Exodus 10:2

10:1-11 The plagues of Egypt show the sinfulness of sin. They warn the children of men not to strive with their Maker. Pharaoh had pretended to humble himself; but no account was made of it, for he was not sincere therein. The plague of locusts is threatened. This should be much worse than any of that kind which had ever been known. Pharaoh's attendants persuade him to come to terms with Moses. Hereupon Pharaoh will allow the men to go, falsely pretending that this was all they desired. He swears that they shall not remove their little ones. Satan does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety. Whatever would put us from engaging our children in God's service, we have reason to suspect Satan in it. Nor should the young forget that the Lord's counsel is, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth; but Satan's counsel is, to keep children in a state of slavery to sin and to the world. Mark that the great foe of man wishes to retain him by the ties of affection, as Pharaoh would have taken hostages from the Israelites for their return, by holding their wives and children in captivity. Satan is willing to share our duty and our service with the Saviour, because the Saviour will not accept those terms.

And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son,.... Not of his sons and grandsons only; for Moses here, as Aben Ezra observes, was in the stead of Israel; and the sense is, that it should be told to their posterity in all succeeding ages: what things I have wrought in Egypt; the plagues that he inflicted on the Egyptians: and my signs which I have done amongst them; meaning the same things which were signs: that ye may know how that I am the Lord; that their God is the true Jehovah, and the one only living and true God; the Lord God omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, infinite, and eternal.

(2) That thou mayest tell. —Those who experience God’s mercies are bound to hand on the memory of what He has done for them to future generations. Natural gratitude would prompt such action. But, lest the duty should be neglected, the Israelites had it at this time constantly enjoined upon them ( Exodus 12:26-27 ; Exodus 13:14-15 ; Deuteronomy 32:7 ; Joshua 4:6 , &c):

And that thou mayest tell in the {a} ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD. (a) The miracles would be so great, that they would be spoken of forever: where also we see the duty of parents toward their children.

Verse 2. - That thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son . The Psalms show how after generations dwelt in thought upon the memory of the great deeds done in Egypt and the deliverance wrought there. (See especially Psalm 78, 105 . and Psalms 106; but compare also Psalm 68:6, 7 ; Psalm 77:14-20 ; Psalm 81:5, 6 ; Psalm 114:1-3 ; Psalm 135:8, 9 ; Psalm 136:10-15 .) Exodus 10:2

2 . thou ] i.e. Moses, addressed however as the representative of Israel. Cf. the plural ye at the end of the verse. in the ears of thy son , &c.] The story is to be passed on to the children. The interest in the instruction of future generations, as Deuteronomy 4:9 ; Deuteronomy 6:7 ; comp. also ch. Exodus 12:26 f., with the note, and Jdg 6:13 , Psalm 44:1 ; Psalm 78:5-6 . how I have mocked the Egyptians ] so RVm. rightly: cf. 1 Samuel 6:6 RVm. (also with reference to the Egyptians), Exodus 31:4 RVm. AV. itself has the rend. mock in Numbers 22:29 , Jeremiah 38:19 . The word used cannot mean ‘wrought’: in Arabic the corresponding word means to divert or occupy oneself ; the Heb. word is applied in a bad sense, to ‘divert oneself at another’s expense,’ i.e. to make a toy of , or, by a slight paraphrase, to mock . As used here, ‘it is an anthropomorphism which is not consonant with the higher Christian conception of God’ (McNeile). done ] better, set , as the same verb, also of ‘signs’ ‘set’ in Egypt, is actually rendered, Jeremiah 32:20 AV., RV., Psalm 78:43 RV., cv. 27 RV. (cf. Isaiah 66:19 ). and that (G.-K.§ 112p) ye may know , &c.] cf. on Exodus 8:10 . 2, 3a. Before the last plague comes, the Israelites are to make request of the Egyptians, as directed in Exodus 3:21-22 ; cf. Exodus 12:35-36 . 2 . every man ] in Exodus 3:22 only the women are to make the request. and jewels of gold ] LXX. Sam. add and raiment (as Exodus 3:22 , Exodus 12:35 ).

It must be supplied, or understood, from Exodus 12:36 , to be included. 3a. gave . &c.] according to the promise of Exodus 3:21 a; cf. Exodus 12:36 . 3b. Cf. Numbers 12:3 ‘Now the man Moses was very meek,’ &c.; also, for ‘the man Moses,’ Genesis 19:9 , Jdg 17:5 , 1 Samuel 1:21 , 1 Kings 11:28 , Esther 9:4 . was very great , &c.] on account viz. of the wonders wrought by him. The words suggest a reason why the Egyptians acceded the more readily to the Israelites’ request.

2. And that thou mayest tell … of thy son, and of thy son's son, &c.—There was a further and higher reason for the infliction of those awful judgments, namely, that the knowledge of them there, and the permanent record of them still, might furnish a salutary and impressive lesson to the Church down to the latest ages. Worldly historians might have described them as extraordinary occurrences that marked this era of Moses in ancient Egypt. But we are taught to trace them to their cause: the judgments of divine wrath on a grossly idolatrous king and nation.

The eighth plague; the Locusts. - Exodus 10:1-6 . As Pharaoh's pride still refused to bend to the will of God, Moses was directed to announce another, and in some respects a more fearful, plague. At the same time God strengthened Moses' faith, by telling him that the hardening of Pharaoh and his servants was decreed by Him, that these signs might be done among them, and that Israel might perceive by this to all generations that He was Jehovah (cf. Exodus 7:3-5 ). We may learn from Psalm 78 and 105 in what manner the Israelites narrated these signs to their children and children's children. אתת שׁית, to set or prepare signs ( Exodus 10:1 ), is interchanged with שׂוּם ( Exodus 10:2 ) in the same sense (vid., Exodus 8:12 ). The suffix in בּקרבּו ( Exodus 10:1 ) refers to Egypt as a country; and that in בּם ( Exodus 10:2 ) to the Egyptians. In the expression, "thou mayest tell," Moses is addressed as the representative of the nation. התעלּל: to have to do with a person, generally in a bad sense, to do him harm ( 1 Samuel 31:4 ). "How I have put forth My might" (De Wette).