Psalms 105:27-38

105:27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, ¹ 

and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.

105:28 He made it dark; ² 

they did not disobey his orders. ³ 

105:29 He turned their water into blood,

and killed their fish.

105:30 Their land was overrun by frogs,

which even got into the rooms of their kings.

105:31 He ordered flies to come; ⁴ 

gnats invaded their whole territory.

105:32 He sent hail along with the rain; ⁵ 

there was lightning in their land. ⁶ 

105:33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,

and broke the trees throughout their territory.

105:34 He ordered locusts to come, ⁷ 

innumerable grasshoppers.

105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,

and devoured the crops of their fields. ⁸ 

105:36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power. ⁹ 

105:37 He brought his people ¹⁰  out enriched ¹¹  with silver and gold;

none of his tribes stumbled.

105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them. ¹² 

Psalms 135:9

135:9 He performed awesome deeds ¹³  and acts of judgment ¹⁴ 

in your midst, O Egypt,

against Pharaoh and all his servants.

Exodus 3:19-20

3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, ¹⁵  not even under force. ¹⁶  3:20 So I will extend my hand ¹⁷  and strike Egypt with all my wonders ¹⁸  that I will do among them, and after that he will release you. ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 4:34

4:34 Or has God ²⁰  ever before tried to deliver ²¹  a nation from the middle of another nation, accompanied by judgments, ²²  signs, wonders, war, strength, power, ²³  and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

Deuteronomy 6:22

6:22 And he ²⁴  brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family ²⁵  before our very eyes.

Nehemiah 9:10

9:10 You performed awesome signs ²⁶  against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians ²⁷  had acted presumptuously ²⁸  against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day.

[105:27]  ¹ tn Apparently the pronoun refers to “his servants” (i.e., the Israelites, see v. 25).

[105:28]  ² tn Heb “he sent darkness and made it dark.”

[105:28]  ³ tn Heb “they did not rebel against his words.” Apparently this refers to Moses and Aaron, who obediently carried out God’s orders.

[105:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “he spoke and flies came.”

[105:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”

[105:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “fire of flames [was] in their land.”

[105:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”

[105:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”

[105:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “the beginning of all their strength,” that is, reproductive power (see Ps 78:51).

[105:37]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[105:37]  ¹¹ tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[105:38]  ¹² tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”

[135:9]  ¹³ tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).

[135:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.

[3:19]  ¹⁵ tn After verbs of perception, as with “I know” here, the object may be a noun clause introduced with the particle כִּי (ki) – “I know that….” Gesenius observes that the object clause may have a kind of accusative and an infinitive construction (especially after נָתַן [natan] with the idea of “allow”): “he will not permit you to go” (see GKC 491 §157.b, n. 2).

[3:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and not with a mighty hand.” This expression (וְלֹא בְּיָד חֲזָקָה, vÿlo’ vÿyad khazaqa) is unclear, since v. 20 says that God will stretch out his hand and do his wonders. Some have taken v. 19b to refer to God’s mighty hand also, meaning that the king would not let them go unless a mighty hand compels him (NIV). The expression “mighty hand” is used of God’s rescuing Israel elsewhere (Exod 6:1, 13:9, 32:11; but note also Num 20:20). This idea is a rather general interpretation of the words; it owes much to the LXX, which has “except by a mighty hand,” though “and not with” does not have the meaning of “except” or “unless” in other places. In view of these difficulties, others have suggested that v. 19b means “strong [threats]” from the Israelites (as in 4:24ff. and 5:3; see B. Jacob, Exodus, 81). This does not seem as convincing as the first view. Another possibility is that the phrase conveys Pharaoh’s point of view and intention; the Lord knows that Pharaoh plans to resist letting the Israelites go, regardless of the exercise of a strong hand against him (P. Addinall, “Exodus III 19B and the Interpretation of Biblical Narrative,” VT 49 [1999]: 289-300; see also the construction “and not with” in Num 12:8; 1 Sam 20:15 and elsewhere). If that is the case, v. 20 provides an ironic and pointed contradiction to Pharaoh’s plans as the Lord announces the effect that his hand will have. At any rate, Pharaoh will have to be forced to let Israel go.

[3:20]  ¹⁷ sn The outstretched arm is a bold anthropomorphism. It describes the power of God. The Egyptians will later admit that the plagues were by the hand of God (Exod 8:19).

[3:20]  ¹⁸ tn The word נִפְלְאֹתַי (niflÿ’otay) does not specify what the intervention will be. As the text unfolds it will be clear that the plagues are intended. Signs and portents could refer to things people might do, but “wonders” only God could do. The root refers to that which is extraordinary, surpassing, amazing, difficult to comprehend. See Isa 9:6; Gen 18:14; Ps 139:6.

[3:20]  ¹⁹ sn The two uses of the root שָׁלָח (shalakh) in this verse contribute to its force. When the Lord “sends” (Qal) his hand, Pharaoh will “send” (Piel) the Israelites out of Egypt.

[4:34]  ²⁰ tn The translation assumes the reference is to Israel’s God in which case the point is this: God’s intervention in Israel’s experience is unique in the sense that he has never intervened in such power for any other people on earth. The focus is on the uniqueness of Israel’s experience. Some understand the divine name here in a generic sense, “a god,” or “any god.” In this case God’s incomparability is the focus (cf. v. 35, where this theme is expressed).

[4:34]  ²¹ tn Heb “tried to go to take for himself.”

[4:34]  ²² tn Heb “by testings.” The reference here is the judgments upon Pharaoh in the form of plagues. See Deut 7:19 (cf. v. 18) and 29:3 (cf. v. 2).

[4:34]  ²³ tn Heb “by strong hand and by outstretched arm.”

[6:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on the word “his” in v. 17.

[6:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house,” referring to the entire household.

[9:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “signs and wonders.” This phrase is a hendiadys. The second noun functions adjectivally, while the first noun retains its full nominal sense: “awesome signs” or “miraculous signs.”

[9:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “arrogantly” (so NASB); NRSV “insolently.”