Exodus 9:13-35

The Seventh Blow: Hail

9:13 ¹ The Lord said ²  to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand ³  before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues ⁴  on your very self ⁵  and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 9:15 For by now I could have stretched out ⁶  my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed ⁷  from the earth. 9:16 But ⁸  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ⁹  to show you ¹⁰  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ¹¹  in all the earth. 9:17 You are still exalting ¹²  yourself against my people by ¹³  not releasing them. 9:18 I am going to cause very severe hail to rain down ¹⁴  about this time tomorrow, such hail as has never occurred ¹⁵  in Egypt from the day it was founded ¹⁶  until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions ¹⁷  to gather ¹⁸  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ¹⁹  or animal caught ²⁰  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those ²¹  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ²²  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ²³  who did not take ²⁴  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ²⁵  in the field.

9:22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward the sky ²⁶  that there may be ²⁷  hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, ²⁸  and on everything that grows ²⁹  in the field in the land of Egypt.” 9:23 When Moses extended ³⁰  his staff toward the sky, the Lord ³¹  sent thunder ³²  and hail, and fire fell to the earth; ³³  so the Lord caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 9:24 Hail fell ³⁴  and fire mingled ³⁵  with the hail; the hail was so severe ³⁶  that there had not been any like it ³⁷  in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 9:25 The hail struck everything in the open fields, both ³⁸  people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck everything that grows ³⁹  in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces. 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

9:27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! ⁴⁰  The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. ⁴¹  9:28 Pray to the Lord, for the mighty ⁴²  thunderings and hail are too much! ⁴³  I will release you and you will stay no longer.” ⁴⁴ 

9:29 Moses said to him, “When I leave the city ⁴⁵  I will spread my hands to the Lord, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Lord. ⁴⁶  9:30 But as for you ⁴⁷  and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear ⁴⁸  the Lord God.”

9:31 (Now the ⁴⁹  flax and the barley were struck ⁵⁰  by the hail, ⁵¹  for the barley had ripened ⁵²  and the flax ⁵³  was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt ⁵⁴  were not struck, for they are later crops.) ⁵⁵ 

9:33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 9:34 When Pharaoh saw ⁵⁶  that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: ⁵⁷  both he and his servants hardened ⁵⁸  their hearts. 9:35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁵⁹  and he did not release the Israelites, as the Lord had predicted through Moses.

[9:13]  ¹ sn With the seventh plague there is more explanation of what God is doing to Pharaoh. This plague begins with an extended lesson (vv. 13-21). Rain was almost unknown in Egypt, and hail and lightning were harmless. The Egyptians were fascinated by all these, though, and looked on them as portentous. Herodotus describes how they studied such things and wrote them down (1.2.c.38). If ordinary rainstorms were ominous, what must fire and hail have been? The Egyptians had denominated fire Hephaistos, considering it to be a mighty deity (cf. Diodorus, 1.1.c.1). Porphry says that at the opening of the temple of Serapis the Egyptians worshiped with water and fire. If these connections were clearly understood, then these elements in the plague were thought to be deities that came down on their own people with death and destruction.

[9:13]  ² tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[9:13]  ³ tn Or “take your stand.”

[9:14]  ⁴ tn The expression “all my plagues” points to the rest of the plagues and anticipates the proper outcome. Another view is to take the expression to mean the full brunt of the attack on the Egyptian people.

[9:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “to your heart.” The expression is unusual, but it may be an allusion to the hard heartedness of Pharaoh – his stubbornness and blindness (B. Jacob, Exodus, 274).

[9:15]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Qal perfect שָׁלַחְתִּי (shalakhti), but a past tense, or completed action translation does not fit the context at all. Gesenius lists this reference as an example of the use of the perfect to express actions and facts, whose accomplishment is to be represented not as actual but only as possible. He offers this for Exod 9:15: “I had almost put forth” (GKC 313 §106.p). Also possible is “I should have stretched out my hand.” Others read the potential nuance instead, and render it as “I could have…” as in the present translation.

[9:15]  ⁷ tn The verb כָּחַד (kakhad) means “to hide, efface,” and in the Niphal it has the idea of “be effaced, ruined, destroyed.” Here it will carry the nuance of the result of the preceding verbs: “I could have stretched out my hand…and struck you…and (as a result) you would have been destroyed.”

[9:16]  ⁸ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ⁹ tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[9:17]  ¹² tn מִסְתּוֹלֵל (mistolel) is a Hitpael participle, from a root that means “raise up, obstruct.” So in the Hitpael it means to “raise oneself up,” “elevate oneself,” or “be an obstructionist.” See W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363; U. Cassuto, Exodus, 116.

[9:17]  ¹³ tn The infinitive construct with lamed here is epexegetical; it explains how Pharaoh has exalted himself – “by not releasing the people.”

[9:18]  ¹⁴ tn הִנְנִי מַמְטִיר (hinÿni mamtir) is the futur instans construction, giving an imminent future translation: “Here – I am about to cause it to rain.”

[9:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which not was like it in Egypt.” The pronoun suffix serves as the resumptive pronoun for the relative particle: “which…like it” becomes “the like of which has not been.” The word “hail” is added in the translation to make clear the referent of the relative particle.

[9:18]  ¹⁶ tn The form הִוָּסְדָה (hivvasdah) is perhaps a rare Niphal perfect and not an infinitive (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 117).

[9:19]  ¹⁷ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ¹⁸ tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:20]  ²¹ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ²² tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[9:22]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn The jussive with the conjunction (וִיהִי, vihi) coming after the imperative provides the purpose or result.

[9:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “on man and on beast.”

[9:22]  ²⁹ 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.

[9:23]  ³⁰ tn The preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next clause in view of the emphasis put on the subject, Yahweh, by the disjunctive word order of that clause.

[9:23]  ³¹ tn By starting the clause with the subject (an example of disjunctive word order) the text is certainly stressing that Yahweh alone did this.

[9:23]  ³² tn The expression נָתַן קֹלֹת (natan qolot) literally means “gave voices” (also “voice”). This is a poetic expression for sending the thunder. Ps 29:3 talks about the “voice of Yahweh” – the God of glory thunders!

[9:23]  ³³ sn This clause has been variously interpreted. Lightning would ordinarily accompany thunder; in this case the mention of fire could indicate that the lightning was beyond normal and that it was striking in such a way as to start fires on the ground. It could also mean that fire went along the ground from the pounding hail.

[9:24]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Heb “very heavy” or “very severe.” The subject “the hail” is implied.

[9:24]  ³⁷ 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.”

[9:25]  ³⁸ tn The exact expression is “from man even to beast.” R. J. Williams lists this as an example of the inclusive use of the preposition מִן (min) to be rendered “both…and” (Hebrew Syntax, 57, §327).

[9:25]  ³⁹ tn Heb “all the cultivated grain of.”

[9:27]  ⁴⁰ sn Pharaoh now is struck by the judgment and acknowledges that he is at fault. But the context shows that this penitence was short-lived. What exactly he meant by this confession is uncertain. On the surface his words seem to represent a recognition that he was in the wrong and Yahweh right.

[9:27]  ⁴¹ tn The word רָשָׁע (rasha’) can mean “ungodly, wicked, guilty, criminal.” Pharaoh here is saying that Yahweh is right, and the Egyptians are not – so they are at fault, guilty. S. R. Driver says the words are used in their forensic sense (in the right or wrong standing legally) and not in the ethical sense of morally right and wrong (Exodus, 75).

[9:28]  ⁴² sn The text has Heb “the voices of God.” The divine epithet can be used to express the superlative (cf. Jonah 3:3).

[9:28]  ⁴³ tn The expression וְרַב מִהְיֹת (vÿrav mihyot, “[the mighty thunder and hail] is much from being”) means essentially “more than enough.” This indicates that the storm was too much, or, as one might say, “It is enough.”

[9:28]  ⁴⁴ tn The last clause uses a verbal hendiadys: “you will not add to stand,” meaning “you will no longer stay.”

[9:29]  ⁴⁵ tn כְּצֵאתִי (kÿtse’ti) is the Qal infinitive construct of יָצָא (yatsa’); it functions here as the temporal clause before the statement about prayer.

[9:29]  ⁴⁶ sn This clause provides the purpose/result of Moses’ intention: he will pray to Yahweh and the storms will cease “that you might know….” It was not enough to pray and have the plague stop. Pharaoh must “know” that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord over the earth. Here was that purpose of knowing through experience. This clause provides the key for the exposition of this plague: God demonstrated his power over the forces of nature to show his sovereignty – the earth is Yahweh’s. He can destroy it. He can preserve it. If people sin by ignoring his word and not fearing him, he can bring judgment on them. If any fear Yahweh and obey his instructions, they will be spared. A positive way to express the expositional point of the chapter is to say that those who fear Yahweh and obey his word will escape the powerful destruction he has prepared for those who sinfully disregard his word.

[9:30]  ⁴⁷ tn The verse begins with the disjunctive vav to mark a strong contrastive clause to what was said before this.

[9:30]  ⁴⁸ tn The adverb טֶרֶם (terem, “before, not yet”) occurs with the imperfect tense to give the sense of the English present tense to the verb negated by it (GKC 314-15 §107.c). Moses is saying that he knew that Pharaoh did not really stand in awe of God, so as to grant Israel’s release, i.e., fear not in the religious sense but “be afraid of” God – fear “before” him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 76).

[9:31]  ⁴⁹ tn A disjunctive vav introduces the two verses that provide parenthetical information to the reader. Gesenius notes that the boldness of such clauses is often indicated by the repetition of nouns at the beginning (see GKC 452 §141.d). Some have concluded that because they have been put here rather than back after v. 25 or 26, they form part of Moses’ speech to Pharaoh, explaining that the crops that were necessary for humans were spared, but those for other things were destroyed. This would also mean that Moses was saying there is more that God can destroy (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 279).

[9:31]  ⁵⁰ tn The unusual forms נֻכָּתָה (nukkatah) in v. 31 and נֻכּוּ (nukku) in v. 32 are probably to be taken as old Qal passives. There are no attested Piel uses of the root.

[9:31]  ⁵¹ tn The words “by the hail” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied from context.

[9:31]  ⁵² tn Heb “was in the ear” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “had headed.”

[9:31]  ⁵³ sn Flax was used for making linen, and the area around Tanis was ideal for producing flax. Barley was used for bread for the poor people, as well as beer and animal feed.

[9:32]  ⁵⁴ tn The word כֻּסֶּמֶת (kussemet) is translated “spelt”; the word occurs only here and in Isa 28:25 and Ezek 4:9. Spelt is a grain closely allied to wheat. Other suggestions have been brought forward from the study of Egyptian crops (see a brief summary in W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:363-64).

[9:32]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “for they are late.”

[9:34]  ⁵⁶ tn The clause beginning with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next, and main clause – that he hardened his heart again.

[9:34]  ⁵⁷ tn The construction is another verbal hendiadys: וַיֹּסֶף לַחֲטֹּא (vayyosef lakhatto’), literally rendered “and he added to sin.” The infinitive construct becomes the main verb, and the Hiphil preterite becomes adverbial. The text is clearly interpreting as sin the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release Israel. At the least this means that the plagues are his fault, but the expression probably means more than this – he was disobeying Yahweh God.

[9:34]  ⁵⁸ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[9:35]  ⁵⁹ tn The verb about Pharaoh’s heart in v. 35 is וַיֶּחֱזַק (vayyekhezaq), a Qal preterite: “and it was hardened” or “strengthened to resist.” This forms the summary statement of this stage in the drama. The verb used in v. 34 to report Pharaoh’s response was וַיַּכְבֵּד (vayyakhbed), a Hiphil preterite: “and he hardened [his heart]” or made it stubborn. The use of two descriptions of Pharaoh’s heart in close succession, along with mention of his servants’ heart condition, underscores the growing extent of the problem.