Глава 9

1–7. The fifth plague is pestilence on livestock. 8–11. The sixth plague is inflammation with abscesses. 12–26. Warning about the seventh plague and the execution itself - hail. 27–35. Pharaoh's repentance and new bitterness. Ex.9:1. And the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; Ex.9:2. for if you do not want to let [my people] go and still hold them back, Ex.9:3. then, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your livestock, which is in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen and on the sheep: the pestilence will be very severe; Ex.9:4. and the Lord will divide [at that time] between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and of all the [livestock] of the children of Israel nothing shall die. Ex.9:5. And the Lord appointed a time, saying: Tomorrow the Lord will do this in this land. The fifth plague - a severe pestilence on the livestock of some Egyptians, which has an analogy in the well-known ancient Egyptian monuments, as well as the evidence of modern travelers about cases of epizootics, cannot be identified with these latter and can be explained by natural causes. All the circumstances of the execution - the prediction of its occurrence (v. 3), the speed of the latter (v. 5), the liberation of the land of Goshen from it (v. 4), as well as the devastating power of its action (v. 3), all these are undoubted signs of a supernatural, miraculous phenomenon. Ex.9:6. And the Lord did this the next day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; and none of the livestock of the children of Israel died. As can be seen from v. 9–10 and 19. In this chapter, the expression: “all the livestock of Egypt died out” cannot be taken in the literal sense. It means either livestock that were in the field, or indicates all types of livestock (v. 3), the defeat of which distinguishes execution from ordinary epidemics limited to one particular breed. Ex.9:7. Pharaoh sent to find out, and behold, none of the livestock of the [sons of] Israel died. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go. Despite, however, this confirmation of the power of Jehovah, who, according to the prediction, preserved the livestock of His people, Pharaoh does not release the Jews. The reasons for this most likely lie in the fact that, being sensitive to the poor, the new execution did not cause particular damage to the condition of the pharaoh himself. In view of this, he would rather suffer a lesser calamity than suffer a greater one—the loss of free laborers. Exod.9:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take a handful of ashes from the oven, and let Moses throw them towards heaven in the sight of Pharaoh [and his servants]; Ex.9:9. and dust will rise throughout all the land of Egypt, and there will be inflammation with boils on people and livestock throughout all the land of Egypt. Ex.9:10. They took the ashes from the oven and appeared before the Pharaoh. Moses threw it to heaven, and there was inflammation with boils on people and on livestock. In contrast to the Hebrew word tannur, which means a bread oven (Ex. 8:3, Lev. 2:4, 7:9, 11:35), the expression used here, kibshan, means an oven for burning lime or smelting metals (Gen. 19:28, Ex. 19:18). The order to throw up the ashes taken from that furnace is, on the one hand, related to the position of the Jews in Egyptian slavery, and on the other, to one of the ancient religious customs of Egypt. Just as during the first three plagues the natural sources of Egyptian wealth (the Nile and the earth) turned into instruments of the Lord’s judgment over Egypt, so the new plague comes at the will of the Lord from one of those workshops that served as the source of monumental Egyptian buildings that were the pride of the pharaohs. The symbolic action was supposed to indicate to Pharaoh that the God of the Jews has the power to turn the very smelting furnaces, as the center of work, into a source of disaster for Egypt and make their ashes an instrument of a new execution. According to another explanation, the ashes blown in the wind from sacrifices in honor of the god Typhon, according to the belief of the Egyptians, averted evil from all those borders where it fell. But now the ashes thrown by Moses to the sky spread, as a denunciation of superstition, not prosperity, but a curse, causing illness, consisting of inflammations and abscesses. Since it affected both people and animals, it could not be leprosy, which does not affect the latter. Ex.9:11. And the wise men could not stand before Moses because of the inflammation, because the inflammation was on the wise men and on all the Egyptians. The Magi’s awareness of their powerlessness is at the same time proof of the powerlessness of the Egyptian healing gods, headed by the goddess Isis. They cannot prevent the coming disaster and stop the one that has come. Ex.9:12. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. Ex.9:13. And the Lord said to Moses: Tomorrow rise early and appear before Pharaoh, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; Ex.9:14. For this time I will send all My plagues into your heart, and on your servants, and on your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth; The onset of a new execution is preceded by a prediction that all further disasters will be directed against the cruel heart of Pharaoh in order to evoke repentance in him (Ex. 9:27, 10:17), they will reach his soul, touch his hardened heart. With the emergence of this latter, Pharaoh will humble himself before God - “there is none like Me in all the earth” - and recognize His omnipotence. Ex.9:15. Because I had stretched out My hand, I would have struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been destroyed from the earth: Divine power has been proven to the pharaoh by all previous plagues; it can also manifest itself in the deadly sea, but in this case the goal of divine influence on the king would not have been achieved. Ex.9:16. but for this purpose I kept you, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout all the earth; He is left alive in order to experience the power of the Lord, the God of Israel, and at the same time serve as an instrument for glorifying Him throughout the whole earth (Ex. 15:14–16). Ex.9:17. you still resist my people, so as not to let them go, Exodus 9:18. behold, I will send tomorrow, at this very time, a very strong hailstorm, the like of which has not been seen in Egypt since the day of its foundation until now; If this is the result of further executions, then, having been forewarned of it, Pharaoh could have prevented their occurrence by his humility before God - by agreeing to release the Jews. And only his persistence causes the inevitability of a new disaster, a hailstorm, the likes of which have never happened in Egypt. Ex.9:19. Therefore, let us go to gather your flocks and all that you have in the field: hail will fall on all the people and cattle that remain in the field and are not gathered into houses, and they will die. Ex.9:20. Those of Pharaoh's servants who feared the word of the Lord hastened to gather their servants and their flocks into houses; Concern for reducing the consequences of a strong hail (“send, gather your livestock”) did not apply to Pharaoh personally, but to those of his subjects who, completely innocently, could have suffered for the king’s stubbornness (vv. 20–21). The period that elapsed from the moment the execution was predicted until its occurrence (v. 18) could serve as sufficient time to awaken in the soul of Pharaoh a feeling of humility, fear of God (v. 20), but since it did not follow, the new disaster is a well-deserved punishment. Ex.9:22. And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand to heaven, and hail will fall on all the land of Egypt, on the people, on the cattle, and on all the grass of the field in the land of Egypt. Ex.9:23. And Moses stretched out his rod to heaven, and the Lord caused thunder and hail, and fire poured over the earth; and the Lord sent hail upon [all] the land of Egypt; Ex.9:24. and there was hail and fire between the hail, [the hail] very great, such as had not been seen in all the land of Egypt since the time of its inhabitants. Ex.9:25. And the hail destroyed all the land of Egypt, everything that was in the field, from man to cattle, and the hail destroyed all the grass of the field, and broke all the trees in the field; Ex.9:26. only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, there was no hail. Hail accompanied by the voice of God, i.e. thunder (Ex. 19:16, 20:18, Ps. 28:3–9), combined with fire that spread across the earth in whole clouds (“et mitlakkahot”, Ezek. 1:4), which destroyed everything that was in the field, all the grass, all the trees, grapes and sycamores (Ps. 77:47), some are close to those known to ancient and new Egypt showers. But in fact, the seventh plague, which is supernatural in nature (Wis. 16:17–18), proves, like the previous ones, the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods. “The Lord brought hail and thunder upon them,” says Blessed Theodoret, “showing that He is the ruler of all the elements. Since the Egyptians and Hellenes thought that some gods were heavenly, others were earthly, and others were underground, God necessarily taught everyone with signs not only on the river and earth, but also in the air and in the sea, and sent thunder down on them from heaven, teaching that He is the Creator and Ruler of everyone.” And indeed, fire, recognized by the Egyptians, according to the testimony of Diodorus Siculus, as a great god, and water, revered above all other elements, are now causing devastation. Exodus 9:27. And Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them: This time I have sinned; The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are guilty; Ex.9:28. Pray [for me] to the Lord: let the thunder of God and the hail [and fire on earth] cease, and I will let you go and will no longer hold you back. Limiting his sin only further shows how shallow Pharaoh's repentance is. Its reason is in slavish fear of the omnipotence of God, as indicated by the words: “the appearance of God’s thunder and hail is enough,” but not in the full consciousness of one’s sinfulness - opposition to the will of God. In such a mood, the words: “and I will no longer detain” cannot be taken as an expression of firm determination to release the Jews. Ex.9:29. Moses said to him: As soon as I leave the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord [into heaven], the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail [and rain], so that you will know that the land is the Lord's; Ex.9:30. but I know that you and your servants will not yet fear the Lord God. Fully understanding the true nature of repentance, knowing its short duration (v. 30), Moses agrees to fulfill Pharaoh’s request: to pray to the Lord for him, in order to prove that “the land is the Lord’s.” In the cessation of hail, as in the expulsion of toads, the omnipotence of the Almighty is reflected. “He has wounded and He will heal” (Hos. 6:1). Ex.9:31. The flax and barley were killed, because the barley was eared and the flax was seeded; Ex.9:32. but the wheat and spelt were not beaten, because they were late. See explanation vv. 22-23. Chapter 7 You might be interested in: