Exodus
Verse 1. Servants. They took occasion, from God’s withdrawing his chastisements, to become more obdurate. Saint Augustine q. 30. and 36.
EXPLANATIONS
Exodus 10
Historical chapter commentary
Exodus
Verse 7. Scandal, or source of repeated misery; whether they meant their own resistance to God’s orders, or Moses, with the Hebrew nation. Calmet.
Exodus
Verse 9. Herds. Out of which the Lord may choose what victims he requires. Menochius.—The people of Egypt kept solemnities of this description. Herod. ii. 58, 59.
Exodus
Verse 10. So be. A form of imprecation mixed with scorn: as, I shall not let you go, so may God abandon you. Calmet.
Exodus
Verse 11. Desired. Moses had requested that all might go. He had not specified the men only, as the king boldly asserts. Menochius.—A partial obedience will not rescue him from the threatened plague. Bible.
Exodus
Verse 13. Wind from “the south,” (Sept.) or “east,” (Kadim) or perhaps blowing from the south-east. Bonfrere. The locusts would come from Ethiopia, or from Arabia, in both which countries they abound. Ludolf, and so forth They lay their eggs in autumn, and hatch in spring. Frequently they devastate one country after another. They are very large in the East, and sometimes will fasten upon the heads of serpents, and destroy them, as they did on this occasion the Egyptians. Wisd. 16:9.—In Cyrene, bordering upon Egypt, it is requisite to encounter these creatures thrice in the year. Calmet. See Leviticus 11:22.
Exodus
Verse 14. Hereafter. Joel 1:2, speaking of locusts which infested Judea, uses the same expressions to denote a very heavy judgment. Two events never perfectly agree. Calmet.
Exodus
Verse 17. Also. Hebrew “only,” and I will amend.—Death, or plague. Menochius.
Exodus
Verse 18. Moses. The printed Hebrew and Chal. do not read his name; but some MSS. have it agreeably to the Septuagint and Syr. versions. Ken.
Exodus
Verse 19. West. Hebrew sea, (Mediterranean) to the north and west of Egypt.—Red sea. Hebrew “of suph,” or green herbs, which abound there. It has also a reddish appearance in some places, from the coral branches of a saffron colour. It probably was called red from Edom, or Erythros, the son of Isaac. Calmet.—God drowned the locusts in this sea, by means of the wind, which often proves the destruction of those animals. Plin. xi. 29.
Exodus
Verse 21. Darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick that it may be felt. By means of the gross exhalations, which were to cause and accompany the darkness. Challoner.—Thus were the Egyptians punished for keeping the Hebrews in dark prisons. Menochius.—Philo says, even a lighted lamp or fire was extinguished. The Egyptians were affrighted with hideous spectres and evil angels. Psalms 77:49. Wisd. 17:4.
Exodus
Verse 29. More. Of my own accord. Menochius.—Thou wilt send for me. Calmet.
Exodus
“Red Sea” is the translation for the Hebrew “Yam Suf”, which could be more literally translated “Sea of Reeds” or “Sea of Cattails”. It refers to the body of water currently known as the Red Sea, or possibly to one of the bodies of water connected to it or near it.