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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E X O D U S</B></FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XI.</FONT>
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Pharaoh had told Moses to get out of his presence
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:28"><I>ch.</I> x. 28</A>),
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and Moses had promised this should be the last time he would trouble
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him, yet he resolves to say out what he had to say, before he left him;
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accordingly, we have in this chapter,
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I. The instructions God had given to Moses, which he was now to
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pursue
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>),
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together with the interest Israel and Moses had in the esteem of the
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Egyptians,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:3">ver. 3</A>.
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II. The last message Moses delivered to Pharaoh, concerning the death
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of the firstborn,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:4-8">ver. 4-8</A>.
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III. A repetition of the prediction of Pharaoh's hardening his
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heart,
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:9">ver. 9</A>),
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and the event answering to it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:10">
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ver. 10</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ex11_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Plagues of Egypt.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague
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<I>more</I> upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you
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go hence: when he shall let <I>you</I> go, he shall surely thrust you
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out hence altogether.
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2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow
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of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of
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silver, and jewels of gold.
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3 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> gave the people favour in the sight of the
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Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses <I>was</I> very great in the land of
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Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of
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the people.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is, I. The high favour Moses and Israel were in with God. 1. Moses
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was a favourite of Heaven, for God will not hide from him the thing he
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will do. God not only makes him his messenger to deliver his errands,
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but communicates to him his purpose (as the man of his counsel) that he
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would bring one plague more, and but one, upon Pharaoh, by which he
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would complete the deliverance of Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Moses longed to see an end of this dreadful work, to see Egypt no more
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plagued and Israel no more oppressed: "Well," says God, "now it is near
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an end; the warfare shall shortly be accomplished, the point gained;
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Pharaoh shall be forced to own himself conquered, and to give up the
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cause." After all the rest of the plagues, God says, <I>I will bring
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one more.</I> Thus, after all the judgments executed upon sinners in
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this world, still there is one more reserved to be brought on them in
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the other world, which will completely humble those whom nothing else
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would humble. 2. The Israelites were favourites of Heaven; for God
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himself espouses their injured cause, and takes care to see them paid
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for all their pains in serving the Egyptians. This was the last day of
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their servitude; they were about to go away, and their masters, who had
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abused them in their work, would not have defrauded them of their
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wages, and have sent them away empty; while the poor Israelites were so
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fond of liberty that they would be satisfied with that, without pay,
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and would rejoice to get that upon any terms: but he that <I>executeth
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righteousness and judgment for the oppressed</I> provided that the
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labourers should not lose their hire, and ordered them to demand it now
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at their departure
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>in jewels of silver and jewels of gold,</I> to prepare for which
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God, by the plagues, had now made the Egyptians as willing to part with
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them upon any terms as, before, the Egyptians, by their severities, had
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made them willing to go upon any terms. Though the patient Israelites
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were content to lose their wages, yet God would not let them go without
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them. Note, One way or other, God will give redress to the injured, who
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in a humble silence commit their cause to him; and he will see to it
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that none be losers at last by their patient suffering any more than by
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their services.</P>
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<P>
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II. The high favour Moses and Israel were in with the Egyptians,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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1. Even the people that has been hated and despised now came to be
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respected; the wonders wrought on their behalf put an honour upon them
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and made them considerable. How great do they become for whom God thus
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fights! Thus <I>the Lord gave them favour</I> in the sight of the
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Egyptians, by making it appear how much he favoured them: he also
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changed the spirit of the Egyptians towards them, and made them to be
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pitied of their oppressors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:46">Ps. cvi. 46</A>.
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2. <I>The man Moses was very great.</I> How could it be otherwise when
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they saw what power he was clothed with, and what wonders were wrought
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by his hand? Thus the apostles, though otherwise despicable men, came
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to be magnified,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+5:13">Acts v. 13</A>.
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Those that honour God he will honour; and with respect to those that
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approve themselves faithful to him, how meanly soever they may pass
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through this world, there is a day coming when they will look great,
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very great, in the eyes of all the world, even theirs who now look upon
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them with the utmost contempt. Observe, Though Pharaoh hated Moses,
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there were those of Pharaoh's servants that respected him. Thus in
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Caesar's household, even Nero's, there were some that had an esteem for
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blessed Paul,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+1:13">Phil. i. 13</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ex11_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex11_10"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 And Moses said, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, About midnight will I go
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out into the midst of Egypt:
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5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from
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the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto
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the firstborn of the maidservant that <I>is</I> behind the mill; and
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all the firstborn of beasts.
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6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
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Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any
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more.
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7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog
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move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
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8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow
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down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people
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that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out
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from Pharaoh in a great anger.
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9 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto
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you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
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10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh:
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and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let
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the children of Israel go out of his land.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Warning is here given to Pharaoh of the last and conquering plague
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which was now to be inflicted. This was the <I>death of all the
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first-born in</I> Egypt at once, which had been first threatened
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:23"><I>ch.</I> iv. 23</A>,
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<I>I will slay thy son, thy first-born</I>), but is last executed; less
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judgments were tried, which, if they had done the work would have
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prevented this. See how slow God is to wrath, and how willing to be met
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with in the way of his judgments, and to have his anger turned away,
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and particularly how precious the lives of men are in his eyes: if the
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death of their cattle had humbled and reformed them, their children
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would have been spared; but, if men will not improve the gradual
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advances of divine judgments, they must thank themselves if they find,
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in the issue, that the worst was reserved for the last. 1. The plague
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itself is here particularly foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:4-6"><I>v.</I> 4-6</A>.
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The time is fixed--about midnight, the very next midnight, the dead
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time of the night; when they were all asleep, all their first-born
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should sleep the sleep of death, not silently and insensibly, so as not
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to be discovered till morning, but so as to rouse the families at
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midnight to stand by and see them die. The extent of this plague is
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described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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The prince that was to succeed in the throne was not too high to be
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reached by it, nor were the slaves at the mill too low to be taken
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notice of. Moses and Aaron were not ordered to summon this plague; no
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<I>I will go out, saith the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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<I>It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God;</I>
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what is hell but this? 2. The special protection which the children of
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Israel should be under, and the manifest difference that should be put
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between them and the Egyptians. While angels drew their swords against
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the Egyptians, there should not so much as a dog bark at any of the
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children of Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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An earnest was hereby given of the difference which shall be put in the
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great day between God's people and his enemies: did men know what a
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difference God puts, and will put to eternity, between those that serve
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him and those that serve him not, religion would not seem to them such
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an indifferent thing as they make it, nor would they act in it with so
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much indifference as they do. 3. The humble submission which Pharaoh's
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servants should make to Moses, and how submissively they should request
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him to go
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
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<I>They shall come down, and bow themselves.</I> Note, The proud
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enemies of God and his Israel shall be made to fall under at last
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:9">Rev. iii. 9</A>),
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and shall be found liars to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:29">Deut. xxxiii. 29</A>.
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When Moses had thus delivered his message, it is said, <I>He went out
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from Pharaoh in a great anger,</I> though he was the meekest of all the
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men of the earth. Probably he expected that the very threatening of the
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death of the firstborn would have induced Pharaoh to comply, especially
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as Pharaoh had complied so far already, and had seen how exactly all
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Moses's predictions hitherto were fulfilled. But it had not that
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effect; his proud heart would not yield, no, not to save all the
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firstborn of his kingdom: no marvel that men are not deterred from
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vicious courses by the prospects given them of eternal misery in the
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other world, when the imminent peril they run of the loss of all that
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is dear to them in this world will not frighten them. Moses, hereupon,
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was provoked to a holy indignation, being grieved (as our Saviour
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afterwards) for the <I>hardness of his heart,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+3:5">Mark iii. 5</A>.
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Note, It is a great vexation to the spirits of good ministers to see
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people deaf to all the fair warnings given them, and running headlong
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upon ruin, notwithstanding all the kind methods taken to prevent it.
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Thus Ezekiel went in <I>the bitterness of his spirit</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+3:14">Ezek. iii. 14</A>),
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because God had told him that the house of Israel would not hearken to
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him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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To be angry at nothing but sin is the way not to sin in anger. Moses,
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having thus adverted to the disturbance which Pharaoh's obstinacy gave
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him, (1.) Reflects upon the previous notice God had given him of this
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>The Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken to you.</I> The
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scripture has foretold the incredulity of those who should hear the
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gospel, that it might not be a surprise nor stumbling-block to us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:37,38,Ro+10:16">John xii. 37, 38; Rom. x. 16</A>.
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Let us think never the worse of the gospel of Christ for the slights
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men generally put upon it, for we were told before what cold
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entertainment it would meet with. (2.) He recapitulates all he had said
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before to this purport
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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that Moses did all these wonders, as they are here related, before
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Pharaoh (he himself was an eye-witness of them), and yet he could not
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prevail, which was a certain sign that God himself had, in a way of
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righteous judgment, hardened his heart. Thus the Jews' rejection of the
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gospel of Christ was so gross an absurdity that it might easily be
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inferred from it that <I>God had given them the spirit of slumber,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:8">Rom. xi. 8</A>.</P>
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