Exodus 9 Study Notes

9:1-2 The phrase holding them uses a form of the same verb that 4:4 uses where Moses “caught” the snake. To speak of Pharaoh holding on to the Israelites fits scenes in Egyptian art that depict the king as a warrior with one hand grasping a captive by the hair and the other holding a club ready to strike him.

9:3 Plague five is in keeping with the Lord’s earlier announcements that he would put his hand into Egypt and extend his hand against Egypt (3:20; 7:4-5).

9:4-7 The word for time is used later in Exodus to speak of the appointments that the Lord set for the Israelites as occasions to gather for worship (13:10; 23:15; 34:18). Again a distinction was made; no Israelite livestock died, which Pharaoh knew both from the plague announcement and from checking afterward, but he did not benefit from the information he gathered. Verse 7 highlights Pharaoh’s contradictory behavior by using two forms of the Hebrew word for “send”; he sent to find out about Israelite livestock but would not send the Israelites out of Egypt. Later events (vv. 19-25) indicate that all the Egyptian livestock is meant to be taken as (1) an intentional hyperbole or general statement, with exceptions being minor enough not to matter, or (2) that it refers to most of the varieties mentioned in v. 3, or (3) that animals not “in the field” (v. 3) were spared, or (4) that enough time passed for Egyptians to acquire more animals.

9:8 Furnace soot may have been readily available from brick kilns, which would have offered a measure of poetic justice, though soot from a smelting furnace or lime kiln would also have sufficed.

9:9 Festering boils and specifically Egyptian boils were infamous enough to be included among the covenant curses in Dt 28:27,35.

9:10-11 Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh, but the magicians could not stand before Moses. This turnabout of wording enhances the status of Moses by putting him in the position of “holding court.” The magicians were finished and are not mentioned again in Exodus.

9:12 This is the first instance in which the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Earlier notices have mentioned his heart’s condition (7:13,22; 8:19) or recorded that Pharaoh did the hardening (8:15,32), although the first reference to the Lord’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart is in 4:21.

9:13-17 The Lord could easily have destroyed Pharaoh and his people without plagues or the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (cp. Dn 2:20-21), but these events were designed to show the Lord’s incomparability (there is no one like me on the whole earth). Thus God now made for himself the claim that Moses made for him earlier (8:10). The Lord described Pharaoh as still acting arrogantly. Such statements might seem egotistical, but taking Exodus as a whole, they demonstrate the truthfulness of the claims and show that the Lord is just and compassionate. Throughout the conflict with Pharaoh, the Lord was demonstrating his right to rule while calling for allegiance and obedience.

9:18-19 Previous plagues did not include direct commands about how to avoid damage.

9:20-21 Some officials feared the word of the Lord. Others didn’t take to heart the Lord’s word. A person who fears the Lord and his word takes them seriously—giving attention and credence—leading to appropriate action (cp. 1:17,21).

9:22-26 The worst hail in Egypt’s history is saying a great deal since Egypt is one of the oldest nations on earth.

9:27-28 When Pharaoh said, I have sinned, he may have been admitting to being merely “at fault,” or “in the wrong,” using the word translated “sinned” in a way similar to its use in 5:16.

9:29 Spreading out . . . hands was a gesture associated with prayer and a sign of need and dependence (1Kg 8:22,38,54; Jr 4:31). Again God’s action was meant to provide knowledge. The seventh plague added significance to the Lord’s name by showing his ownership of and sovereignty over the entire earth, not just a portion as with many pagan gods.

9:30 Moses pointed Pharaoh to the source of Egypt’s problems (cp. 7:16; 8:29).

9:31-32 The description of the crops when the seventh plague hit indicates that people might have held out hope for a good harvest, but the locusts of the eighth plague would soon devour resources.

9:33-34 Here the word for sinned gets its full force and perhaps a touch of irony (cp. v. 27; 5:16).

9:34-10:1 These verses contain three references to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart following the plague of hail. The first reference names Pharaoh as the agent (he . . . hardened his heart), and it says that his officials did the same. The second names no agent and simply describes the condition (Pharaoh’s heart was hard). The third names the Lord as the agent (I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials). The first (9:34) and third (10:1) use the same verb. So it seems that both Pharaoh and the Lord are responsible for the condition that the second reference describes without naming an agent. Other similar descriptions may likewise leave room for both the Lord and Pharaoh to be involved. Later, some Philistines commented on the hardening of hearts that took place in Egypt and spoke of the Egyptians and Pharaoh as responsible (1Sm 6:6).