man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb A.C. 1491. for an house: 4 And if the houshold be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 6 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the * gods of Egypt I will * Or, princes. execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you † to destroy + Heb. for a you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. destruction. 16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done : Heb. soul. of you. 17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread ; A. C. 1491. for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. s Lev. xxiii. 5. Num. xxviii. 16. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. CHAPTER VI. Conclusion of the ten Plagues. THE NINTH PLAGUE-THREE DAYS' DARKNESS 15. 21 * Heb. that land of Egypt, * even darkness which may be felt. one may feel darkness. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his a Wisd. xviii. place for three days: but all the children of Israel had 1. light in their dwellings. 24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25 And Moses said, Thou must give us * also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. *Heb. into our hands. 26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 15 The ninth plague asserted the same truths. The heavenly host were the favourite objects of adoration with the Egyptians. Yet neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, could preserve them from this supernatural darkness. THE TENTH PLAGUE-THE FIRSTBORN SLAIN. The Death of the Firstborn threatened. 16 EXODUS XI. VER. 1-9. 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one A.C. 1491. 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. 2 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. b Ch. ini. 22. 3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of & xii. 35. the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great e Ecclus. xlv. in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. 1. 4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, dAbout mid- d Ch. xii. 29. night will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 16 The tenth plague was an assertion of the right of Jehovah to the firstborn. In the patriarchal dispensation, which the Egyptians had perverted, the firstborn were devoted to God; in addition to which, Moses had declared Israel to be the firstborn of Jehovah. The true God therefore demanded those of the children of the Egyptians who ought to have been dedicated to his service. He destroyed them in a moment, at midnight. The Israelites were saved, by eating the god whom the Egyptians worshipped. The terrors of that moment have never been equalled by any scene of distress which has since been recorded in history. It was the custom of the Egyptians to rush from the house into the street, to bewail the dead with loud and bitter outcries; and every member of the family united in the expression of sorrow: what must the scene have been, when, at midnight, the Lord smote all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh on the throne, to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon: when the king, and his servants, and all the people, rose up in the night: and "there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead!" -Bryant on the Plagues, &c.; Bishop Gleig's Dissertation, in Stackhouse, vol. i. p. 472; Hales' Analysis, vol. ii. p. 186-199. A.C. 1491. * Or, kid. e Heb. xi. 28. 8 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. 17 EXODUS X. VER. 28, 29. 28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. EXODUS XI. VER. 9, 10. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 10 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. The Passover eaten. EXODUS XII. VER. 21-29. 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? f Josh. iv. 6. 17 These two verses are inserted here on the authority of Dr. Hales, (Anal. vol. ii. p. 197.) the rest of the arrangement of this chapter is made on the authority of Lightfoot. 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S A.C. 1491. passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. The Firstborn slain. EXODUS XII. VER. 29, 30. Wisd. xviii. 11. 29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD & Ch. xi. 4. smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the * dungeon; and all the first- Heb. house born of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. CHAPTER VII. The Exodus. EXODUS XII. VER. 31-37. 31 AND he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone: and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. of the pit. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their * kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes * or, dough. upon their shoulders. 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of a Ch. iii. 22. silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. 36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. EXODUS XII. VER. 40-43. & xi. 2. 40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred a b Gen. xv. 13. Acts vii. 6. |