Psalms 78:45

78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, ¹ 

as well as frogs that overran their land. ² 

Exodus 8:21-24

8:21 If you do not release ³  my people, then I am going to send ⁴  swarms of flies ⁵  on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground they stand on. ⁶  8:22 But on that day I will mark off ⁷  the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, ⁸  so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. ⁹  8:23 I will put a division ¹⁰  between my people and your people. This sign will take place ¹¹  tomorrow.”’” 8:24 The Lord did so; a ¹²  thick ¹³  swarm of flies came into ¹⁴  Pharaoh’s house and into the houses ¹⁵  of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined ¹⁶  because of the swarms of flies.

Isaiah 7:18

7:18 At that time ¹⁷  the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. ¹⁸ 

[78:45]  ¹ tn Heb “and he sent an insect swarm against them and it devoured them.”

[78:45]  ² tn Heb “and a swarm of frogs and it destroyed them.”

[8:21]  ³ tn The construction uses the predicator of nonexistence – אֵין (’en, “there is not”) – with a pronominal suffix prior to the Piel participle. The suffix becomes the subject of the clause. Heb “but if there is not you releasing.”

[8:21]  ⁴ tn Here again is the futur instans use of the participle, now Qal with the meaning “send”: הִנְנִי מַשְׁלִיחַ (hinni mashliakh, “here I am sending”).

[8:21]  ⁵ tn The word עָרֹב (’arov) means “a mix” or “swarm.” It seems that some irritating kind of flying insect is involved. Ps 78:45 says that the Egyptians were eaten or devoured by them. Various suggestions have been made over the years: (1) it could refer to beasts or reptiles; (2) the Greek took it as the dog-fly, a vicious blood-sucking gadfly, more common in the spring than in the fall; (3) the ordinary house fly, which is a symbol of Egypt in Isa 7:18 (Hebrew זְבוּב, zÿvuv); and (4) the beetle, which gnaws and bites plants, animals, and materials. The fly probably fits the details of this passage best; the plague would have greatly intensified a problem with flies that already existed.

[8:21]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “the land where they are” (cf. NRSV “the land where they live”).

[8:22]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “of the earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB).

[8:23]  ¹⁰ tn The word in the text is פְדֻת (pÿdut, “redemption”). This would give the sense of making a distinction by redeeming Israel. The editors wish to read פְלֻת (pÿlut) instead – “a separation, distinction” to match the verb in the preceding verse. For another view, see G. I. Davies, “The Hebrew Text of Exodus VIII 19 [English 23]: An Emendation,” VT 24 (1974): 489-92.

[8:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “this sign will be tomorrow.”

[8:24]  ¹² tn Heb “and there came a….”

[8:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “heavy,” or “severe.”

[8:24]  ¹⁴ tn Here, and in the next phrase, the word “house” has to be taken as an adverbial accusative of termination.

[8:24]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text has the singular here.

[8:24]  ¹⁶ tc Concerning the connection of “the land was ruined” with the preceding, S. R. Driver (Exodus, 68) suggests reading with the LXX, Smr, and Peshitta; this would call for adding a conjunction before the last clause to make it read, “into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was…”

[7:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[7:18]  ¹⁸ sn Swarming flies are irritating; bees are irritating and especially dangerous because of the pain they inflict with their sting (see Deut 1:44; Ps 118:12). The metaphors are well chosen, for the Assyrians (symbolized by the bees) were much more powerful and dangerous than the Egyptians (symbolized by the flies). Nevertheless both would put pressure on Judah, for Egypt wanted Judah as a buffer state against Assyrian aggression, while Assyrian wanted it as a base for operations against Egypt. Following the reference to sour milk and honey, the metaphor is especially apt, for flies are attracted to dairy products and bees can be found in the vicinity of honey.