Download The Plague of Locusts (Exodus 10)

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The Plague of Locusts (Exodus 10)
10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart
and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among
them, 2 and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools
of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them-- so that you may know that
I am the LORD."i
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the
God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let
my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go,
tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5 They shall cover the surface of the
land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the last remnant
left you after the hail, and they shall devour every tree of yours that grows in the field.
6 They shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your officials and of all the
Egyptians-- something that neither your parents nor your grandparents have seen,
from the day they came on earth to this day.'" Then he turned and went out from
Pharaoh. 7 Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long shall this fellow be a snare to
us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God; do you not yet
understand that Egypt is ruined?" 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to
Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, worship the LORD your God! But which ones are
to go?" 9 Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our
sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have the LORD's
festival to celebrate." 10 He said to them, "The LORD indeed will be with you, if
ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind.
11 No, never! Your men may go and worship the LORD, for that is what you are
asking." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. 12 Then the LORD said
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to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may come
upon it and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left."ii 13 So Moses
stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt,iii and the LORD brought an east wind
upon the land all that day and all that night;iv and when morning came, the east wind
had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came upon all the land of Egypt and settled on
the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before,
nor ever shall be again. 15 They covered the surface of the whole land, so that the
land was black; and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that
the hail had left; nothing green was left, no tree, no plant in the field, in all the land of
Egypt.v 16 Pharaoh hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned
against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Do forgive my sin just this once,
and pray to the LORD your God that at the least he remove this deadly thing from
me." 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 19 The LORD
changed the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove
them into the Red Sea; not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt.vi
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.vii
The Plague of Darkness
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there
may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” viii 22 So Moses
stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was dense darkness in all the land of
Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see one another, and for three days they
could not move from where they were;ix but all the Israelites had light where they
lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses, and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Only
your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your children may go with
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you.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to
sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof
shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them for the worship of the LORD
our God, and we will not know what to use to worship the LORD until we arrive
there.”x
27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. xi
28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my
face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” xii
29 Moses said, “Just as you say! I will never see your face again.”xiii
The purpose of the plagues according to P is the aggrandizement of the Lord's name
i
for future generations, and compare Exodus 12:14 and Joshua 4:20-24. Note also the
use of "signs" in vs. 1, rather than the strong hand of the other sources, as well as the
formula, "I am the Lord", which appears in Exodus 6:2. The only anomalous feature
here is the use of ‫ כבד‬for the hardening of Pharaoh's heart otherwise found in J – The
second to final verse of the previous chapter (J) mentions the hardening of Pharaoh's
heart employing ‫כבד‬, there it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart, here it explains that
it was the Lord who caused this hardening.
Note the narrative progression within J. Pharaoh and his servants already know
ii
what's about to happen and recommend that he negotiate before the plague actually
occurs.
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As in the case of Hail, note the tension between Moses' role and the divine role,
iii
once again Moses performs (without an audience) but the Lord actually commands
Moses and causes the plague to happen. It seems likely that the divine command and
causation were inserted by J in order to emphasize the Lord's role.
iv
See the above comment.
v
The locust finishes up what was left from the hail.
vi
The Lord caused the plague (vs. 13), The Lord takes it away (vs. 19). Since he didn't
promise to let the people go after this plague, no hardening of the heart is mentioned
in J.
P adds his formulaic hardening of the heart, even when Pharaoh didn't explicitly
vii
promise to let the Israelites go – perhaps Pharaoh's confession of vs. 17, is perceived
by P as Pharaoh's softening.
viii
Contrary to the other J plagues, darkness descends without warning upon Egypt,
simply because it is very easy to prepare for darkness (by lighting a fire).
Note J's insertion of command prior to Moses' performance of the plague just as was
the case for Hail and Locusts.
ix
In E, the darkness is the catalyst for the Israelites flight for Egypt, as is narrated by
this source in Chapters 12 and 14.
x
The final (failed) negotiation. Pharaoh allows the people to leave without the flocks,
Moses disagrees, and Pharaoh sends him away threatening to kill him if he ever
shows his face again. The irony in J is that Pharaoh then summons Moses in 12:31.
xi
The implied hardening in J (Pharaoh banishes him from his sight) is made explicit
by P.
xii
See comment x.
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xiii
This final verse is somewhat difficult, since Moses promise not to see Pharaoh's
face is then broken in 12:31 (J). P may be indicating that Moses himself could not
predict what would happen, only God – and God's will only becomes known in
Chapter 11. Another possibility is that Moses indeed did not see Pharaoh, since their
last interaction occurred during the darkness of midnight.