EXODUS IX.

HE swarms of insects were removed, and "there remained not one." Freed from this plague, Pharaoh's heart again rose in rebellion against God, and Moses was sent to announce the fifth judgment. This was a grievous murrain upon the cattle of Egypt. The pest was to influence the cattle, as deadly epidemic diseases do men. The animals specially noticed are the "horse," Heb. sus-see under 1 Kings x. 28; the " ass," Heb. hhămōr, noticed under Ps. civ. 11; the "camel," Heb. gāmāl, Gen. xxx. 43; the "ox," Heb. bakār, Lev. i. 5; and "sheep," Heb. tzōn, Gen. iv. 2. The horse used in war, the ass employed as the beast of burden, the ox by whose help the land was ploughed, the camel of the merchant, and the sheep prized for its wool, were stricken with the terrible murrain. "All the cattle of Egypt died"-an expression again illustrative of the use of "all" for "a multitude," but not for "every one." every one." Some of these animals, as the ox and the sheep, were sacred. The horse and the camel were not. The ass was regarded as an emblem of Typhon.

The sixth plague was that of the Boil with "Blains" (avagbugōth). An extreme and violent form of elephantiasis, known as black leprosy, has been named as the scourge in this plague; but the expression "man and beast" renders this more than doubtful. It is worthy of notice, that at the present time forms of small-pox, characterized by great ulcerous inflammation have fallen with deadly power on many men and beasts. Whole flocks of sheep have been destroyed by it, and in one or two localities many households have been made desolate. The boil with blains may not have been identical, but the import of these terms is to be sought in some such violent cutaneous disease. As a sign of the coming curse, the servants of God were to "sprinkle the ashes of the furnace up towards heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.' This having been done, the malady laid hold on man and on beast, as boils breaking forth with blains. All the curative skill of the physicians of Egypt was unavailing. "And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And the Lord hardened the heart of

Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses" (ver. 11, 12).

The results of the hardened heart led to another grand manifestation of the sovereign power of Jehovah, in sending the seventh plague. The threatening is given in verses 13-19, the fulfilment in verses 22-26. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail." It fell with tremendous power on Pharaoh and his people. "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. Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands. unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord's. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God." The force of verse 18 is greatly heightened by remembering the character of the climate of Egypt. Herodotus notices the unfrequency of rain in the neighbourhood of Memphis. In Upper Egypt showers fall only five or six times in a year, and a continuance of heavy rains there, or even at Cairo, would be regarded with the greatest wonder. The results would also be most destructive. Such an occurrence took place in 1823, and many of the mud-built houses were destroyed. But if such effects would result from rains, how much greater would they be in the case of hail, and especially in a hail storm like that now threatened?" I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail."

The appeal made to the Egyptians themselves is full of interest. The influences of God's dealings with them appear to have begun to touch the hearts of the people. While they came to Pharaoh and many

others as judgments which would only harden, to some they were sent as messengers of grace. "Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses; and he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field." The accompaniments of the grievous hail are very vividly set before us. Dark clouds loomed over that usually cloudless sky. Thunder broke forth peal on peal. Lightnings darted from the gloom. "Fire ran along the ground." So there was hail, and fire mingled with hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it." Man and beast, herb and tree, all bowed before its influence.

Fig. 8.

The allusion to the state of the crops in Egypt at the time of this plague is equally full of interest. "And the flax and the barley was smitten for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten; for they were not grown up" (ver. 31, 32). From this we may form a pretty definite estimate of the season when this plague occurred. There is no reason to believe that the climate of Egypt has altered since the time of Moses. At present the barley is found in the ear about the middle of March; the flax is bolled, or fully developed in the stalk about the same period. The wheat and rye harvest occurs in April. These cereals had, therefore, not reached a condition of growth which would have made the hail equally fatal to them as it must have been to the barley and flax. The seventh plague must have been sent in the beginning of March.

Flax Plant (Linum usitatissimum).

The Hebrew word for the flax plant is pishtah. Flax (Linum usitatissimum) belongs to the natural order Linacea, or Flax family, under which two genera are ranked, namely, flax (Linum), and flax-seed (Radiola). Four British species are ranked under the former, and one under the latter. These are perennial flax (L. perenne), narrow-leaved

flax (L. angustifolium), common flax (L. usitatissimum), purging flax L. catharticum), and thyme-leaved flax-seed (R. millegrana). Like the cotton plant, flax may be traced to India, whence, at a very early period, it was carried to Syria and Egypt. It then spread westward, until, about the time of the Roman Conquest, it appears to have been introduced into Britain. The mode of dressing flax is noticed under Josh. ii. 6, where another form of the word used in this passage is employed (pishteh). The name given here by Moses occurs in only other two places, both of which are in Isaiah-" A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth" (xlii. 3). "Smoking," literally "dim"see under Isaiah. In the other passage it is rendered "tow," where the word is used in the sense of wick-"They are extinct, they are quenched as tow" (xliii. 17).

"Barley," Heb. shorah, see under Ruth i. 22; "Wheat," Heb. hhitah, Deut. xi. 14; "Rye," Heb. kusemeth, Isa. xxviii. 25.

EXODUS X-XII.

HE message from Jehovah again comes to Moses and Aaron. "Go in unto Pharaoh." "How long," "How long," they asked, "wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before the Lord?" The plague of the locusts was threatened. At the earnest request of his people Pharaoh was inclined to yield. But the evil nature again triumphed; "and they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt" (ver. 10-15). "Locust," Heb. arbeh; see under Deut. xxviii. 38. The agent employed to bring the locust was an east wind (ver. 15). Having covered the face of the whole earth they devoured the vegetation, and "there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herb of the field"-see under Isa. xv. 6. As the wind blowing from Arabia had brought the locusts, another from Africa is employed to carry them away. "The Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea."

Before the last terrible appeals were to be made to Pharaoh and his people, Moses and Aaron were fully informed of that sacramental feast, the Passover, which was to be equally the expression of a covenant people's gratitude and the figure of those "good things to come" which were to be closely linked up with Him who, as our Passover, was sacrificed for us. The animal used was to be of the young of sheep or goat

VOL. II.

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