Commentary on the Holy Bible

V{:rse IS. The inagicians did.-^o] That is, they tried the utuiivt of their.~kill, either to produce these iusi cts, or lo remove this plague; but thcij could not — no jugqling could a^■ai1 here, because iivsects must be produced, which would.5/«Vi lo and infix thimselves in man."lid beast, which r.o kind of fn'c/; could po-.sil)ly imitate; and to remore tiiem, as some v.ould translate the passage, was to their po'.\er etinallj- imjiossible. If the magicians even acted by spiritual agtnts, we liiid from this case, that these agents had assigned limits, beyond winch they could not go: for every agent in tiic universe is acting under the diieciion or contioul of the Aknighty.

Verse 19. 7'/-/.? is the finger of God] Tb.at is, the power ami skill of ticnl are here evident. Pioliably before this, the magicians supposed Moses and Aaron to be coi:jurer.i, like themselves; but now they are convinced, that -no man covdu do these niiracles ^\hi(•il these holy men did, uule.'s {.o;! w(ie with him. God jx-niiits evil.spirits to manifest tluincelves in a certain way, tt.at men may.see that there is a ii-piritual world, and be on their guard again.st seduction. He, at the same time, shews that all these agents are under his I'oiitroul, that men may have contuK nee in his yoodness and

'Hie FOiT.TH phi'^ue — Fi.ies. Verse 21. Sxvarms of Hits upon thee] It is not easy to ascertain flic precipe meaning of the original word sT.i hc-drah: as the word comts from 31J' drol>, Ik- win^h-d, it may be supposed to e.vpres^ a inultimde of various.loris of Uisects.

.\nd if the conjecture be admitted, that the putrid frogs liecame tlie occasion of this plague, difl'ereni in.sccl.i laying their t ggs in the bodies of those dead aninia s, which would soon he hatched, (see on \ev. 14.) then the sujiposition, that a multitude of dijfcrent kinds of insects is meant, will seem tlie; •nore probable. Though the ])lague of the loca^t.s was mi- ■ racuious, j'et Go 1 both brought it and removctl it by natural j means. See chap. x. lo — l-S, 19. j

Bndiarl, ^vho has treated this subject with his usual learitini^^ and abilily, follows tlie.Septuagint, e.xpiaiiiiiig the original by xvmij.-ji«, the dog-fy, which must be particuhr.ly hateful to the Egyptians, I;eci'.use they held dogs in the icigliest veneration; and worshipped Annbis under liie Ibrm of a dog. In a case of this kind, the authority of the Sentiiagint is very high, a,s they translated the Penl-iteuch in t!;.' vt:y pl&ce where these plagues happened. But as the Egypt i.'^n.^ aie weli kaowa to have ])aid religiouu veneralioii to all kinds of animals and monsters, hence the poet,

I am inclined to favour the literal construction of tlie word; for as 2~ii' C!L-b, chap. xii. 3S. txprcsses that mixed vadtitnde of different kinds of people who aceohipanied the Israelites in their depailure from Egypt; so here, the same term lieing used, it may have been derigned to ixprcss a luvhiludc of dijVcrent kinds of insects, such as./'((.v, iu/.sps, hornets, &c. &c. Tlic ancient.lewish interpn ters suppose, that all kinds of beasts and reptiles are intended, such as xroh-cs, lions, bears, serpents, Sic. Mr. Ikite thinks the rtiren is meant, because the, original is so understood in other places; and thus he trans- | kites it in his literal version of the Pmtateuch; but the mean- ■ ing'alrea.dy given is the mo>t likely. As to the otijeelion against this o))iiii'>n, <lrawn from ver. 31. there rrniiiiried nnt one, it can have very little weight, when it is considered, that this nui}^ as viell he spoken of o:<c fif any of the d'fferent kinds, as of an individual of one species.

Verse 22. / v^ill sever in thai dm;] '"'"riJ"! hiphlili, has Ix'Cn I translated by some good critics, I -.iill niiraculoiisli/ separate — 1 so the Vulgate, faciani miyabitem—" 1 will do a manell'jus | thing." And the Septuagiiit, ■ztxfc-.io^v.Tx, I will render illustrious the land of Goshen ir. that day; and this he did, by exeiujiting that land an<l it.-^ i!lll.lbilant^, the I>.-,ielites, from IwC l)iagues by wiiich he alhicteii the land oi' EiiVpt.

"• ^' '^ "• end thou maycst know that I am tlie Lord in tiic midst of the earth.

23 And I will put " a divisit)n l)e( ween my people and thy people: '' to morrow shall this sign be.

2-t And the Lord did so: and " there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was '' corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

'25 % And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said. Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice ' the abomination of the

Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, ^ ^;;'^,',f shall wc sacrifice the abomination of -1-1 — — the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

27 AVe will go ' three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacriiice to tlie Loud our God, us '^ he shall conmiand us.

28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Loud your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go ^•ery far away: " intrcat for me.

29 Aiid Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Loud that the swarms of fies may depart from Pharaoh, from his scrvaiits, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh ' deal deceitfully any more in not

Verse 23. And I n-ill put a dn-isiou] rns pediit/i, a rcdemp- Ulon, btt'.veen my people ami thy people: Ciod htiehy slitwjjing, that he had iedee\r,eil them tVoiii those plagues to which [be had abandoned the others.

I Verse 24. Tlic land tiv/s comiplcd] F.very thlnj- \\as spoiled, and nuuiy of the iuhahitants destroyed, being probably.stnnJ to death by these venomous insects. This sctms I to be intimated by the Psalmist — " Tie sent divers sorts of flies: anion;,' them, which duvouukd Ihem," Psal. Ixxviii. 45. I h\ ancient times, when political, domestic, and personal 1 cleanliness was but little attended to, and ollal of diflerent I kinds permitted to corru))t in the streets, and breed vermin, j flics multiplied exceedingly; so that we read in ancient au- I thors of whole districts bcini; laid waste by them: hence I dilierent people had deities, whose office it was to defend them j a{;ain?t flies. Amonj^ these wc may reckon Bcml-zehub, the \flil-gcd of I'^kron; Hercules, ihuscanim tibacior, Hercules, the 1 expeller of (lies, of the Rom.ms; the JIuiigrus of the Eleans, whom they invoked ag-ain.-t jiestilential swarms of flics: and I hence Jupiter, the supreme god of the heathen.«, had the I epithets of Av^.ui-io?, and M'jii'i;,-, because be was supposed to j expel Jiies, and defend his \\ors!iijij;ers against them. — See Dodd. I Verse 23. Sacr(/ice lo your God in the land.] That is, Ye I shall not lea^•e ligypt, but I shall cause your worship to be tolerated here.

I Verse 2G. H'c sliall sacrifice the uhomimuion of the Egyp- I h'««s] That is, the animals which they, hold sacred, and will; not permit to be slain, are those which our customs re(iuire I us to sacrifice to our Ciod; and should we do this in Egy])t, I the peojile w ould rise in a ma-^s, and stone iis lo death, f'er- 1 haps few people wcic more superstitious than the Egyptians. i Almost every))reduction of nature was an object oflheir religious.worship: the sun, nioon, planets, stars, the river Nile, ani-; iiutis of all sorts, from the human being to the monkey, dog, I cat, arid ibis, and even the onions aiul letks whicii grew in I their gardens. Jupiter was adored by them under the form; cf arflm; Apollo under the form of a crov^; Bacchus under ' that of a gout; and Juno under that of a heifer. The rea- I son why the Ejjyptians worshipped those animals, is given by

Eusebius, vi;;. that whin the giants made war on the gods, they were obliged to take refuge in Egypt, and assume the. shapes, or di,sguise themselves under diflerent kinds of animals, in order to escape. Jupiter hid himself in the bwly of a ram; Apollo in that of a crow; Uacchus in a goat; Diana in a cat; Juno in a white heifer; Venus in a fish; and I\Iercury in the bird ibis: all wliich is summed up by Ovid in the following lines:

Duxque grci^is fuit Jupiter-

Deli us in Corvo, proles Seineleia, Capro,

Fele soror rhirbi, nived Saturnia vacca,

Pisce Venus tatuit, Ci/llenius ibidis alis.

Tlicse animals, therefore, became sacred to them on account of the deities, who, as -the fable rejjorts, had taken refuge in them. Others suppose, that the reason «hy the Egyptians « ould not sacrifice or kill those creatures, was their belief in the doctrine of the mi terapsychosis, or transmigration of souls; for they feared lest, in killing an animal, they should kill a re!ali\c or a friend. This doctrine is still held by the Hindoos.

\'irse 27. And sacrifice to the Lord, as he shall command 118.1 It is very likely, that neither Moses nor Aaron knew as yet, in w hat iiianiier (iod would be worshij)ped; and tliey expected to receive a direct revelation from him, relative to this subject, when they should conie into the wilderness.

Verse 28. i will let you go — only yc shall not go very fur fliiY/y] Pharaoh relented, because the hand of God was heavy iipoii him; but he was not willing to give up his gain. Tlie Israelites were very profitable to hitn; thiy were slaves of the ttate, and their hard labour was very productive; hence he professed a willingness, first to tolerate their religion in tlie land, (\er. 2J.) or to permit tlieni to go into tlie wilderness, so that they went not far away, and would stwn return. How ready is foorish man, when the band of God presses him sore, to compound v. ith his Maker! He \\\\\ consent to give up some sins, provided God will permit him to keep others.

30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.

31 And the Lord did according to the word

who, like Pharaoh, fearhij^ the Divine judgments, begged an interest in the prayers of Peter, Acts viii. 24.

Verse 31. The Lord did according to the word of 7I/o.''«] 1 low powerful is pr.nyer! God permits his servant to prescribe even the manner and time in which he shall work.

He removed the s-.i-arms] Probably by means of a strong wind, which swept them into the sea.

Verse 32. Vhcruoh hardened his heart at this time also'] See vcr. 15. This hardenvng was the mere eflect of his self-deterniiniui; obstinacy. He preferred his gain to the will and comman.l of Jehovah; and God made his obstinacy the means of shewing I'orth his own power and providence, in a supereniinent degree.

1. As every false relin;ion proves there is a true one, as a copy, however marred or imperfect, shews there was an origiiucl from wliich it was taken; so false miracles prove that there were genuine miracles, and that Goil chuses, at particular times, for the most important purposes, to invert the established orler of nature, and thus prove his omnipotence and universal agency. Tliat the miracles wrought at this time wtre real, we have the fullest proof. The waters, for instance, were not turned into blood in appearance merely, but were really thus changed. Hence the pcojile could not drink of them; and as blootl in a very short time, when exposed to the air, becomes putrid, so did tlie bloody waters, therefore all the fish that were in the river died.

2. No human power or ingenuity could produce such /;og« as annoyed the land of Egypt. This also was a real, not an imaginary plague. Innumerable multitudes of these animals were produced for the jnirpose; and the heaps of their dead carcases, which putrefied and infected the land, at once demon-strated the reality of the miracle.

3. The /ice, both on man and beast through the whole land, and the innumerable sii-arms of Jlies, gave such jjroofs of their reality, as to put the truth of these miracles out of question for ever. It was necessary that this j^oint.should be fully proved, that both the Egyptians and Israelites might see the finger of Gotl in these awful works.

4. To supei-ficial observers only do " Moses and the mai;ician.s appear to be nearly matched." The power of God Was shewn in producing and removing the plagues. In certain cases, the magicians imitated the production of a plague; but they had no power to remove any. They could not seem to remote the bloody colour, nor the putrescency from file waters, through which the fish were destroyed; though they could imitate the colour itself — they could not remove the fro<''s, the lice, or swarms of flies, though they could imitate the" former and latter — they could by dexterity of hand,

of Moses; and lie removed the swarms offties from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

32 And Pharaoh '' hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

or diabolic influence, produce serpents; but they could not bring one forward that could swallow up the rod of Aaron. In every respect they fall infmitely short of the power and wonderful energy evidenced in tlie miracles of iVIoses and Aaron. The opposition, tiierefore, of tliose men, served only as a foil to set oil' the excellence of that power, by which these messengers of God acted.

5. The courage, constancy, and faith ef IMoses, are wortiiy of the most serious consideration. Had he not been fully satistied of the truth and certainty of his divine mission, he could not have encountered such a host of dilTiculties; had he not been certain of the issue, he could not have persevered amidst so many discouraging circumstances; and had he not had a deep acquaintance with God, his faith in every trial must have necessarily failed. So strong was this grace in him, that he could even pledge his Maker to the performance of works, concerning which he had not as yet consulted him! He ' therefore let Pharaoh fix the very time on which he would wi.sh to have the plague removed; and when this was done, he went to God by faith and prayer, to obtain this new miracle;, and God, in the most exact and ciicunistantial manner, fulfilled the word of his servant.

G. From all this, let us learn that there is a God uho workcth in the earth — that universal nature is under his coiitroul — that he can alter, suspend, counteract, or invert its general laws, whensoever he pleases — and that he can save or destroy by the most feeble and most contemptible instruments. We should theretbre deeply reverence his eternal power and Godhead, and look with respect on every creature he has maile, as the meanest of them may, in his hand, become the instrument of our salvation or our ruin.

7. Let us not imagine, that God has so bound himself to work by general laws, that those destructions cannot take place which dosignate a particular Providence. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are confounded, afflicted, routed, and ruined, while the land of Goshen and the Israelites are free from every plague! No blood appears in their streams; no frogs, lice, nor flies, in all their borders! They trusted in the tnie God, and could not be confounded.- — Reader, how secure mayest thou rest, if thou have this God for thy friend I He was the Protector and Friend of the Israelites, through the blood of that Covenant which is the very charter of thy salvation: trust in and pray to him, as iVIoses did, and then Satan and hia angels shall be bruised under thy feet, and thou slialt not only be preserved from every plague, but be crowned with his loving kindness and tender mercy. He is the same to-day that he was yesterday, and shall continue the same for ever.— Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent rcigneth! |

The Lord senih Moses lo^P/iuraoh, to inform him that ij he did not let the hraetita: depart, a destructive pestilence shoidd he sent among his cattle, 1—3,- zchile the cattle of the Lsraclitrs should he preserved, 4. The next daij, (his pestilence, zchich n-as the fifth ptaguc, is sent, and all the cattle of the Egi/ptians die, 5, 0. Though Pharaoh Jiuds that not one of the cattle of the Israelita had died, i/et through hardwss of heart, he refuses to let the people go, 7. Moses and Aaron are commanded to sprinkle handfuls of ashes from the furnace, that the sixth plague, that of boils and bhxins, might come on man and beast, S, 9: n-hich having done, the plague takes place, JO. The magicians cannot stand bifore this plague, xhich thei/ can neither imitate nor remove, 11. Pharaoh's heart is again hardened, IG. God's axcful message to Pharaoh, n'ilh the threat of more severe plagues than before, 13—17. The seventh plague of Yiiht, hail, and die threatened, IS. The Egt/plians commanded to house their cattle, that thei/ might not be destroyed, KJ. Those tcho feared the ziord of the Lord brought home their servants and cattle, and those rclw did not regard that zcord left their cattle and servants in the fields, 20, 21. The storm of haJl, thunder, and lightning takes place, 22 — 24. It nearli/ desolates the whole land of Egi/pt, 25, while the land of Goshen escapes, 26. Pharaoh confesses his sin, and begs an interest in the pratfers of Moses and Aaron, 27, 28. Moses promises to intercede for him, and zchilc he promises that the storm shall cease, he foreteh the conlinmng ohstinacij of both himself and his servants, 29, 30. The fax and barky being in a state of maturity, are destroijed by the tempest, 31,• nhile the idieat and the rie, not being grown up, zcere preserved, 32. Moses obtains a cessation of the storm, 33. Pharaoh and his serva^nts seeing this, harden their hearts, and refuse to let the people go, 34, 35.

THEN the Lord said unto Moses, " Go in unto Pharaoh, iand tell him. Thus saith the Lord God of [the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they j may serve me.

1 2 For if thou " refuse to let them go, and wilt ihold them still,

! 3 Behold, the "■ hand of the Lord is upon thy i cattle which is \n the iield, upon the horses, j upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen,

NOTKS ON CHAP. IX. Vfi-fe 1. The LoKD Cud of ihe IJcbccivs] It is very likely that the term Lord, mrr Yc/iotnli, is us;e<l here to jioiiil out particukiiiy his ctcmal power and (^o<lhead; and that the term (lod, v,';x Kiel my, is intciidtd to bf understood in the ^euse of ihipjiortiT, Dcf( nder, Proteetor, &e. Thus saith the stlf-existent, omnipoltnt, and ( t< rnal Being, llic Sui)|iorter and Defender of the Hebrews, " Let my [jeople go, that they may worship me."

I'pon tfic horses]:z:-:^D si/sim. Tliis is the first place the horse \s mentioned; a creature, for whieli Egypt an<l Arabia wero always fanK}us. dd sus, is supposed to have the same niranincj with C!i'.««, whieli sifjnitles to he active, brisk, or live/i/; all Mliich are jiroper appellatives of the horse, especially in Arabia and Kp;yiit. I?ecausc of their activity and swit'lness, they were sacrificed and dedicated to the Sim; and, perhaps, it was))rineipally on this account that God prohibited the use of them among the Israelites.

4 And " the Loitn shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egyj)t: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's

5 And the Loud appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Loud shall do this thing in the

6 And the Lord did that thing on the mor-

A very qrievous 7mnrain ] The mun-ain is a very contagious disease amonp: cattle, the symptoms of which are a hanijing; do^^•n and swelling of the head, abundance of gum in the eyes, rattling in the throat, difficulty of breathini;, pal|)itatioii of the heart, stairgerinpc, a hot breath, and a shininj; tonjfuc; which symjitoms i)ro\e, that a general infl.innnation has taken place. The- original word -at dcl>er, is variously translated. The Scptiotgi'it have eavaTog, death; the Vuti[,ate has pc.<tis, a plague or pestilence; the old Saxon version cpealme, from Cjealan, to die, any fatal disease. Our F.nglisb word murrniii, comes either from tlie IVench moioir, to die, or from the (ireck fxa^Miii, maraino, to grow lean, waste an'uy. The term mortaliln would be the nearest in sense to the original, as no i>articuiar disorder is s-pecifie-d by tlie Hebrew word.

Ver.se 5. To-morro\x: the Lord shall do thii] By thus foretelling the evil, he shewe<l his ]>resciencc and power; and fixun this both the ligyptians and Hebrews must see, that the mortality that ensued was no ca.sualty, but the eftcct of a predetermined purpose in the Divine Justice.

and ^ all the cattle of Egypt; but of the cattle of the cliildrcn of Israel died not one.

7 And Pliaraoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And *" the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

8 ^ And the Loud said unto Morses and unto [ Aaron, Take to you handfids of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the lieaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become small dust in all tlie land of Egypt, and sh.al! be " a boil breaking icrth -iiiih blains upon man, and upon beast, throughoitt all the land of Egypt.

10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became '' a boil breaking forth xcith blains upon man, and upon beast.

1 1 And the " magicians could not stand before Moses, because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

12 And the Loud hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; ' as the Lord had spoken luito Moses.

1 3 ^ And the Lord said unto Moses, ^ Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that tliey may serve me.

I 14 For I will at this time send all my plagues I upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and ' upon thy people; " that thou mayest know that tliere is none like me in all the earth.

15 Eor now I will 'stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence: and thou shalt be cut off from tlie earth.

that did die, belonfijed to the Egyptian?, but not one died that be!oii!;ed to the Israelites, vf r. 4. and 6. That the wluile stock of cattle belonging; to the Egyptian-:, did not die, we have the fullest pro<jf; because there were cattle, both to be killed "jid saved alive, in the ensuing plague, ver. 19 — 2.5. By this judgment, the Etiyptians must sec the vanity of the whole of their national worship, when they Ibund the animals, which tliL-y not only held sacred, but deified, slain without distinction, anion'.; t e coinnon h.erd, by a pestilence sent from the hand of Jehovah. One might naturally sujjpose, that after this, the animal worship of the Egyptian* could never more maintain its ground.

Verse 7. ^hul Vliaraoh sent, iV^-] Finding so many of his cv. n cattle sn;l those of his subjects slain, he sent to see whether the mortality had reached to the cattle of the Israelites, that he might know whether this were a judgment inflicted by their Cod; and probably designing to replace the lost cattle cf the Egyptians with those of tlie Israelites.

Verse 8. Handfuh of ashes from the fwnace'] As one part of the oppression of the Israelites consisted in their labour in i the brick-kilns, some have observed a congruity between the crime and the punishment. The furnaces, in the labour of which they oppressed the Hebrews, now yielded the instruments of their punLdmunt; for every particle of those ashes, formed by unjust and oppressive lal)our,.seemed to be a boil or a Wain on the tyranmc king, and his cruel and hard-hearted

Ver»e 9. Shall be a boil] ]^n\V shechin. This word is generally exjiounded, an injtammatori/ fuelling, a bunting boil — one of the nio.sl poignant allliclions, not immediately mortal, that can well adict the surface of the human body- If a single boil on any part of the body, throws the whole.system into a fevc:r, what angui.h must a multitude of them on the body at the sanie time, occasion?

Breaking forth with blains] ni'3J735t ahahtioth, supposed to come from n^'n badh, to siicll, bulge out, any inflamviatory sxi-elling, nolle, or pustule, in any part of the body, but more especially in the more glandular parts, the neck, arm-pits, groin, &:c. The Septuagint translate it thus, kch ^yaiTo Ax.ri ^-XvKTiti; a.-'z^;wTCi, (Did it shall be an ulcer ivith burning pustules. It seems to have been a disorder of an uncommon kind, and hence it is called, by way of distinction, the botch nf Egypt, Deut. xwiii. 37. perhaps never known before in that or any other CI. imtry. Orosius says, that in the sixth plague, "all the people were blistered, that the blisters bur.st \\'ith tormenting pain, and that worms issued out of them." Eset call jroic fivf on bla?span, -j ^a psepon y-pi¥e hpeoj'hce bepj-teutie, -j ¥a popni]- urj-Kintje. — Alfred's Oros. lib. I. c. vii.

Verse II. The boil was upon the magicians] They could not produce a similar malady by throwing ashes in the air; and they could neither remove the plague from the people, nor from then' own tormented flesh. Whether they perislicd in this plague, we know not; but they are no more mentioned. If they were not destroyed by this awful judgment, they at least left the field, and no longer contended with these messengers of God. The triumi'h of God's power was now j complete; and both the Hebrews and Ilgyptians must see that there was neither might, nor wisdom, nor counsel, against ] the Lord; and that, as universal nature acknowledged his power, devils and men must fail belore Inin.

Verse 15. For trow I ivill;tretch out my hand] h\ the Hebrew, the verbs are in the past tense, and not m the future, i as our translation impro]5erly expresses them, by which means 1 a contradiction ajipears in the text; for neither Pharaoh nor his i people iccrc smitten by a pestilence, nor was he by any knid of mortality cat off from the earth. It is true, the firstborn were slain by a destroying ani;el, and Pharaoh himself was drowned in the Red sea; but these judgments do not appear to be referred to ' in this place. If the words be translated as they ou^ht, in | the subjunctive mood, »>r in ihc past instead of the future, this j

, A.M. CM.-;. 16 And in very deed ibr " tliis cause'} 19 -Send therefore now, taid gather I B.C. UM. j^,j^.g J bj..^|^^.(} ^lipp ^,p^ ^-(jj. jQ shew j thy cattle, and all that thou hast in in tiiec my power; and that my name may be:| the field; Jar upon every man and beast which

' slniil be found in the iield, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon tliem, and they shall die. 20 lie that feared the word of the Lonn among

18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will xausc it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt, since the foundation thereof.

isecmin^ contradiction to facts, as well as all anilii:4'iiity, will |be avoitled. For //"??oiy I had sriincKED olt, ('r~iTC> shal- Suchli, hud sent faith my hanil) iind hud smitten thee, ("jriX ^^•1 \ra-(ic vtecti) and t.'ii/ J>e<ij>le,v.:ith the pestilence, t/ioii shoii.dkst Ihave been eiil off (nn^n ti/dached) from the earth. IG Bitt \tnilii, on this i-cry account, hine I aiitsed thee to sijiisisr, (TrilvJ'n lie-eniudticii) that I might cause thee to see my poiecr, il('~3 ns inxin harcoteca et coehi) and that my name might %)e declared throughout all the earth; or, \'"\Nn h'2Z becol hu-)tirets, in all this land.,See Ainsvjorth and llouhi'^aut. I Tluis (iod nave this impious kin^- to know, that it was in con^eq^lC•n(•e of his especial Providence that both he and his jieople had not been already destroyed by means of the past jilapiics; but Cod had preserved him for this very purpose, that he miuht have a farther oj-.i'crtunity of manifesting- that he,.lehovah, was the only true (;od, for the full conviction both of the llebrev^sand Eiiyptians; that the former mij^ht follow, nnd the latter fear before him. Judicious critics of almost all creeds, have atri eed to translate the original as abo\ e; a translation which it not only can bear, but reciuires; and which is in strict conformity to both the Sep.tuagint and Tar- KUin. Neith.cr tlic Hebrew "j'nijij'n he-cmadiira, I h:ne cinised thee tri stand, nor the Apostle's translation of it, Rom. ix. 17. t^r.y.t^a. a,, I hax-e raised thee — nor that of the Septua- Ipint, f/sKiv n-jio-j J(ETi;^i-,S)i-, on this account ait thou prcscneJ, viz. in the past plagues — can countenance that most exrej)tionable nuaning put on the words by certain commentator.-;, viz. "Tliat*(iod ordained or appointed Pharaoh from all eternity, by certain means, to lliis end; that he made him to exist in time; that he raised him to the throne; promoted him to that high honour and dignity; thai b.c preserved him, and did not cut him off as yet; that he stniii^theiied and hardened his heart; irritated, protohed, and stirred him up hgainst his people Israel; and siiilered him to go all the lengths he did go in his obstinacy and rebellion; all v. hich was done ifor to slim in him his potuer, in destroying him and his host lin the Red-sea. The sum of which is, that this man was raised up by God, in exery sense, for G'al to shew his power in his destruction.".So man speaks: thus, Ciuu hath not •pokeii.

Verse 17. As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people?] So it appears, that al tliis time he might have submitted, and tJiiis prevented his own- destruction.

The SEVENTH plague — The Hah.. Ver.'c IS. To-morroiu about this time] Tlic time of this plague is njarked thus circumst.nntially, to shew I'haraoh that Jtho\ah was. Lord of heaven and earth; and that the •u:<iler.

the servants of Pharaoh made his servants ami his cattle I'iee into the liouses: 21 And he t'lat "^ re<rardcil not the word of the the fre, the earth, and the air, which were all objects of Egyptian idolatry, -were the creatures of his power, and subservient to his will; and that, far from being able to help them, they were now, in the liands of Coil, instruments of their destruction. '

To rain a very grievous hail] To rain hail, may appear, to some supcificial o'l.-crvei-s, a? an uni)hilosophical mode of e\- pre.^^sion; but nothmg can be more correct. " Drops of rain falling through a cold region of the atmasphtrc, are frozen and con^■erted into hail;" and thus the hail is produced by rain.. When it begins \o fall, it is rain; when it is falling, it is converted into hail: thus it is literally true, that it rain.t hail. The fartlier a hail-stone falls, the larger it generally is; because, in its descent, meeting with innmneralile panicles of water, they brcoiue attached to it, are also frozen, and thus its bulk is continually increasing till it reaches the earth. In the case in f|uestion, if nat;iral means were at -all used, we may supp.ose a highly eleetriiied state of an atmosphere loaded with vapours, which becoming condensed aiiJ frozen, aud' having a considerable space to fall through, were of an unusirally large size. IIioutIi this w'as a supernatural stoi'm, there have Ijeen many of a natural kind, tnat have been excee<lingly dreadful. A storm of hail fell, near Liverpool, in Lancashire, in the year 17 0.'>. which greatly damaged the vegetation, broke windows, &c. &c. Many of the stones measured five inches in eircumftrencc. Dr. Halley mentions a similar storm of hail in l.tmcishtre, Cheshire, &c. in Hi!)?, Aiiril 29, that for sr\ty miles in length, and tKO miles in breadth, did im:nense damage, by splitting trees, killing fowls and ail small animids, knocking down men anil horses, &c. &c. Mezeray, in his lli>tory of Prance, s-ays, that in Italy, in 1510, there was Ibr some time a horrible daikness, thicker than that of night; after which the clouds broke into thiuider and lightning, and there fell a shower of hail-stoncs, which destroyed all the beasts, birds, an<l even lish of tlie country. It was attended with a strong smell of sulphur, and the stones were of a blueish colour, some of them weighing one hundred pounds weight. The.Almighty says tti.lob — " Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, whicli I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the ilay of battle and war?" Job, chap, xxxviii. 22,23. While God li-as such artillery at his conmiand, how soon may he desolate a country, or a world!

Verse 19. Send Hotf mid gather thy cattle] iki in the midst of judgment, (iod remembered mercy. The miracle should be wrought, that they might know he was tile Lord; but all the li\es, both of men and in asts, might have been saved iiad Pharaoh and his servanli t.ikiii the warnmii so mereifuUv

Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch

forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be * hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and '' the Lord sent thunder and hail, and tlie fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt, since it became a nation.

25 And the hail smote throughout all the land

givc'iJ them. M'hile some vegardtd not the word of the Lord, others feared it, and their cattle and their servants were saved, t^ee ver. 20, 21.

Verse 23. T/ie Lord.'.cut thunder — n'jp kololh, voices; but loud re]5eated peals of thunder are n\eant — mid hail, and the fire ran alonir vpon the grni/nd] nvix V7N "[''^'^^ ta-tihalac esh areisah, and the fire ieulked upon the earth. It was not a sudden fla.sh of lighlnin^-, but a dcNourini,'' fire, Xfal/cihg tlirouiih fc\ery part, de.-troyiui;- both animals and vegetables, and its jirojiress w as irresistible.

Verse 24. Hail, and f.re inimyled ui/h the hail] It is generally allowed, liiat the electric fluid is essential to the furniation of hail. On this occasion it was supplied in a supernatural abundance; for streams of fire seem to ha\e accompanied the descenduig hail, so that herbs and trees, beasts and men, were all destroyed by them.

Verse 26. Ow/y in the land of Goshen — ivas there no hail.] \\'hat a signal proof of a most particular Prtnidence!.Surely both the Hebrews ami Ej^yptians profited by this display of the goodnefs and sezxritj/ of God.

Verse 27. The Lord is riglitcons, and I and my people are Kicked.] 'Ilse ori^uial is very emphatic — The Lord is the RIOHTEOCS O.^K, pnjTl ha-tsadik, and I and nni people are THE siNNEits, S'iX'l", ha-rashaim; i.e. He is alone ri*htcoiiP, and we alone are transgressors. Who could laave imagined that, after such an acknowlcdgenient and confession, Pharaoh sliould have again hardened his heart.'

N'erse 28. It is enoii;^h] There is no need of any farther plaofue; I submit to the authority of Jehovah, and will rebel no more.

Might)/ thunderings] ^'n'JS rilj) koloth elohini, toices of God; that is, superlatively loud thunder. So 7nountains of\ (iod, I'sal. xxxvi. 7. mean, exceeding high u)ountains..So i H prince of Cod, Gen. xxiii. G. mcais, a migluy pnnce. See a description of thiutdcr, Psal. xxix. 3 — 8. " The voice oi THE I.OKD is upon the waters: the (iod of glory thiindercth: the 1.1)1(1 is upon many waters. The voice if the Lord is ' powcrivil; the voice (f the Lord is full of majesty. The roicc ' of the Lord breakfth the cedars; tlie voice of the Lord di-

" smote c\ery herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.

26 '' Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel xverc, was there no hail.

27 IF And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said imto tliem, "I have sinned

28 ^ Intreat the Lord (for // is enough) that there be no more " mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.

29 And Moses said unto him. As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will ' spread abroad

\ideth the flames of fire. The reice of the Lord shaketh tlie wilderness," &c. Tlie production of rain by the electric spark, is alluded to in a very beautiful manner, Jereir.. x. 13. When he titterctli his voice, there is a multitude of xi-aters in the heavens. See the note on Geq. vii. 11. and viii. 1.

Verse 29. / '^vill.spread abroad my hands] That is, I will make supplicHtion to God, that he may remove this plague. This may not be an improper place to make some obser^•ations on the ancient manner of approaching the Divine lieing in prayer. Kneeling down, stretching out tf the hands, and li.fting them up to heaven, were in freciuent use among the Hebrews in their religious worship. Solomon kneeled, doivn on his knees, and spread forth his hands to heaven, 2 C'hron. vi. 13. So D.wiD, Psal. cxliii. 6. / stretch forth my hands unto thee..So Ezra, / fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands iinlo the Lord my God: chap. ix. 5. See also Job xi. 13. //" thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thy hands toieards him. Mo.»t nations who pretended to any kind of worship, made use of t lie same means in ' approaching the objects of their adoration, viz. kneeling doivn, and stretching out their hands; which customs it is very likely they borrowed from the people of God. Kneeling wa.? ever considered to be the proper posture of supjilication, as it expres.sed humility, contrition, and suhjectiim. If the person to whom the su))i)lication was addressed, was within reach, the supplicant caught him by the knees; for as among the ancients, tlie forehead was consecrated to genius, the ear to memory, and the right-hand to faith, so tlie knees w ere consecrated to mercy. Hence those who entreated favour, fell at and caught hold of the knees of the person whose kindness they sui)|)licate(.l. This mode of supplication is particularly referred to in the following passages in Homer.

IliadA. ver. 407

Now therefore, of these things reminding Jove Embrace his knees.

To which the following answer is made:

Moses expostulates ivith him.

how that the ' earth is the Lord's. 30 But as for thee and thy servants, " I know

In the 'aiiie manner we find our Lord accosted, Matlh. xvii. 14. There came to him a cerluin man, kneeling tloxun to him, yowxtivw xvTov, falling doii'u at his knees.

As to the lifting up, or itretching out the hands (often joined to kutelin^) of win U we have seen already several instiuues, and of x\ huh we have a very remarkable one in this book, chap. xvii 11. where the lifting up, or stretching out of the iLtmls of Abists was t!ie means of Israel's prevailing over Amaiek; we find many examples of botli in ancient authors. Thus Viucil,

Corripio e stratis corpus, tendoque supinas Ad coiLUM cunt voce m.\.ncs, et mutieru libo.

I started from my bed, and raised on high My hands and voice in rapture to the sky; And pour libations. Pitt.

TTi' n kneeled the wretch, and suppliant clung around H!j/ knees, with tears, and grovelled on the ground. Id.

media inter numina diium,

Amidst the statues of the gods he stands,

And spreading forth to Jove, his lifted hands Id.

Et Di pi.ieEs cum race ma.nus ad sidera TENDrr.

And lifted both his hands and voice to heaven.

i In some cases, the person petitioning came forward, and jcitlxr fit in the du.'t or kneeled on tlie ground, placing his;/</? hand on the knee of him, from whom he expected the [favour, wlnle he touched the person's chin with his right. We Ihave an instance of this also in Homeh:

S\ippliant the goddess stood: one hand.she plac'd Beneath his chin, and one his knee embraced. Pope.

When the supplicant could not approach the person to whom he (Tayed, as where a deitj/ was the object of the prayer, he iwashed his hands, made an oflering, and kneeling down, either 'ilrclrhcd out both his hands to heriicn, or laid them upon the \offering or sarr.fce, or upon the altar. Thus Homer represents ]»lie priest of Apollo praying:

31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: 'for the barley Xi-as in the ear, and the Hax aas boiled.

V/ith Xiater purify their hands, and take

Tile sacred off' ring of the salted cake,

While thus with arms devoutly ruis'd in air,

And solemn voice, the priest directs his pray'r. Pope.

IIow neces.sary ablutions of the whole body and of the hands particularly, accompanied with oilirinis and sacrifices, were un-* der the law, every reader of tht- Bible knows: see especially Exod. xxix. 1 — 4. where Aaron and his sons were commanded to be washed, previously to their performing the priest's office; and chap. XXX. 19 — 21. where it is said, " Aaron and his sons shall Xi'ash their hands — that they die not." See also Lev. xvii.!!>. When the high-priest among the Jews blessed the people, lie lifted t:p his hands, Lev. ix. 23. And the Israelites, when they presented a sacrifice to Got!, lifted up theirhands, ani plaffd them on the head <f the victim. " If any man of you brins" an oftenng.- unto the Lord — of the cattle, of the herd, and of the flock — he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him; to make atonement fur him." Lev. i. 2 — 4. To these circumstances the Apostle alludes, 1 Tim. ii. 8. "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting vp holyhanfli without wrath and doubting." In the Apostle's word, Ez-aifovrar, lifting up, there is a manifest reference to stretching out the hands to place them either on the altar, or on the head of the victim. Four things were signified by this lifting up of the hands. 1. It was the posture of supplication, and expressed a strong invitation — Covie to my help. 2. It expressed the earnest desireof the person tolay hold on the help he re»(uired, by bringing him who wa.s the object of hisprayertohisassistance. 3. It shewed the ardour of the person to receive the blessings he ex]iected. And 4. By this act he designateil and consecrated his oflering or sacrifice to his Goil.

Lrom a great number of evidences and coincidences, it i& not unreasonable to conclude, that the heathens borrowed all that was pure and rational, even in their mode ofivorshjp, from the ancient people of d'od; and that the preceeling quotations arc proofs of this.

Verse 31. The flax and the barley ii-as smittenj The word 7\r\VS pisheiah, flax, Mr. Parkhurst thinks is derived from the root CJiJ pashat, to strip, because the substance which we term ffax, is properly the bark or rind of the vegelalvle, pilled or stripped oft' the stalks. I'rom time immemorial, L.gypt was celebrated for the [)roduction and manufacture of flax: hence the linen, and fine linen of Egy[>t, so often spoken of in ancient authors.

Barley] rnj"l7 sheorah, from "li"*' shdar, to stand on end, to be rough, bristly, &c. hence lycf scar, the hair of the head, and TytP seir, a he-goat, because of its shagiry hair; and hence alsrj, barley, because of the rough and prickly beard, with which the ears are covp-ed and defended.

32 But tlic Avhcat and tlic rie were not smitten: for they icere ' not grown up,

S3 And Isloses went out of the city from Pliaraoh, and "^ spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and tlic t!;undcrs and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

35 And ' the heart of Pharaoh was liardened, neitiicr would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken " by Moses.

reaped at a ver\r diflerEiil tiiiie from ivhcat, barky, and flux The first are sown in JIarc/i before the overflow inp; of the Nile and reaped about October: whereas tlie iv/ierit siud burLij uvc sown in Sozeitihcr and December as foon as the Nile is gosie oflj and are reaped licfore.f/oy.

Piiny observes, Hiyt. yat. lib. xviii. chap. 10. that in Iv^ypt the barley is ready for reapin;jf in six months after it is sov. n, and ■a-iieut, in scicii. In jE^>/pto, hordeum scxio a sutu nicn.H\ l-RUMCNTA scpdaio nictuMur.

Thcjlux was boiled'] Meaninp:, I suppose, \ias "rown up into a stalk: the original is Vj?:- g'bol, podded, or was in the pod. The word well expresses that alobcus pod on the top of the stalk cf flax, wliici! succeeds the ilower, and contains the seed; very pi-operly expressed by the Septuagint, to h \im-i o-Tsp^.aTifiv, hut thejlux ix/is in seed, or "..:■«« secdi>i>^.

Ver.—e 32- But the v.-/ieiii arid the rie '^ecre not smitten'] IVhccii r'lTn chittah, vhich Mr. Paikhurst thinks should be derived iVom the Chaldee and Samaritan 'un cluiti, which sigiiifHS tender, delicious, delicate, because of the superiority of its ftatour, &;c. to every other kind of cjrain. But this term in Scripture appears to mean any kind of bread-corn. Rie, ncDO ciissemeth, from ^ojcasam, to hdic longhair; and hence, though the {(articular sjjecies is not known, the word must mean some betirded grain. Tiie.Septua.;'nt call it oP.upa, the Vulgate far, and Aquila ^to, w liich sicuify the grain called qiclt; and some sup])ose that }-icc is meant.

Mv. Harmer, referring to the double liarvest in Egypt, mentioned by Dr. Pocock, says that the circumstance of the wheat and the rie hmv^ nS'SK npliilotli, dark cr hidden, as the margin renders it (i.e. thty were sown, but not grov.n u|i) shews that it v. as the Indian vjiatt, or surgo rosco, mentioned vtr. 31. which, with the rie, escaped; while the barhy and Jiitx were smitten, because they were at or nearly at a rtate of maturity, f-te Hanncr's Obs. vol. iv. p. 11. edit. 1808. But what is intended by the wcrds in the Hebrew text, vi'c cannot posit: vily say: as there is a cieat vai'iety of opin'.ohs on this subject, both amr n^f t!ie rersioiis and the cciiisntntators. The Anglo-Saxon translator, probably fr.om not knowing the meaninit of the words, omits the whole verse.

Verse;j3. Spread abroad his iiands] Probably- with the rod cf (jod in tl)cm. See what has been said on the spreading out (if' the hands in prayer, ver. 29.

Verse 34. J le sinned yet more, and hardened his heart] These were men ly acts of his own: " For who can deny," says JMr. Psaliuanezer, " tliat what (iod did on Pharaoh w as much more proper to soften tiian to harden his heart; especially when it is observable, that it was not till after seeing; each miracle, and after the cea.-ing of each pla;4ue, that his heart is said to have been hardened.■" The veriw here u.-ed are in the conjugations/)i7a7 and hiphil, and often sianify a bare permission, fiom which it is plain, that the words should ha\c Ween read. (Jod suffered the heart of Pharaoh to be hardened." — Universal liist. \ol. i. p. A9\. Note D.

Verse 35. And the heart <f Pharaoh luas hardened] In consefpienee of his sinning yet more, and hardening his own hearty against bc'th the judf;inents and mercies of God; we need not be surprized, that after God had given him the means of softtuir.a: and repentance, and he had in every instance re— si.- ted and abused them, he should, at last, have been lett to the hardness and daikness of his own obstinate heart, so as te fill U!-) tlie measure of his mifjuity, and ru.^ii headlong to hi» own destrucliou.

In the ffth, si.rth, and seventh plagues, described in this chapter, we have additional proofs of the justice and merry of Ciod, as well as of the.stupidity, rebellion, and ivickednciS of Piiaraoh and his courtiers. As these continued to contradict and resist, it was just that God should continue to inflict those punishments which their iniijuities deserved. Yet, in the midst of judgment, he remembers mercy; and therefore!iMoscs and Aaron are sent to inform th.e Egyptians that such plagues ivould come, if they continued obstinate. Here is mercy: the cattle only are destroyed, and the ]ieople saved! Is it not evident, from all these messages, and the repeated expostulaiions of Moses and Aaron, in the name and on the authority of God, that Pharaoh was bound by no fatal necessity to continue liis ol)^tinacy; that he might have humhied himself belbre God, and thus prevented the disasters that fell oii the land, and saved hiinself and liis people from destruction. But he would sin, and therefore he must be punished.

In the sixth I'lague Pharaoh had advantages which lie had not before. Tlic magicians, by their successful imiialicus of the miracles wrouglit by Moses, made it doubtful to the Egyptians, ^\'heth.er INIoses himself was not a?nagieian, acting ^^ithoiit any divine authority; but the j-.lagiie of the boils, which they could ikjI iuiitate, by which they were themsehcs alilicted, and w liicli they confes-ed to be the fnger of God, decitlcd the business. Pharaoh had no longer any excu-c, and must know that lie had now to contend, not wiih Moses and Aaron, mortals like himself, but s\'ith the living God. How strange, thcri, that he should continue to resist! 5iany afilct to be astonished at this, and think it must be uttiiluted only to a sovereign controuling influence of God, which rendered it inipo^-sibie for him to repent, or take warning. But the whole conduct cf God shews the improbability of this opinion: and is not the, conduct of Pharaoh and his comtiers copied and rc-actcd by thousancL—, who are never suspected to be under any such necessitating decree.' Every sinner under heaven, who has the Bible in his hand, is acting the same part. God says to the s\iearer and the profane — Thou shall^not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; and yet common swearing and profanity arc most scandalously common among multitudes who bear the Christian name, and who presume on the mercy of God to Ket at last to the kingdom of heaven! He says also — Remember the s/ibbath-day to keep it Italy — thou shalt not kill — thou skiilt not commit adultery — thou shall not steal — thou shalt not bear false -witness — thou shalt not covet — and sanctions nil these coinmandnunts with the most awful penalties; ami yet, with all tliese things before them, and the professed belief that they came from tied, sabbath-breakers, men-slayers, adulterers, fornicators, thieves, dishonest men, false witnesses, liars, j slanderers, backbiters, com tons men, lovers of the world more i than lovers of God, are fuvmd by inmdreds and thousands! What were the crimes of the ])oor half-blind l-'.iiyptian kinp;, when compared with these! He siimed against a coni|)aratively unkuou-n (jod: these sin a^jain^t the (Jod of tlnir fatiiers — against the tioil and Father of Mini whom they call their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! They sin with the liiblc in their iiand, and a conviction of its divine authority in their hearts I They sin against light and knowledge — against the checks of their consciences, the reproofs of their friends, the admonitions of the messengers of God — against Moses and Aaron in the Law — against the testimony of all tiie I'rophets — against the Evangelists, the ApostUs, the Maker of heaven land earth, the Judge of all men, and the Saviour of the world! Wliat were Pharaoh's crimes, to the crhncs of tliese? On comparison, his atom of moral turpitude is lost in their world of iniquity. And yet, who supposes these to be under any neccssiialini; decree to sin on, and go to pcr<lition? Nor are tliey — nor was Pliaraoh. In all things, C'.od h;is proved lx)th his justice and mercy to be clear in this pomt. Pharaoh, through a principle of covetonsness, refused to dismiss the Israelites, whose services he found jirofitable to the state: these are absorbed in the love of tiie world, the love of jjU-asure, imd the love of gain; nor will they let one lust go, even in the presence of the thunders of Sinai, or in sight of the agony, biiwly sweat, crucifixion, and death of Jesug Christ! Alas! how many are in the habit of considering Pharaoh the worst of human beings, inevitably cut ofl' from the possiliility of being saved, bccaiLse of his iniquities, who outdo him so far in the viciousncss of their lives, that Pharaoh hardening his heart against ten plajjues, appears a saint, when compared with those who are hardening their hearts ai;-ain-t ten millions of mercies. — Reader, art thou of this numi er? Proceed no farther! Gotl's judgments linger not. Desperate as thy state is, tliou mayest retuni; and thou, even thou, find mercy, through the blood of the Lami>.

^Mosfs is again sent to Pharaoh, and expostulates zcith htm on his refusal to let the Hehrezcs go, 1 —. jdagite, viz. of locusts, is threatened, 4. The extent and oppressive nature of this plague, 5, 6. Pharaoh's servants counsel him to dismiss the Ilcbrezcs, ~. He calls for Moses and Aaron, and enquires zeho they are of the Hebrews zcho zi'ish logo, 8. Moses hat i/ig anszcered that the zchole people, zcith their flocks and herds, must go ami hold a feast to the Lord, Q. Pharaoh is enraged, and having granted permission onli/ to the^ men, drives Moses and Aaron from his presence, 10, 1 1. Moses is commanded to stretch out his hand and bring the locusts, 12. He does so, and an east-wind is sent, tchich bloziing all that dai/ and night, brings the locusts the next moining, IJ. The devastation occasioned In/ these insects, 14, 15. Pharaoh is humbled, aclcnozcledges his sin, and begs ]\loscs to intercede zcith Jehovah for him, iG, 17. Moses does so, and at his request a strong zcest-zcind is sent, nhich carries all the locusts to the Red Sea, 18, 19. Pharaoh's heart is again hardened, 20. Moses is commanded to bring the ninth plague, an extraordinari/ darkness over all the land of Egi/pt, 21. 'The nature, duration, and effects of this, 22, 23. Pharaoh again humbled, consents te let the people go, provided therf leave their cattle behind, 24. Moses insists on having all their cattle, bccauxe of the sacrijices zeihich thei/ must make to the Lord, 25, 2(). Pharaoh aaain hardened, refuses, 2". Orders Moses from his presence, and threatens him zcith death should he ever return, 28. Moses departs zcith the promise of returning no more, 29.

AND the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoli: * for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his

Verse 1. Hardened his heart] God suffered his natural obstinacy to prevail, that he might have farther oi)portunities of sheuiug forth his eternal power and (iodliead.

Verse 2. That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy,von] Tliat *he miracles wrought at this time might be a record for the

servants, ""that I might shew these my signs before him: 2 And that " thou mayest tell in the ears of

instruction of the latest posterity, that Jehovali alone, the God of the Hebrews, was the sole Maker, Governor, and Supporter of the heavens and the earth. Thus we find, Goil so did his marcellous icorks, that they might be hud in everlasting remembrance. It was not to erusli the poor worm, Pharaoh, that he wrought such mighty wonders, but to convince his enemies, to tliy son, and of thy son's son, uhat tilings I have wrouglit in Kg^'jit, and my signs Avliich I have done among them; that ye may know how that I cmi the Loitn.

3 And Moses and A^ron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him. Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou rei'use to * lumible thyself before me? let my people go, that tliey may serve me;

the cnJ of the world, that no oinninpr or power can prevail aaainst him; and to.<he\v his followers, that whosoever trusted in him should never be eonfounded.

Verse 3. How long wilt thou refuse to liumble t/ij/sel/'r] Had it been impoasible for Piiaraoh, in all the preceding- plairues, to have hnmbled himself and repented, can we suppose tliat (jod could have addressed him in such language as the precedinij? We may rest assured, that there was always a time in \vliich he might have relented, and that it was because he hardened his heart at such times, that (Jod is said to harden him; i. e. to give him u)) to his own stubborn and obstinate heart, in consequence of which lie i-efviscd to let the people go, so that Cod had a fre.sh opportunity to \sork another miracle, for the very gracious puiposes mentioned in ^■er.se 2d. Had Pharaoh relented before, the same gracious ends would ha\e been accomplished by other means.

Vcr.<e 4. To morroiu will I bring the locusts] Tlie word -2iiX nrbeh, a locust, is probably from the root n3"\ rabah, he multiplied, became great, migliti/, &c. i)ecanse of the immense swarms of these animals, by which dillcrent countries, especially the Ea.-^!, are infested. The locust, in entomology/, l>elongs to a genus of insects known among naturalists by the term grylli; and includes three species, crickets, grasshoj)- pers, and those connnonly called locusts; and as they multiply faster than any tither animal in creation, they are jjroperly entitled to the name naiK (irbeh, ^\bich might be translated the numerous or multiplied insect. See this circumstance refeiTed to Judg. vi. 5. vii. 12. ]\al. cv. 34. Jerem..xlvi. 23. li. 14. Jo( 1 i. G. Nnhuin iii. 15. Judith ii. 19, 20. where the most numerous armies are compaied to the arbeii, or locust. The locust has a large o]ien mouth; and in its two jaws, it has four incisive teeth, which traverse each other like sci.-sors, being calculated, from their mechanism, to gripe or cut. IMr. Voliiey, in Travels in Syria, gives a striking account of this most awful scourge of <^iod:

" Syria partakes together with Egypt and Persia, and almo.it all the whole middle part of A.sia, m that terrible scourge, I mean those clouds of lociists of which tra\ ellers have spoken; the (|u:intity of which is incredible to any person who has not hinistif seen them, the earth being covered by them for several leagues round. The noise they make in brousing the plants and trees, may be heard at a distance, like an anny plundering in secret. Fire.seems to follow their tracks. Wherever their legions march, the verdure disappears from the Country, like a curtain drawn aside; the trees and plants iiespoiltd of their haves, make the hideous appearance of

EXODUS. and predicts the eighth Plagtie.-

if thou refuse to let my

! people go, behold, to morrow will I.

bring the '' locusts into thy coast:

5 And they shall cover the "face of the earth,, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and "*'""" shall eat the residue of that which is remaincfh unto you from the

they escaped, wliich remainctn unto you hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

winter, in.-;tantly succeed to the bright scenes of spring. \Micn the.se clouds of locusts take their flight, in order to surmount some obstacle, or the more rapidly to cross some desart, one; may literally say, that the sun is darkened bi/ tlirm."

l^aron de Tott gives a similar account: " Clouds of locusfs frequently alight on the plains of the Xoguais, (the Tartars) and giving j/ivference to their fields of millet, ravage tbem in. an instant. Their apjiroach darkens the horizon, and so enormous is their multitude, it liides the light of the sun. They alight on the fields, and there form a bed of six. or seien inchet thick. To the noise of their flight, succeeds that of their ' devouring actively, which resenibles the rattling of hail-stoncs; liut its consequences are infinitely more destructive. Fire ' itself eats not so fast; nor is there any appearance of vege- s tation to be found when they again take their flight, and go I elsewhere to produce new disasters."

I Dr. ShaM, \\ ho witnessed most formidable swarms of these I in Barbary, in the years 1724 and 1725, gives the following t account of them: " They were much lai'ger than our gra.sshoppers, and hail lirown s|iotted wings, with legs and bodies I of a bright yelhiw. Their first ap]xarance was towards the latter end of.March. In tbe middle of April, their numerous swarins, like a succession of clouds, darkened the sun. In the month of I\Iay, they retired to the adjacent plains to deposit their eggs: these were no sooner hatched, in June, than the young brood first produced, while in their caterpillar or wormlike state, formed themsehes into a compart body of more Ulan a furlong square, and marching directly forward, climbed over trees, walls, and houses, devouring every plant in their way. Within a day or two, another brood was hatched, and advancing in the same manner, gnawed off the young branches and bark of the trees left by the former, making a complete desolation. The iuliabitants, to stop tlieir progress, made a variety of j)its and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water, or else heaped up' therein heath stubble, &c. w liich they set on fire, but to no i purpose; tor the trenches were quickly filled up, and the fires extingui.-hed, by infinite swarms succeeding one another:. while the front seemed regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close, that a retreat was altogether impossible. hi a month's time they threw off their worm-like state; and in a new form, with wings and legs, and additional powers, returned to their former voracity." — Shaw's Travels, 1S7, 188. 4to edition.

The descriptions given by these travellers shew, that Ood'$ ' army, described by the prophet Joel, chap. ii. was innumerable swarms of locusts, to which the account gi\en by Dr. i Shaw and others e.xattfj' agrees.

^L^.';*"': and the hoii.scs of all thy servants, and the houses ot" all (ho Ei>-yi)tians; ■which neither liiy tlithiis, nor thy lathers' liitiier.s lia\e •seen, since the day that they were upon the earth inito tliis day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

7 ^ And Pharaoh's servants said unto him,

Jet the men go, that they may serve the Lokd

their God: knowest thou not yet, that Egypt is

8 And Moses an{l Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them. Go, serve the Lord your (Jod: hut 'w^ho are they that.shall go.?

9 And Moses said, We will go with our young

VtT.>;e 5. Tiny shall covtr tttf face of the earthl Tliey sometime.* cover tin- whole liioiiiKl lo tile depth of six or tight inches. Skc t!ie pnccdiii'^;irci)iiiit.<.

\'er.«e 7. llo-j; ton '2; s/iuil this iiian he a snare unto us?] As there is no noun in the text, the pronoun nj:eh, may either rtf'cr to the Israelites, to the plague by which thty were then afflietetl, or to INIo^es and Aaron, the instruments used by the i\Io.<t lliL;h in their chastisement. Tlie Vulg-atc translates, I'squnfto paticnatr hoc.icanJaliiin? ^" How lonif shall we sufler this >eiindal, or reproach.'"

Let the men j^o, that they may serze the I.onn their Cod] Miieli of the energy of.several pa.ssa^es is lost, by translalin:^ nir.' Vehoiiih, by the term Lord. Tiic Egyptians had their gods, and they sr.p|K)sed that the Hebrews had a (iod like uiitothiir own; that this Jehovah required their services, and «ould continue to aHlict J'.^ypt till his people were permitted to worship him in his own way.

Verse S. Who are they that shall go ■'] Thougli the Eg-yp- •ians, about fourscore years before, wished to de^troy the Hebrews, yet they found them now so profitable to the stiiie, that they were \inwiliiii<j to jrart wilh them.

Verse 9. He v.ill go with our jjowf^ and -..lith our old, 4'C.] As a feast was to Ix; cclel)rated to the honoin- of.lehovah, all who wi re j)artakers of his bounly and providential kindiuss, must ^o and perform tin ir p'art in the solemnity. The men and tiie •.lonieu must nivke the feast, the children mu.st witness it, and the cattle nuu-t be taken alon;^ with them, to furnish the sacrifices necessary on tliis occasion. This must appear reasonable to the I'Vyptian.s, because it was their oivn custom in their reli';ious assemblies. 3Ien,- women, and t:hiklrcn, attended iheni, often to the amount of several hundred thousand. Jlerodot!is'\ul'.trmsu9, in speaking of the si\ annual feast). ttlcbrated by llie ICgyptiaus in honour of their deities, that and will) our old, with oiu" sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for /to/d a fiast unto the Lokd.

10 And he said unto them. Let the Lord l)e so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

1 1 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for tiiat ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

1 2 ^ And the Loud said unto Moses, ' Stretch out thine liand over the land of Lgy[)t for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and ' cat every herb of the land, eirn all that the hail hath leit.

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an

they hold their chief one at the city oTBubustis in honour of Xeith or Diana; that they so thither by water in boats, men, women, and eliildieii; that during their voyage,.some of the women play on ca-^tenets, and.*oinc of the men uponfhltes, while the rest are eni])k)ycd in siniiing and clappiug their hands; aiid that, when they arrive at Bubaslis, they saerifK-e a vast number of victims, and drink KUK'h wine: and that, at one such festival, the ijihabitaitts assured him, diat there w ere not assembled fewer than 700,000 men and women, witliout reckoning the children. F.uterpe, I'h. Ii\. \\.

Moses and.\aron requesting' liberty for the Hebrews to ^o three days' journey into the wilderness, and with them all their wives, littU- ones, and cattle, in order to hold a fe.ist unto Jehovah their (iod, must ha\<', at kit^t, appeared;is rca-ionable to the Egyptians as their going to the city of l^ubiiilis with their wive.s, littfc oties, and cattle, to hold a feast to t\eifh, or Diana, who w as there worshipped. The puralld, in these two cases is too >trikiiig to ja-s unnoticed.

Verse 10. Ijet the Lord be so nit/i i/oii] This is an ob-scure senlencb. Some suppose lliat Pharaoh meant it as a curse, as if he had said, " May your (io<l be as surely with you, as I shall let you go!" For as he purposed not to permit them to go, so he wi.slied ihem as much of the divine help as they.-hould have of his permission.

Looh- — -for evil \s before you.] CT^J'JS 1JJ nvi *D 1X"1 reii ki raiih netted paiiej/cein — See ye that evil is before yonr faces. If you attempt to go, ye.■-hall meet with the punishment ye deserve. Probably Pharaoh iiilended to in>iiiuate, that they had some sinister de.-igns and that they wished to go in n body, that they might the better accomplish iheir ])iirpo.se; but if they had no such designs, tin y would be <-onleuted for the males to go, and leave their wivts and children behind; for he well kn( w, if the men went and left their fnnilies, they Would infallibly return; but that, if he permitted them to take their families with them, they would undouhlidjy make their escape: therefore he say.s, \er. 11. do hok, j,x" that are men, and serce the Lord.

east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; atid when it was morniiig, tlie east wind brought the locusts.

14 And * tlie locusts went up ovei' all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous xcere they; ^ before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

\5 For they "covered the face of.the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they " did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

16 ^ Then Pharaoh " called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, ^ I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and ^ intreat the Lord your

abounded in those countrie?, and particularly in Ethiopia, and more especially at this time of the year, God had no need to create new swarms for this purpose; all that was requisite, was to cause such a wind to hlow as would bring those which already existed, over the land of Egypt. Tlie miracle in this business was the bringing the locusts at the appointed time, and causing the proper wind to blow for that purpose, and then taking them away after a similar manner.

Verse 14. Bi-fore them there it;ere no such locusts, Sfc] They exceeded all that went before, or were since, in number, and in the devastations they produced. Probably both these things are intended in the passage. — See ver. 15.

Verse 17. Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once] What a strange case! And what a series of softening and hardening, of sinning and repenting! Had he not now another opportunity of returning to Gotl i" But the love of gain, and the gratification of his own self-will and obstinacy, finally prevailed.

Verse 19. A mighty strong lucst-ivind] a' nn ruach yam, literally, the wind of the sea; the wind that blew from the Mediterranean sea, which lay north-west of Egypt, which had the Red sea on the east. Here again God works by natural means: he brought the locusts by the east-wind, and took them away by the west or north-west wind, which carried them to the Red sea where they were drowned.

The lied sea] «)1D 3' yam suph, the weedy sea, so called, as some suppose, from the great cjuantity of al'^a or sea weed, which grows in it, and about its shores; but Mr. Bruce, who has sailed the whole extent of it, declares that he never sa\\ in it a weed of any kind; and supposes it has its name Suph from Uie vast quantity of coral which grows in it, as trees and plants do on land. One of these, he observes, from a root nearly central, threw out ramifications on a nearly circular form, measuring twenty-six feet diameter every way. Travels,

God, that he may take away from me this death only.

1 8 And he " went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.

1 9 And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and 'cast them " into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

20 But the Lord ' hardened Pharaoh's heart,, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

21 ^ And the Lord said unto Moses, *" Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, " even darkness 'which may be felt.

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

vol. ii. p. 138. In the Septuagint, it is called flaXas-a-a =fvifa, the | Red sea, from which version we have borrowed the name; and I Mr. Bruce supposes that it had this name from Edam, or Esau, whose ten-itorics extended to its coasts; for it is well known that the word Cz:tk Edom, in Hebrew, signifies red or ruddy. Tile Red sea, called also the Arabic gulph,.separates Arabia from Upper Ethiopia and part of Egypt, h is computed to be three hundred and fifty leagues in length from Suez to the Straits of Babelmandel, and is about forty leagues in breadth. It is not very tempestuous, and the winds usually blow from north to south, and frum south to north, six months in the year; and like the monsoons of India, invariably detemiiiie the seasons of sailing into or out of this sea. It is divided into two gulphs, that to the east called the Elanitic gulph, from.the city of Elana to the north end of it: and that to the west called the Heroopolitic gulph, from the city of Heroopolis; the former of which belongs to Arabia, the latter to Egypt. Tlie Elanitic gulph is called by the Arabians Buhr el Kolzuni, the sea of destruction, or of Clysma, an ancient tfiwn in that quarter; and the Heroopolitic gulph Bahr el Akaba, the sea of Akaba, a town situated on its most inland point.

Verse 21. Darkness which jnay be felt.] Probably this was occasioned by a superabundance of aqueous vapours floating in the atmosphere; which were so thick as to prevent the rays of the sun from penetrating through them: an extraordinaiy thick mi.st, supematurally i. e. miraculously brought on. An awful emhleiu (if the darkened state of tlie Egyptians and their king.

Verse 9-J. They saw not one another] So deep was the obscurity; and probably such was its nature, that no artificial light could be procured, as the thick clammy vapours would prevent lamps, &c. from burning; or if they even could be ignited, the light, through the palpable obscurity, could diffiise itself to no distance from the burning body. The author of

A.M.M13. fi-om his place for three days: "but "•^'■^^'- all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

24 ^ And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and "said. Go ye, serve the Louo; 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 oftcrings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

26 Oar cattle also sliall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must

I the hook of Wisdom, chap. xvii. 2 — 19. gives a fearful de- I scription of this plaijue. He says the lit^ptiaus iiere shut up I in tlifir houses, the prisoners of darkness: and v^'ere fet/ered with \ the bonds of a lon^ 7iight. Tliey were scattered under a dark I vail of for<iet,fulness, being horribly astonished and troubled xvit/i 5 stranjje apparitions; for neither might the corner that held t/iem, ikcep them fnun fear; but noises as of waXmxs falling doun, \souided about them; and sad visions appeared unto them tuitk i; ktcaij I -luntenances. No potver of the fire could give the/zi light L — onli/ there appeared unto them a fire kindled of itself very f dreadful; for being much terrified, they thought the things ii'hich '. they savj, to be worse than the sight they saw not. — For though ' no terrible thing did scar them, yet being scared with beasts that I passed by, and lii.sing of serpents, they died for fear: — for [ whether he were hushandman, or shepherd, or a labourer in the \ field, he was overtaken — for they were all bound with one chain I of darkness. — II helher it were a whistling v^-ind — or a terrible I iOU':d of stones cast down, or a running that could not be seen, I of trippini; beasts; "r a roaring voice of most savage wild ' hearts, or a reboiindim; echo from the hollow mountains, these • tilings nuide tltem to swoon for fear. — See Psal. Ixxviii. 49.

j To thij description nothing need be added, except tliis cir-: cuinstance, that the darkness with its attendant horrors, lasted I for three day:.

i All the children of Israel hud light] Bj- thus distin^iishinni the Israelites, God shewed the Esyptians that the darkness I was procUiced by his power — that he sent it in jndirment ' au-ainst them for their crvielty to his peo])le — that because they ' trusted in hiin, they were exempted from tllose plagues — that! in tile displeasine of such a Being, his enemies had every thing-

Verse 24. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed] i Pharaoh cannot get all he wishes: and as he sees it im[)ossible j to contend with.lehovah, he now consents to give up the I Israelites, their wives, and their children, provided he may I keep their Jloeks and their herds. The cruelty of this demand, is not more evident than its avarice. Had sir hundred thousand ' men, besides women and children, gene three days' journey into Ihc wilderness, without their cattle, they must have inevi- Itably perished, being without milk for their little ones, and animal fo<id for their oun sustenance, in a place where little as 1 a substitute tinild p<is>ibly be found. It is evident from this, (that Pharaoh intended the total destruction of the whole ' Lraditish host.

we take to serve the Lord our God; and wc know not with what we must serve the Lord, until wc come thither.

27 1[ But the Lord ' hardened Pharaoh's heart,, and he would not let them go.

28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, sec my face no more; for in that day thou seest my tace thou shalt die.

29 And Moses said, Tliou hast spoken well, ^ I will see thy face again no more.

Verse 26. U'e know not with what wc must serve the Lord, {fc.] The law was not yet given — the ordinances concerning the difterent kinds of sacrifices and oderings, not known. What kind and «hat number of animals God should require to be sacnficed, even Moses himself could not as yet tell. He therefore, very properly insists on taking the whole of their herds with them, and not leaving even one hoof behind.

Verse 27. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's hea7-t] He had yet another miracle to work forthe complete conviction of the Egyptians, anil triurnjih of his people; and till that was wrongllt, he permitted the natural obstinacy nl' Pharaoh's haughty heart to have its full sway, after each resistance of the gracious influence^ which was intended to soften am: bring him to rcpenlance.

Verse 28. See my face no more] Hitherto Pharaoh had left the way open for negotiation; but no^v, in wrath against Jehovah, he dismisses his ambassador, and threatens him with death, if he should attempt any more to come into his jirescnce. Verse 29. / will see t/iy face again no more.] It is very likely that this was the last interview that Mosfs had with Pharaoh: for what is related, chap. xi. 4 — 8. might have been spoken on this very occas on, as it is very possible that (lixl j gave Moses to untlerstand his purjjose to slay the fir>t-lM.ni, ' while before Pharaoh, at this time; so in all probability, the I interview mentioned here, was the last which Moses had with the i Eiryptian king. It is true, that in ver. -Jl. of chap. xii. it is stated, that Pharaoh culled for UToses and Aaron by night, and ordeitd thciii to lea\i- Ivgypt, and to take all their jub>tance with lluiii, which seems to imply that there was another interj view; but llie words may imply no more than that Mo>es and Aaron received such a message from Pharaoh. If, however, this mode of interpreting these passages should not seem. satisfactory to any, he may understand the words of Moses thus, I will see thy face, seek thy favour no tnore in behalf of my people — which ^vas literally true; for if Moses did appear any more bel'ore Pharaoh, it was not as a supplicant, but merely as the ambassador of 'Sod, to denounce his judgments, by giving him the final determination of Jehovah, relative to the destruction of the first-born.

1. To the obseivations at the conclusion of the preceding chapter, we may add, that at first view it seems exceedingly strange, that after all the proofs Pharaoh h:ul of the power of God, he should have acted in the manner related in this anJ the preceding chapters, alternately sinning and repenting: but it is really a conuiion ease; and nniltitudc* who eondenm the

Anolhcr Plague threatened.. The Hebrews EXODUS, receive gold and silver from the Egyptians, conJurt of this miserable Esyi)tiaii kin^, act in a similai' manner. Thf y relent wlu-u smarting vmtk-r God's jiid'^nicnts, but harden their hearts when the'^e iud;Tnients are removed. Of this kind, I ha\e witnessed numerous cases. To such God sa}'s by his propP.et, J/Vy? should ye be stricken any more, ye n-ill revolt more and more. Reader, are not the vows of God u]ion thee? Oiten when afflicted in thyself or fan\ily, hast thou not said like Pharaoh (ver. 17.) yoii; therefore J'orgire, I pray thee, my sin only 'j his once — and ttike av.ayfrom me this death o.nly..\nd yet when thou hadst resjjite, didst tiioii not harden lliy [ heart, and with rcturninjj health and strcni;th, didst thou not return unto iniquity.' Ami art thou not still iii the broad road of transgression r — J5e not deceived: God is not mocked — lie wants thee, hut he will not be mocked by thee. — • IVhut tlion so^.v^.<:t, that thou must reap. Think then, what a most tlreatlftil harvest thou mayest expect from the seeds of vice which thou hast already sown!

will make its requisitiotis! Only let your Jlocks and your herds he stayed, says Pharaoh. The love of gain was the ruling principle of this man's.soul; and lie chu.ses desi)erately to contend w ith the justice of his INIaker, rather than Ljive up hii bosom sin! Reader, is tliis not thy own case } And ai t thou not ready with I^iaranh to say to the messeiijrer of God, who rebukes thee fur Ihv worldly-mindedncss, &c. (ret thee gone from me: — I'aLe heed to thyself and see my face no more. Esau and Pharaoh liave both got a very bad name, atid many iiersons who are rei)eating tlieir crimes, are the foremost to cover tliein with oblo(|ny "I When shall we learn to look at home? to take warning by the miscarriages of others, and thus shun the pit, into which we have seen so many fall •' If <i(«l were to gh'e the hi.-tory of every man who hardtns himself from his fear, ho\v many Pharaoh-like cases sh^iuld we have on rec(jrd! But a day is coming in wiiich the secrets of every heart.shall be revealed, and the history e-f every man's life laid open to an assembled world.