Exodus 11:3 - Exposition

And the Lord gave the people favour — i.e. When the time came. See below, Exodus 12:36 . Moreover the man Moses , etc. It has been supposed that this is an interpolation, and argued that Moses, being so "meek" as he was ( Numbers 12:3 ), would not have spoken of himself in the terms here used. But very great here only means "very influential;" and the fact is stated, not to glorify Moses, but to account for the ornaments being so generally given. Moreover, it is highly improbable that any other writer than himself would have so baldly and bluntly designated Moses as the man Moses . (Compare Deuteronomy 33:1 ; Deuteronomy 34:5 ; Joshua 1:1 , Joshua 1:13 , Joshua 1:15 ; Joshua 14:6 , Joshua 14:7 ; Joshua 22:2 , Joshua 22:4 ; etc.) The "greatness" which Moses had now attained was due to the powers which he had shown. First of all, he had confounded the magicians ( Exodus 8:18 , Exodus 8:19 ); then he had so far impressed the courtiers that a number of them took advantage of one of his warnings and thereby saved their cattle and slaves ( Exodus 9:20 ). Finally, he had forced the entire Court to acknowledge that it lay in his power to destroy or save Egypt ( Exodus 10:7 ). He had after that parleyed with the king very much as an equal ( Exodus 10:8-11 ; Exodus 16:1-36 -18). It is no wonder that the Egyptians, who regarded their king as a "great god," were deeply impressed.