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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 9:22 - 9:35
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The Plague of the Hail
v. 22. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, as a sign before all men that the plague was now to begin, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, plants of every kind, throughout the land of Egypt.
v. 23. And Moses stretched forth his rod, his hand which held his shepherd's staff, toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, He gave forth voices accompanied with hail, as a most powerful revelation of His divine omnipotence. And the fire ran along upon the ground in the form of ball lightning which is particularly destructive; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. It is a sublime description of a thunderstorm accompanied with a terrific fall of hail, causing a devastation such as no ordinary storm will bring about.
v. 24. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, in addition to the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
v. 25. And the hail smote, throughout all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; they were not only struck down, but killed; and the hail smote every herb of the field, all the smaller plants, and brake every tree of the field, not only by stripping the trees of their foliage, but by cutting off twigs and branches.
v. 26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. The Lord did not include His people in the plague.
v. 27. And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. That was not the voice of true repentance, but merely of slavish fear, of abject terror, a confession intended only to secure deliverance from the destruction of the plague.
v. 28. Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thundering and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. He immediately attaches the condition that they should not ask for, nor extend, the time of their festival beyond the three days originally named. A truly repentant heart will humbly bow under the punishment of the Lord, and will not presume to say when the limit has been reached.
v. 29. And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord, in a gesture of earnest pleading; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord's, that all the land and all the powers of nature are in His hand, that He controls them as He pleases.
v. 30. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not fear the Lord God; it was obvious that their repentance was not of the right kind.
v. 31. And the flax and the barley was smitten, that was the extent of the damage done by the hail; for the barley was in the ear, the stalks had made heads, and the flax was boiled, it was in bloom. In their case, therefore, there was a total loss.
v. 32. But the wheat and the rye, or spelt, were not smitten; for they were not grown up, they belong to the late grains.
v. 33. And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
v. 34. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. They added to their former sin and deliberately made their obduracy greater.
v. 35. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses. The man who hardens his heart against the influence of God's Word thereby invites the judgment of the Lord upon him. making it impossible for him to repent in truth. The condition of Pharaoh's heart may also be seen from the fact that he broke his promise to Moses. Where there is no fear of the Lord, all obligations of morality and decency are discarded.