Exodus 10:1-2

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ¹ The Lord said ²  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ³  these signs of mine before him, ⁴  10:2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell ⁵  how I made fools ⁶  of the Egyptians ⁷  and about ⁸  my signs that I displayed ⁹  among them, so that you may know ¹⁰  that I am the Lord.”

[10:1]  ¹ sn The Egyptians dreaded locusts like every other ancient civilization. They had particular gods to whom they looked for help in such catastrophes. The locust-scaring deities of Greece and Asia were probably looked to in Egypt as well (especially in view of the origins in Egypt of so many of those religious ideas). The announcement of the plague falls into the now-familiar pattern. God tells Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh but reminds Moses that he has hardened his heart. Yahweh explains that he has done this so that he might show his power, so that in turn they might declare his name from generation to generation. This point is stressed so often that it must not be minimized. God was laying the foundation of the faith for Israel – the sovereignty of Yahweh.

[10:1]  ² tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ³ tn The verb is שִׁתִי (shiti, “I have put”); it is used here as a synonym for the verb שִׂים (sim). Yahweh placed the signs in his midst, where they will be obvious.

[10:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “in his midst.”

[10:2]  ⁵ 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.

[10:2]  ⁶ 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).

[10:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn The word “about” is supplied to clarify this as another object of the verb “declare.”

[10:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “put” or “placed.”

[10:2]  ¹⁰ 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.”