Exodus 10:1-20

Exodus 10:1-Proverbs : . 8° . A Locust Swarm ( Exodus 10:1-1 Kings : J; Exodus 10:12-1 Chronicles : a, “ Egypt,” E; Exodus 10:13 b J; Exodus 10:14 a E; Exodus 10:14 b “ and rested” to Exodus 10:15 a “ darkened,” J; Exodus 10:15 b E to “ left” ; Exodus 10:15 c – Exodus 10:19 J; Exodus 10:20 E).— The opening paragraph has been expanded in the Deuteronomic style ( cf. Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 6:7 with Exodus 10:2). Christian instinct avoids such a conception as Yahweh “ mocking the Egyptians” (so correctly Exodus 10:2 mg., cf. Psalms 2:4). The most notable description of a plague of locusts is in Joel (Joel 2*, cf. Joel in CB). They are not very common in Egypt; striking cases have been reported by modern travellers. It is a traveller who wrote, “ Nothing escapes them, from the leaves of the forest to the herbs on the plain.” Morier reported from Persia, “ They were found in every corner, stuck to our clothes and infested our food.” The mere threat alarmed the courtiers, and even Pharaoh tried a fresh concession, that “ the men” only should go ( Exodus 10:10); but Moses had issued the ultimatum that the whole nation must “ keep Yahweh’ s festival “ ( Exodus 10:9). The mention of Moses’ s rod comes from E; and the references to the natural causes, the E. wind or sirocco bringing, the W. wind removing the locusts, are from J. When it is said ( Exodus 10:15 a) that “ the land was darkened,” it is meant that they formed a continuous dark layer all over the ground. In 1865 near Jaffa several miles were covered inches deep. When an army of locusts invades a locality, the end is usually that it is blown into the sea (as in Exodus 10:19) or the desert.