Exodus 10:20

10:12-20 God bids Moses stretch out his hand; locusts came at the call. An army might more easily have been resisted than this host of insects. Who then is able to stand before the great God? They covered the face of the earth, and ate up the fruit of it. Herbs grow for the service of man; yet when God pleases, insects shall plunder him, and eat the bread out of his mouth. Let our labour be, not for the habitation and meat thus exposed, but for those which endure to eternal life. Pharaoh employs Moses and Aaron to pray for him. There are those, who, in distress, seek the help of other people's prayers, but have no mind to pray for themselves. They show thereby that they have no true love to God, nor any delight in communion with him. Pharaoh desires only that this death might be taken away, not this sin. He wishes to get rid of the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart, which was more dangerous. An east wind brought the locusts, a west wind carries them off. Whatever point the wind is in, it is fulfilling God's word, and turns by his counsel. The wind bloweth where it listeth, as to us; but not so as it respects God. It was also an argument for their repentance; for by this it appeared that God is ready to forgive, and swift to show mercy. If he does this upon the outward tokens of humiliation, what will he do if we are sincere! Oh that this goodness of God might lead us to repentance! Pharaoh returned to his resolution again, not to let the people go.

Verse 20. - But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart . The word used here is the intensive one, khazoq , instead of the milder kabod of ver. 1. Pharaoh's prolonged obstinacy and impenitence was receiving aggravation by the working of the just laws of God. (See the comment on Exodus 4:21.) CHAPTER 10:21-29 Exodus 10:20

West wind - Literally, "a sea wind," a wind blowing from the sea on the northwest of Egypt. Red sea - The Hebrew has the "Sea of Suph": the exact meaning of which is disputed. Gesenius renders it "rush" or "seaweed;" but it is probably an Egyptian word. A sea-weed resembling wood is thrown up abundantly on the shores of the Red Sea. The origin of the name "Red" Sea is uncertain: (naturalists have connected it with the presence of red infusoria, Exodus 7:17).

13-19. the Lord brought an east wind—The rod of Moses was again raised, and the locusts came. They are natives of the desert and are only brought by an east wind into Egypt, where they sometimes come in sun-obscuring clouds, destroying in a few days every green blade in the track they traverse. Man, with all his contrivances, can do nothing to protect himself from the overwhelming invasion. Egypt has often suffered from locusts. But the plague that followed the wave of the miraculous rod was altogether unexampled. Pharaoh, fearing irretrievable ruin to his country, sent in haste for Moses, and confessing his sin, implored the intercession of Moses, who entreated the Lord, and a "mighty strong west wind took away the locusts."

CHAPTER 10 Ex 10:1-20. Plague of Locusts. 1. show these my signs, &c.—Sinners even of the worst description are to be admonished even though there may be little hope of amendment, and hence those striking miracles that carried so clear and conclusive demonstration of the being and character of the true God were performed in lengthened series before Pharaoh to leave him without excuse when judgment should be finally executed.The reason why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, Exodus 10:1,2. Egypt threatened with locusts, Exodus 10:4. Pharaoh’s servants persuade him to let the Israelites go, Exodus 10:7. Pharaoh inquires of Moses who are they that shall go to serve the Lord, Exodus 10:8. Of Moses’s answer, Exodus 10:9. Pharaoh’s reply, Exodus 10:10,11. Locusts come over all Egypt, Exodus 10:13-15. Pharaoh sends for Moses, and confesseth his sin, Exodus 10:16,17. Moses prays to God, Exodus 10:18. The plague is stayed, Exodus 10:19. Pharaoh’s heart hardened, Exodus 10:20. The ninth plague, to wit, darkness over all Egypt, Exodus 10:22,23. Pharaoh would let Israel go, but without cattle, Exodus 10:24. Moses will not leave a hoof behind, Exodus 10:25,26. Pharaoh hardened, Exodus 10:27; and charges Moses, upon pain of death, never to appear in his sight any more, Exodus 10:28; which also came to pass, Exodus 10:29. No text from Poole on this verse.

To show the hardened king the greatness of the divine long-suffering, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord cast the locusts into the Red Sea by a strong west wind. The expression "Jehovah turned a very strong west wind" is a concise form, for "Jehovah turned the wind into a very strong west wind." The fact that locusts do perish in the sea is attested by many authorities. Gregatim sublatae vento in maria aut stagna decidunt (Pliny); many others are given by Bochart and Volney. ויּתקעהוּ: He thrust them, i.e., drove them with irresistible force, into the Red Sea. The Red Sea is called סוּף ים, according to the ordinary supposition, on account of the quantity of sea-weed which floats upon the water and lies upon the shore; but Knobel traces the name to a town which formerly stood at the head of the gulf, and derived its name from the weed, and supports his opinion by the omission of the article before Suph, though without being able to prove that any such town really existed in the earlier times of the Pharaohs.