Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 9:19
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.
19. Advice to the Pharaoh, and, implicitly (cf. vv. 20, 21), to his servants as well, to bring their cattle quickly into safety. The advice gives the Pharaoh an opportunity of shewing what his frame of mind is, according as he follows or disregards the advice. According to v. 6 the Egyptians had indeed no ‘cattle’ left after the murrain; but (as was remarked on v. 6) ‘all’ in Hebrew is not always to be taken literally. The inconsistency is however remarkable: contrast Exo 10:5; Exo 10:15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. Send – now, and gather thy cattle] So in the midst of judgment, God remembered mercy. The miracle should be wrought that they might know he was the Lord; but all the lives both of men and beasts might have been saved, had Pharaoh and his servants taken the warning so mercifully given them. While some regarded not the word of the Lord, others feared it, and their cattle and their servants were saved, See Ex 9:20-21.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This forewarning God gives, partly, to initiate the severity of the judgment; partly, that a considerable number of horses might be reserved for Pharaohs expedition, Exo 14; partly, to show the justice of God in punishing so wicked and obstinate people, as would take no warning neither from Gods words, nor from his former works; and partly, to make a difference between the penitent and the incorrigible Egyptians.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field,…. The servants that were at work there: this is said to denote both the certainty of the plague, and the terribleness of it, that all, both men and beast, would perish by it, if care was not taken to get them home; and also to show the wonderful clemency and mercy of God to such rebellious, hardened, and undeserving creatures, as Pharaoh and his people were; in the midst of wrath and judgment God remembers mercy:
for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home; and there sheltered in houses, barns, and stables:
the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die; the hailstones that would fall would be so large and so heavy as to kill both men and beasts, like those which fell from heaven upon the Canaanites in the days of Joshua, which killed more than the sword did, Jos 10:11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The good advice to be given by Moses to the king, to secure the men and cattle that were in the field, i.e., to put them under shelter, which was followed by the God-fearing Egyptians (Exo 9:21), was a sign of divine mercy, which would still rescue the hardened man and save him from destruction. Even in Pharaoh’s case the possibility still existed of submission to the will of God; the hardening was not yet complete. But as he paid no heed to the word of the Lord, the predicted judgment was fulfilled (Exo 9:22-26). “ Jehovah gave voices ” ( ); called “voices of God” in Exo 9:28. This term is applied to the thunder (cf. Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18; Psa 29:3-9), as being the mightiest manifestation of the omnipotence of God, which speaks therein to men (Rev 10:3-4), and warns them of the terrors of judgment. These terrors were heightened by masses of fire, which came down from the sky along with the hail that smote man and beast in the field, destroyed the vegetables, and shattered the trees. “ And fire ran along upon the ground; ” is a Kal, though it sounds like Hithpael, and signifies grassari , as in Psa 73:9.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
19. Sealed therefore now. He does not give this counsel as if he would spare His professed enemy, but he insults his mad confidence, because hitherto in his supine security he had despised whatever punishments had been denounced against him. He indirectly hints, therefore, that now is the time for fear. Secondly, that when God contends, the event is not a doubtful one; because He not only openly challenges him to the combat, but assures him that He shall have no difficulty in putting him to the rout. Finally, he shows him, that He has no need of deceit, or of any stratagems to overtake His enemy, but that, although he grants him a way of escape, still He should be victorious.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) Gather thy cattle.The peculiar circumstances of Egypt, where the whole country was overflowed by the Nile during some months of each year, caused the provision of shelter for cattle to be abnormally great. Every year, at the time of the inundation, all the cattle had to be gathered into sheds and cattle-yards in the immediate vicinity of the villages and towns, which were protected from the inundation by high mounds. Thus it would have been easy to house all the cattle that remained to the Egyptians after the murrain, if the warning here given had been attended to generally.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle This is the only instance in which the Egyptians were advised how to escape the judgment after it had been announced . This plague not only destroyed the crops, trees, and cattle, but, like the last, fell upon the Egyptians themselves . Jehovah now reveals himself to Egypt as the Lord of the elements of the forces of the air as well as of the water and the land .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
I think it worthy observation, that the Lord who hath all hearts at his disposal, not only made a difference between the believing Israelite and the unbelieving Egyptian; but between one Egyptian and another. Some of the cattle of Egypt would be needed for the chariots and horsemen in the pursuit of Israel, which by and by was to take place. Hence the Lord inclined some of the Egyptians to take home their cattle to their houses.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 9:19 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.
Ver. 19. Send therefore now. ] Here “(mercy rejoiceth against judgment,” Jam 2:13 if by any means he might be wrought upon. Sed Rhinoceros interimi potest, capi non potest. It was past time of day to do Pharaoh good.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
and shall not be brought home = Figure of speech Pleonasm (App-6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and gather: Hab 3:2
the hail: Exo 9:25
Reciprocal: Exo 9:6 – General Isa 28:17 – and the hail Eze 33:5 – But
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 9:19. Send now therefore and gather thy cattle This warning God gives to mitigate the severity of the judgment, to show his justice in punishing so wicked and obstinate a people as would not hearken either to his words or former works, and especially to make a difference between the penitent and the incorrigible Egyptians, it being far from God to inflict the same punishment on those who mourn because of any national crime, and those who for their profit or pleasure will continue to do wickedly.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
9:19 Send therefore now, [and] {e} 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.
(e) Here we see though God’s wrath is kindled yet there is a certain mercy shown even to his enemies.