Exodus 9:5-7

9:5 The Lord set ¹  an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this ²  in the land.” 9:6 And the Lord did this ³  on the next day; ⁴  all ⁵  the livestock of the Egyptians ⁶  died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died. 9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, ⁷  and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁸  and he did not release the people.

[9:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and Yahweh set.”

[9:5]  ² tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ³ tn Heb “this thing.”

[9:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “on the morrow.”

[9:6]  ⁵ tn The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”

[9:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “of Egypt.” The place is put by metonymy for the inhabitants.

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “Pharaoh sent.” The phrase “representatives to investigate” is implied in the context.

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.