Exodus 9:24

9:24 Hail fell ¹  and fire mingled ²  with the hail; the hail was so severe ³  that there had not been any like it ⁴  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.

Exodus 40:38

40:38 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be ⁵  on it at night, in plain view ⁶  of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

[9:24]  ¹ tn The verb is the common preterite וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), which is normally translated “and there was” if it is translated at all. The verb הָיָה (hayah), however, can mean “be, become, befall, fall, fall out, happen.” Here it could be simply translated “there was hail,” but the active “hail fell” fits the point of the sequence better.

[9:24]  ² tn The form מִתְלַקַּחַת (mitlaqqakhat) is a Hitpael participle; the clause reads, “and fire taking hold of itself in the midst of the hail.” This probably refers to lightning flashing back and forth. See also Ezek 1:4. God created a great storm with flashing fire connected to it.

[9:24]  ³ tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.

[9:24]  ⁴ tn A literal reading of the clause would be “which there was not like it in all the land of Egypt.” The relative pronoun must be joined to the resumptive pronoun: “which like it (like which) there had not been.”

[40:38]  ⁵ tn Here is another imperfect tense of the customary nuance.

[40:38]  ⁶ tn Heb “to the eyes of all”; KJV, ASV, NASB “in the sight of all”; NRSV “before the eyes of all.”