 ; (note). read more