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lions, bears, and leopards.' The Sept. however, renders it by dog-fly,' from its biting, an insect that fastens its teeth so deep in the flesh, and sticks so very close, that it oftentimes makes cattle run mad. The etymology of the word leads us, on the whole, to regard the rendering given in Ps. 78. 45. as the correct one; He sent divers sorts of flies among them which devoured them;' so that it was not one particular kind, but all sorts of vexatious, winged creatures of the smaller tribes, mingled together in one prodigious swarm or conflux. And I will sever.' Heb. will marvellously sever;' i. e. will separate and exempt in a marvelous manner. Accordingly, the Gr. renders it, 'I will marvelously glorify, or miraculously honor;' the same word which occurs Luke, 5. 2. 6. And they were all amazed, and glorified God.' The Heb. term occurs, Ps. 4. 3. Know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself;' i. e. hath gloriously or honorably distinguished, discrimi nated, appropriated him that is godly. Again, Ex. 33. 16. "So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth;' Gr. 'shall be more glorious.' Compare Wisd. 18. 8. speaking of this event; 'For wherewith thou didst punish our adversaries, by the same thou didst glorify us whom thou hadst called."

I will put a division.' Heb. 'I will put or set redemption.' Ps. 111. 9. He sent redemption unto his people.' The Gr. renders it by 'Diastole,' division,' or distinction,' the same word which occurs Rom. 3. 22. The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.' (Diastole.) -To-morrow; Heb. 'by to-morrow.'

What was the effect of this judgment upon the land of Egypt, and upon the heart of Pharaoh, and what did Moses say to him? v. 24-27.

'Came a grievous swarm.' Heb. Came a heavy swarm. The land was corrupted;' or 'destroyed,' i. e. 'the inhabitants of the land,' great numbers of whom doubtless perished in consequence of the inflammation following the bites or stings of the venomous insects; so that every successive plague exceeded in intensity that which went before it. See note on Gen. 6. 13. In reference, it may be, to this judgment, the author of the Book of Wisdom, ch. 16. 8-10. says; And in this thou

madest thine enemies to confess that it is thou who deliverest from all evil: For them the bitings of grasshoppers and flies killed, neither was there found any remedy for their life for they were worthy to be punished by such. But thy sons not the very teeth of venomous dragons overcame, for thy mercy was ever by them.'-' In the land.' The king grants them permission to perform their commanded religious rites, provided they will do it without going out of his territories, not otherwise.-'It is not meet ;' Heb. 'it is not appointed, constituted, ordained so to do.'

So shall we sacrifice,' &c. Moses, in effect, presents his objections to embracing the proffered license in the form of a dilemma: If we sacrifice here, we must do it either after the manner of the Egyptians, or of the Israelites; if after their manner, that would be an abomination to the Lord our God; if after our own manner, that would be an abomination to them, and they will stone us; for they will not endure to see us slay their animals for sacrifice, which they adore as deities. Chal. For the beasts which the Egyp tians worship, shall we offer for sacrifice; lo, shall we offer for sacrifice the beasts which the Egyptians worship?'

As he shall command us.' The Israelites knew not, therefore, precisely, the beasts which they were to sacrifice, till they came to the place appointed. So Moses says, ch. 10. 26. We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither.'

On what conditions, then, did Pharaoh yield his consent to the demand of Moses, and what was Moses' reply? v. 28, 29.

'Entreat for me.' The sense of this passage will probably be rendered clearer by a slight transposition; q. d. 'Pray for me that God would remove this plague from me and from my people, and I will then let you go, on condition that you go no further than a journey of three days.'

What is said of the removal of the plague, and of the continued obduracy of Pharaoh? v. 30-32.

HEADS OF PRACTICAL REFLECTION.

V. 1. God doubles and trebles his demands upon his enemies in order to bring them to submission.

V. 2, 3. Divine goodness is very express in admonishing sinners of their danger before vengeance is poured upon them, but when the limits of forbearance are passed, they shall find the fountains of sustenance and comfort teeming with the instruments of destruction.

V. 7. The emissaries of Satan, if they are sometimes empowered to afflict God's enemies, shall never be able to ease them.

V. 8. Jehovah's judgments may and do compel the proudest potentate to acknowledge him, and to make their humble suit to those of his ministers whom they had before despised, confessing the value and efficacy of their prayers.

V. 9. God's ministers should be ever prompt to greet with joy the slightest symptoms of relenting in those to whom they may have been the occasion of suffering, whether bodily or mental. Indeed, a benevolent mind will be so rejoiced with such indications, that he will readily exchange the language and the air of sternness and severity for the most condescending deportment, in order to encourage the incipient workings of a godly sorrow. V. 15. A breathing time from Divine judgments is often made to the obstinate transgressor the occasion of greater hardening.

V. 18, 19. Though the grand adversary will do his utmost to counteract the works of Omnipotence, yet his instruments shall at last be forced to confess that they are fighting against God and God against them.

V. 19. Unbelief will sometimes survive the refutation of the lies by which it has been nourished.

V. 20. God would have his servants early stirring in the work to which they are called.

V. 21. Threatenings of wrath are to be repeated as often as the obstinate rebellion of sinners shows itself.

V. 22. It is God's prerogative in pouring out judgments, graciously and gloriously to distinguish between his friends and his foes.

V. 25. Men are often reluctant to surrender all that God

requires, though smarting under the rod of his judgments. They are still prone to limit his demands. V. 31. Rulers and subjects are plagued and healed together.

CHAPTER IX.

What was the fifth plague which Moses was commanded to announce to Pharaoh? v. 1–4.

'The hand of the Lord is; rather, the hand of the Lord shall be; or, literally, behold the hand of the Lord being (i. e. being made to be) upon, &c.' the present participle in Heb. having in innumerable instances the force of the future. A very grievous murrain ;' i. e. a very great and general mortality, as appears from v. 6. The original word for murrain,' when applied to men, is translated' pestilence,' and is rendered in the Gr., both here and elsewhere, by Thanatos,' death. See note on Ex. 5. 3.

What time was fixed for the infliction of this judgment, and what is said of its execution, and of Pharaoh's consequent step? v. 5-7.

All the cattle of Egypt died;' i. e. some of all sorts; not absolutely each and every one; for we find, v. 19, 25, some remaining which were smitten by a subsequent plague. This peculiar usage of the word 'all,' as denoting some of all kinds, instead of the absolute totality of the number spoken of, is of great importance to a right understanding of the sacred scriptures throughout. Thus, 1 Tim. 2. 4. "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto a knowledge of the truth;' i. e. all classes and ranks of for he had just before exhorted that prayers should be made for kings and for all that are in authority;' implying, that as no order of men are placed without the pale of salvation, so none should be left out of the supplications of the saints. In like manner it is to be observed, that while in v. 25. of this chapter it is said that the hail smote every herb of the field,' in ch. 10. 15. we are told that the locusts ate every herb of the land which the hail had left.'

men

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What was Moses then commanded to do in order to bring the sixth plague upon the land of Egypt, and what was that plague to be? v. 8, 9:

Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace; Heb. 'take to you the fulness of your fists of furnace-ashes.' The Heb. term for ashes,' as it comes from a root signifying to blow,' properly denotes the fine cinereal particles which are carried off in the dense clouds of smoke arising from a furnace. The original for furnace' signifies also a lime-kiln or brick-kiln ;' and as these were among the instruments of oppression to the Israelites, it was fitting that they should be converted to a means of punishment to the Egyptians. Shall become small dust in (Heb. upon or over) all the land of Egypt;' i. e. it shall by miraculous multiplication become a fine cinder-like sleet floating in the atmosphere above the surface of the earth like a cloud of dust which does not subside, and wherever it lights upon the persons of men causing a boil breaking forth with blains.' Heb. ' boil budding, germinating, or efflorescing with pustules or blisters.' The original term for ' boil,' 'Shehin,' denotes an inflammation accompanied with a sense of tormenting heat, which first produces a morbid tumor, and then a malignant ulcer. In Job, 2. 7, 8, the word occurs in the sense of a burning itch or an inflamed scab, which Job could not scratch off with his nails, and was therefore obliged to make use of a potsherd, or fragment of a broken earthen vessel for the purpose. In the case of the Egyp tians, the Shchin' was of a still more virulent nature, so that they were in fact visited with a treble punishment at once, viz. aching boils, nauseous ulcers, and burning itch. To this severe plague the threatening of Moses, Deut. 28. 27. obviously has reference; The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emnerods, and with the scab, and with the itch whereof thou canst not be healed.' The Gr. renders it by Elkos,' ulcer, which occurs, Rev. 16. 2. which in our version is translated' noisome and grievous sore.' The judgment of the first vial, therefore, considered in the letter, was similar to that of the sixth plague of Egypt.

What was the effect of the present plague upon