King James Version
Exodus 11
10 verses with commentary
The Tenth Plague Announced
And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
God announces 'Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh,' the climactic tenth plague. The promise 'he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether' uses emphatic Hebrew—Pharaoh will drive Israel out completely. This plague will target Pharaoh himself as firstborn son of Ra.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XI.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE TENTH PLAGUE.
(1) **And the Lord said.**—Rather, *Now the Lord had said.* The passage (Exodus 11:1-3) is parenthetic, and refers to a revelation made to Moses before his present interview with Pharaoh began. The insertion is needed in order to explain the confidence of Moses in regard to the last plague (Exodus 11:5), and the effect it would have on the Egyptians (Exodus 11...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
God's last instructions to Moses respecting Pharaoh and the Egyptians.(1-3)
The death of the first-born threatened.
(4-10)
**Verses 1-3**
A secret revelation was made to Moses while in the presence of Pharaoh, that he might give warning of the last dreadful judgment, before he went out. This was the last day of the servitude of Israel; they were abo...
Read full commentary →Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
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KJV Study Commentary
God commands Israel to 'borrow' (שָׁאַל, sha'al—ask for, request) jewels of silver and gold from their neighbors. This fulfills the promise that Israel would not leave empty-handed (3:21-22). The verb suggests requesting gifts, not deceit—Egyptians will willingly give to expedite Israel's departure.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Let every man borrow.**—See the comment on Exodus 3:22. The directions *to “*ask” the Egyptians for presents is extended here from the women alone to both women and men. Egyptian obduracy and Israelitish loss through some of the plagues may have caused the enlargement of the original instruction.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 9 Ex 9:1-7. Murrain of Beasts.
**3-5. Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle--**A fifth application was made to Pharaoh in behalf of the Israelites by Moses, who was instructed to tell him that, if he persisted in opposing their departure, a pestilence would be sent among all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, while those of the Israelites would be spared. As he showed no int...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
God's last instructions to Moses respecting Pharaoh and the Egyptians.(1-3)
The death of the first-born threatened.
(4-10)
**Verses 1-3**
A secret revelation was made to Moses while in the presence of Pharaoh, that he might give warning of the last dreadful judgment, before he went out. This was the last day of the servitude of Israel; they were abo...
Read full commentary →And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.
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KJV Study Commentary
The phrase 'the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians' reverses their earlier hatred. Moses himself 'was very great in the land of Egypt'—even Pharaoh's servants and people respect him. God transforms Moses from hunted fugitive to honored leader.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The Lord gave the people favour**—i.e., when the time arrived. (See below, Exodus 12:36.)
**The man Moses.**—At first sight there seems a difficulty in supposing Moses to have written thus of himself. “The man” is not a title by which writers of any time or country are in the habit of speaking of themselves; but it is far more difficult to imagine any one but Moses giving him so bald and poo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 9 Ex 9:1-7. Murrain of Beasts.
**3-5. Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle--**A fifth application was made to Pharaoh in behalf of the Israelites by Moses, who was instructed to tell him that, if he persisted in opposing their departure, a pestilence would be sent among all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, while those of the Israelites would be spared. As he showed no int...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 11
Chapter Outline
God's last instructions to Moses respecting Pharaoh and the Egyptians.(1-3)
The death of the first-born threatened.
(4-10)
**Verses 1-3**
A secret revelation was made to Moses while in the presence of Pharaoh, that he might give warning of the last dreadful judgment, before he went out. This was the last day of the servitude of Israel; they were abo...
Read full commentary →And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 4 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And Moses said.**—In continuation of the speech recorded in Exodus 10:29, face to face with Pharaoh, Moses makes his last appeal—utters his last threats. The Pharaoh has bidden him “see his face no more” (Exodus 10:28), and he has accepted the warning, and declared “I will see thy face again no more” (Exodus 10:29). It is the last interview—the last interchange of speech. Moses had to delive...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 9 Ex 9:1-7. Murrain of Beasts.
**3-5. Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle--**A fifth application was made to Pharaoh in behalf of the Israelites by Moses, who was instructed to tell him that, if he persisted in opposing their departure, a pestilence would be sent among all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, while those of the Israelites would be spared. As he showed no int...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 5 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **All the firstborn . . . shall die.**—The Heb. word translated *firstborn* is applied only to males; and thus the announcement was that in every family the eldest *son* should be cut off. In Egypt, as in most other countries, the law of primogeniture prevailed—the eldest son was the hope, stay, and support of the household, his father’s companion, his mother’s joy, the object of his brothers’...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. all the cattle of Egypt died--**not absolutely every beast, for we find (Ex 9:19, 21) that there were still some left; but a great many died of each herd--the mortality was frequent and widespread. The adaptation of this judgment consisted in Egyptians venerating the more useful animals such as the ox, the cow, and the ram; in all parts of the country temples were reared and divine honors pai...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 6 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **There shall be a great cry**.—The shrill cries uttered by mourners in the East are well known to travellers. Mr. Stuart Poole heard those of the Egyptian women at Cairo, in the great cholera of 1848, at a distance of two miles (Smith’s *Dictionary of the Bible,* vol. ii., p. 888). Herodotus, describing the lamentations of the Persian soldiers at the funeral of Masistius, says that “all Bœoti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. Pharaoh sent ... there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead--**The despatch of confidential messengers indicates that he would not give credit to vague reports, and we may conclude that some impression had been made on his mind by that extraordinary exemption, but it was neither a good nor a permanent impression. His pride and obstinacy were in no degree subdued.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 7 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Shall not a dog move his tongue.**—Com pare Joshua 10:21. The expression is evidently proverbial.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ex 9:8-17. Plague of Boils.
**8. Take to you handfuls of ashes, &c.--**The next plague assailed the persons of the Egyptians, and it appeared in the form of ulcerous eruptions upon the skin and flesh (Le 13:20; 2Ki 20:7; Job 2:7). That this epidemic did not arise from natural causes was evident from its taking effect from the particular action of Moses done in the sight of Pharaoh. The attitu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. that follow: Heb. that is at thy feet a great: Heb. heat of anger
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 8 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **All these thy servants**—i.e., the high officers of the Court who were standing about Pharaoh. These grandees would come to Moses when the blow fell, and prostrate themselves before him as if he were their king, and beseech him to take his departure with all his nation. The details are given more fully and more graphically in this place than in the subsequent narrative (Exodus 12:31).
**In a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 9 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9, 10) **And. the Lord said** . . . —The series of the nine wonders wrought by Moses and Aaron is terminated by this short summary, of which the main points are—(1) God had said (Exodus 4:21) that the miracles would fail to move Pharaoh; (2) He had assigned as the reason for this failure His own will that the wonders should be multiplied (Exodus 7:3); (3) the miracles had now been wrought; (4) Ph...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Moses took ashes from the furnace--**Hebrew, "brick-kiln." The magicians, being sufferers in their own persons, could do nothing, though they had been called; and as the brick-kiln was one of the principal instruments of oppression to the Israelites [De 4:20; 1Ki 8:51; Jr 11:4], it was now converted into a means of chastisement to the Egyptians, who were made to read their sin in their punis...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 10 describes Moses's final warning about midnight judgment. God Himself will pass through Egypt, striking every firstborn from Pharaoh's throne to the prisoner in the dungeon, and even livestock firstborn. This universal judgment spares none, revealing sin's comprehensive curse.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 4-10**
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too...
Read full commentary →