Exodus 8:16

The Third Blow: Gnats

8:16 ¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become ²  gnats ³  throughout all the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 8:22

8:22 But on that day I will mark off ⁴  the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, ⁵  so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. ⁶ 

Exodus 9:22

9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky ⁷  that there may be ⁸  hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, ⁹  and on everything that grows ¹⁰  in the field in the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 19:16

19:16 On ¹¹  the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense ¹²  cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud ¹³  horn; ¹⁴  all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 24:8

24:8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on ¹⁵  the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant ¹⁶  that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 26:35

26:35 You are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side.

Exodus 28:12

28:12 You are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial. ¹⁷ 

Exodus 28:32

28:32 There is to be an opening ¹⁸  in its top ¹⁹  in the center of it, with an edge all around the opening, the work of a weaver, ²⁰  like the opening of a collar, ²¹  so that it cannot be torn. ²² 

Exodus 32:20

32:20 He took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it ²³  to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. ²⁴ 

Exodus 32:26

32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come ²⁵  to me.” ²⁶  All the Levites gathered around him,

[8:16]  ¹ sn The third plague is brief and unannounced. Moses and Aaron were simply to strike the dust so that it would become gnats. Not only was this plague unannounced, but also it was not duplicated by the Egyptians.

[8:16]  ² tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, meaning “and it will be.” When הָיָה (hayah) is followed by the lamed (ל) proposition, it means “become.”

[8:16]  ³ tn The noun is כִּנִּים (kinnim). The insect has been variously identified as lice, gnats, ticks, flies, fleas, or mosquitoes. “Lice” follows the reading in the Peshitta and Targum (and so Josephus, Ant. 2.14.3 [2.300]). Greek and Latin had “gnats.” By “gnats” many commentators mean “mosquitoes,” which in and around the water of Egypt were abundant (and the translators of the Greek text were familiar with Egypt). Whatever they were they came from the dust and were troublesome to people and animals.

[8:22]  ⁴ tn Or “distinguish.” וְהִפְלֵיתִי (vÿhifleti) is the Hiphil perfect of פָּלָה (palah). The verb in Hiphil means “to set apart, make separate, make distinct.” God was going to keep the flies away from Goshen – he was setting that apart. The Greek text assumed that the word was from פָּלֵא (pale’), and translated it something like “I will marvelously glorify.”

[8:22]  ⁵ tn The relative clause modifies the land of Goshen as the place “in which my people are dwelling.” But the normal word for “dwelling” is not used here. Instead, עֹמֵד (’omed) is used, which literally means “standing.” The land on which Israel stood was spared the flies and the hail.

[8:22]  ⁶ tn Or “of the earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB).

[9:22]  ⁷ tn Or “the heavens” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[9:22]  ⁸ tn The jussive with the conjunction (וִיהִי, vihi) coming after the imperative provides the purpose or result.

[9:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “on man and on beast.”

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn The noun refers primarily to cultivated grains. But here it seems to be the general heading for anything that grows from the ground, all vegetation and plant life, as opposed to what grows on trees.

[19:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and it was on.”

[19:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heavy” (כָּבֵד, kaved).

[19:16]  ¹² tn Literally “strong” (חָזָק, khazaq).

[19:16]  ¹³ tn The word here is שֹׁפָר (shofar), the normal word for “horn.” This word is used especially to announce something important in a public event (see 1 Kgs 1:34; 2 Sam 6:15). The previous word used in the context (v. 16) was יֹבֵל (yovel, “ram’s horn”).

[24:8]  ¹³ tn Given the size of the congregation, the preposition might be rendered here “toward the people” rather than on them (all).

[24:8]  ¹⁴ sn The construct relationship “the blood of the covenant” means “the blood by which the covenant is ratified” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 254). The parallel with the inauguration of the new covenant in the blood of Christ is striking (see, e.g., Matt 26:28, 1 Cor 11:25). When Jesus was inaugurating the new covenant, he was bringing to an end the old.

[28:12]  ¹⁶ sn This was to be a perpetual reminder that the priest ministers on behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their names would always be borne by the priests.

[28:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “mouth” or “opening” (פִּי, pi; in construct).

[28:32]  ²⁰ tn The “mouth of its head” probably means its neck; it may be rendered “the opening for the head,” except the pronominal suffix would have to refer to Aaron, and that is not immediately within the context.

[28:32]  ²¹ tn Or “woven work” (KJV, ASV, NASB), that is, “the work of a weaver.” The expression suggests that the weaving was from the fabric edges itself and not something woven and then added to the robe. It was obviously intended to keep the opening from fraying.

[28:32]  ²² tn The expression כְּפִי תַחְרָא (kÿfi takhra’) is difficult. It was early rendered “like the opening of a coat of mail.” It occurs only here and in the parallel 39:23. Tg. Onq. has “coat of mail.” S. R. Driver suggests “a linen corselet,” after the Greek (Exodus, 308). See J. Cohen, “A Samaritan Authentication of the Rabbinic Interpretation of kephi tahra’,” VT 24 (1974): 361-66.

[28:32]  ²³ tn The verb is the Niphal imperfect, here given the nuance of potential imperfect. Here it serves in a final clause (purpose/result), introduced only by the negative (see GKC 503-4 §165.a).

[32:20]  ²² tn Here “it” has been supplied.

[32:20]  ²³ tn Here “it” has been supplied.

[32:26]  ²⁵ tn “come” is not in the text, but has been supplied.

[32:26]  ²⁶ tn S. R. Driver suggests that the command was tersely put: “Who is for Yahweh? To me!” (Exodus, 354).