Page:Keil and Delitzsch,Biblical commentary the old testament the pentateuch, trad James Martin, volume 1, 1885.djvu/491

 and eventually with the Gospel of Christ to all the nations of the earth (vid., Tholuck on Rom 9:17).

verses 17-18
The seventh plague. - To break down Pharaoh's opposition, Jehovah determined to send such a Hail as had not been heard of since the founding of Egypt, accompanied by thunder and masses of fire, and to destroy every man and beast that should be in the field. מסתּולל עודך: “thou still dammest thyself up against My people.” הסתּולל: to set one's self as a dam, i.e., to oppose; from סלל, to heap up earth as a dam or rampart. “To-morrow about this time,” to give Pharaoh time for reflection. Instead of “from the day that Egypt was founded until now,” we find in Exo 9:24 “since it became a nation,” since its existence as a kingdom or nation.

verses 19-23
The good advice to be given by Moses to the king, to secure the men and cattle that were in the field, i.e., to put them under shelter, which was followed by the God-fearing Egyptians (Exo 9:21), was a sign of divine mercy, which would still rescue the hardened man and save him from destruction. Even in Pharaoh's case the possibility still existed of submission to the will of God; the hardening was not yet complete. But as he paid no heed to the word of the Lord, the predicted judgment was fulfilled (Exo 9:22-26). “Jehovah gave voices” (קלת); called “voices of God” in Exo 9:28. This term is applied to the thunder (cf. Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18; Psa 29:3-9), as being the mightiest manifestation of the omnipotence of God, which speaks therein to men (Rev 10:3-4), and warns them of the terrors of judgment. These terrors were heightened by masses of fire, which came down from the sky along with the hail that smote man and beast in the field, destroyed the vegetables, and shattered the trees. “And fire ran along upon the ground;” תּהלך is a Kal, though it sounds like Hithpael, and signifies grassari, as in Psa 73:9.

Verse 24
“Fire mingled;” lit., collected together, i.e., formed into balls (cf. Eze 1:4). “The lightning took the form of balls of fire, which came down like burning torches.”

verses 25-28
The expressions, “every herb,” and “every tree,” are not to be taken absolutely, just as in Exo 9:6, as we may see from Exo 10:5. Storms are not common in Lower or Middle Egypt, but they occur most frequently between the months of December and April; and hail sometimes accompanies them, though not with great severity. In themselves, therefore, thunder, lightning, and hail were not