78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds 21 in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment 22 in the region of Zoan.
78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, 23
as well as frogs that overran their land. 24
78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle, 25
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. 26
78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them, 27
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster. 28
78:50 He sent his anger in full force; 29
he did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction. 30
78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power 31 in the tents of Ham.
105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, 32
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
105:28 He made it dark; 33
they did not disobey his orders. 34
105:29 He turned their water into blood,
and killed their fish.
105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
105:31 He ordered flies to come; 35
gnats invaded their whole territory.
105:32 He sent hail along with the rain; 36
there was lightning in their land. 37
105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
105:34 He ordered locusts to come, 38
innumerable grasshoppers.
105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields. 39
105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power. 40
135:9 He performed awesome deeds 41 and acts of judgment 42
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
1 tn The clause begins with the emphatic use of the pronoun and a disjunctive vav (ו) expressing the contrast “But as for me, I will harden.” They will speak, but God will harden.
2 tn The form beginning the second half of the verse is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, הִרְבֵּיתִי (hirbeti). It could be translated as a simple future in sequence after the imperfect preceding it, but the logical connection is not obvious. Since it carries the force of an imperfect due to the sequence, it may be subordinated as a temporal clause to the next clause that begins in v. 4. That maintains the flow of the argument.
3 tn The expression is unusual: תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי (tÿsapper bÿ’ozne, “[that] you may declare in the ears of”). The clause explains an additional reason for God’s hardening the heart of Pharaoh, namely, so that the Israelites can tell their children of God’s great wonders. The expression is highly poetic and intense – like Ps 44:1, which says, “we have heard with our ears.” The emphasis would be on the clear teaching, orally, from one generation to another.
4 tn The verb הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי (hit’allalti) is a bold anthropomorphism. The word means to occupy oneself at another’s expense, to toy with someone, which may be paraphrased with “mock.” The whole point is that God is shaming and disgracing Egypt, making them look foolish in their arrogance and stubbornness (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:366-67). Some prefer to translate it as “I have dealt ruthlessly” with Egypt (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 123).
5 tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.
6 tn The word “about” is supplied to clarify this as another object of the verb “declare.”
7 tn Heb “put” or “placed.”
8 tn The form is the perfect tense with vav consecutive, וִידַעְתֶּם (vida’tem, “and that you might know”). This provides another purpose for God’s dealings with Egypt in the way that he was doing. The form is equal to the imperfect tense with vav (ו) prefixed; it thus parallels the imperfect that began v. 2 – “that you might tell.”
9 tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).
10 tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”
11 tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).
12 tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”
13 tn Heb “the
14 tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.
15 tn Heb “testings” (so NAB), a reference to the plagues. See note at 4:34.
16 tn Heb “the strong hand and outstretched arm.” See 4:34.
17 tn Heb “the
18 tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”
19 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”
21 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
22 tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).
23 tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”
24 tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”
25 tn Heb “and he turned over to the hail their cattle.”
26 tn Heb “and their livestock to the flames.” “Flames” here refer to the lightning bolts that accompanied the storm.
27 tn Heb “he sent against them the rage of his anger.” The phrase “rage of his anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
28 tn Heb “fury and indignation and trouble, a sending of messengers of disaster.”
29 tn Heb “he leveled a path for his anger.” There were no obstacles to impede its progress; it moved swiftly and destructively.
30 tn Or perhaps “[the] plague.”
31 tn Heb “the beginning of strength.” If retained, the plural form אוֹנִים (’onim, “strength”) probably indicates degree (“great strength”), but many ancient witnesses read “their strength,” which presupposes an emendation to אֹנָם (’onam; singular form of the noun with third masculine plural pronominal suffix).
32 tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).
33 tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”
34 tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.
35 tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”
36 tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”
37 tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”
38 tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”
39 tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”
40 tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).
41 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
42 tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.
43 tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.
44 tn Or simply “in Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.
45 tn Grk “and at,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
46 tn Or “desert.”