Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 10:16
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
16, 17. Such terrible ravages move the Pharaoh to confess his sin, in stronger terms than before (Exo 9:27); he prays for forgiveness, and for a fourth time intreats for the removal of the plague (cf. Exo 8:8; Exo 8:28 Exo 9:28).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 10:16-19
Intreat the Lord your God.
Lessons
1. Gods hasty judgments may work hasty passions in sinners, though no repentance.
2. Vengeance may make persecutors call in Gods servants for help as hastily as they drove them out.
3. Double confession of sin may hypocrites make under plagues, yet not in truth.
4. Proud persecutors may be forced to confess their guilt against men as well as against God (Exo 5:16).
5. Hypocritical oppressors may desire forgiveness of Gods people under plagues, as if they would sin no more.
6. Wicked persecutors under judgment are earnest with Gods servants to intercede earnestly for them.
7. It is only death which wicked sinners deprecate.
8. Hypocrites pretend upon deliverance from death, as if they would sin no more, or desire no more mercy (Exo 10:17). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
A false repentance
I. It proceeds from the impulse of the moment, and not from conscientious conviction.
II. It is marked by selfish terror, and not by a godly sorrow for sin.
III. It craves forgiveness of an immediate offence, rather than a thorough cleansing of the heart.
IV. It confides in the intercession of a fellow-mortal, rather than in the personal humbling of the soul before God. Christ is the only Mediator.
V. It regards God more as a terrible Deity whose wrath is to be appeased, than as the Infinite Father whose love is better than life.
VI. it expresses a promise of amendment which is falsified by previous dissemblings.
Lessons:
1. To be sure that our repentance is genuine.
2. To bring forth fruit meet for repentance in daily conduct.
3. Not to pass a hasty judgment on the repentance of men. Half the Revivalists of the day would have called Pharaoh a true convert; time tests conversion. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaohs imperfect repentances
Dear children, when any one confesses with sincerity, I have sinned; when he says this to God, and not merely to man, be sure that he is never rejected. But let us observe what was wanting in the repentance of Pharaoh.
1. Belief in God, He called Him the Lord your God. He spoke of Him as of a stranger. Now, it is impossible that any person or child can love the Lord until he feels himself reconciled to Him by faith, until he can call Him the Lord my God.
2. Pharaoh had humbled himself before men, rather than before God.
3. He besought the prayers of others, instead of praying for himself.
4. He asked the forgiveness of the servants of God, instead of seeking pardon from God Himself. If he had said, like David, I acknowledge my sin unto the Lord, he might have added like him, And Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
5. Pharaoh did not concern himself about the salvation of his soul. He intreated, not that he might be delivered from sin, but only that this death should be taken away from him; he did not think of eternity, but only of the plague under which he was suffering.
6. Lastly, remark that the king still cherished secret designs in his heart; his submission was not unreserved. We have begun as it were to repent; but as long as we are not willing to renounce all, to follow Jesus, our repentance is of no avail. Pharaoh said, Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and herds be stayed. His heart was not yet submissive, thus his repentance was vain. (Prof. Gaussen.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Pharaoh called for them, because this kind of plague in itself was most pernicious, whereby whole countries had been wasted, and grievous famines and pestilences caused, and was mightily aggravated by the vengeance of God, and by the peculiar quality of these locusts, which did not only fall upon their herbs and fruits, as they use to do, but invade their very houses, Exo 10:6, infect their meats, fill their beds, poison them with their stink and with their venomous bitings, whereby they killed many men, as it is written in Wis 16:19.
Against you; by contempt of your great and terrible works, by breach of my promise made to you, and by my denial of your just desires and commands given to me in his name, whom I now find and feel to be the almighty and sovereign God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste,…. Or, “hastened to call them” t; sent messengers in all haste to fetch them, and desire them to come as soon as possible to him. Thus he who a few hours ago drove them from his presence, in a hurry, sends for them to come to him with all speed, which the present circumstances he was in required:
and he said to Moses and Aaron: when they were brought into his presence:
I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you; against the Lord by disobeying his command, in refusing to let Israel go, when he had so often required it of him; and against Moses and Aaron his ambassadors, whom he had treated with contempt, and had drove them from his presence with disgrace; and against the people of Israel, whom they personated, by retaining them, and using them so ill as he had. This confession did not arise from a true sense of sin, as committed against God, nor indeed does he in it own Jehovah to be his God, only the God of Moses and Aaron, or of the Israelites; but from the fright he was in, and fear of punishment continued upon him, to the utter ruin of him and his people.
t – “et festinavit ad vocandum”, Montanus; “festinavit accersere”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This plague, which even Pliny calls Deorum irae pestis , so terrified Pharaoh, that he sent for Moses and Aaron in haste, confessed his sin against Jehovah and them, and entreated them but this once more to procure, through their intercession with Jehovah their God, the forgiveness of his sin and the removal of “ this death.” He called the locusts death, as bringing death and destruction, and ruining the country. Mors etiam agrorum est et herbarum atque arborum , as Bochart observes with references to Gen 47:19; Job 14:8; Psa 78:46.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 16-20:
When Pharaoh saw the effects of the plague of locusts, he became desperate. He sent “in haste” for Moses and Aaron. He acknowledged, “I have sinned against Jehovah your Elohe, and against you.” He admitted his sin against Jehovah, but did not acknowledge Him as his God.
Pharaoh admitted his sin ‘against Moses and Aaron in making promises to them and then failing to keep them.
“I pray thee,” I beg of you. The proud sovereign now became the pitiful supplicant, the beggar.
Not only did Pharaoh acknowledge his sin, he asked forgiveness. He was suffering under Divine judgment. But it was not repentance; it was a desire for relief from suffering.
Jehovah heard this request, and sent a “mighty strong west wind,” lit. “a very strong sea-wind,” from the Mediterranean Sea. This wind blew the locusts in the direction they had come, and they drowned in the waters of the Red Sea, or “Sea of Reeds.” Not one locust was left in Egypt.
When Pharaoh saw that the plague was lifted, he changed his mind and refused to let Israel go. “The Lord hardened” his heart, but only after he had made the fatal choice of sin against knowledge.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste. This haste arose from anxiety and fear, because it was a time of extremity, and the enormity of the evil admitted no delay. By this vehemence, then, Pharaoh betrays his distress, when he not only willingly is inclined to recall Moses, whom he had lately driven out, but does so in such haste. The confession which is added, although it flowed from a double or deceitful heart, still was not altogether feigned. For we cannot doubt that (because Pharaoh was conscious of his sin) God extorted from him this cry, “I have sinned,” under the smiting and compulsion of His chastisements. For we must observe this distinction, which I have already laid down, between the hypocrites who lie and deceive designedly, or who knowingly and willfully delude others, and those who beguile themselves, and have a terror of God’s judgments, even while they cherish iniquity and impiety in the secret recesses of their hearts. Pharaoh was a hypocrite of this latter kind, who, although having no professed intention of deceiving either God or Moses, yet, because he did not prove and examine himself, did not sincerely confess his sin. And this must be carefully observed, lest any should slumber in false repentance, as if temporary fear or forced humiliation could propitiate God. As to his saying, that he had “sinned against the Lord God and the Israelites,” it must be thus explained, that he had been rebellious against God, because he had unjustly afflicted that people which He had taken under His care, and into His confidence. For, although he had not been taught by the Prophets, yet did he hold this principle; that, because God by plain and illustrious miracles had shown that people to be under His defense and protection, he had by his iniquitous and tyrannical oppression of them committed an injury against their patron and guardian.
He confesses, then, that he is doubly culpable, because he had been cruel to the people, and had impiously despised God. This would have been an evidence of true repentance, if it had proceeded from pure and genuine feeling; for the sinner, voluntarily condemning himself, prevents the judgment of God. His humiliation also appears in this respect to have been by no means ordinary, when he humbly prays to Moses for forgiveness; for it was no slight virtue, that a very powerful king should thus submit himself to an obscure and despised individual; which even the lower classes are often ashamed to do. But., inasmuch as his heart was still enchained by secret corruption, he deceitfully made a show of the outward signs (of humiliation) instead of the reality. Wherefore David, when he declares, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered,” has good cause for adding, “and in whose spirit is no guile.” (Psa 32:1.) In order, therefore, that we may prove to God, whose attribute it is to search the heart, the truth of our repentance, let us learn seriously and inwardly to examine ourselves, lest there should be any hypocrisy lurking within us. The addition “only this once,” is meant to testify the continuance of his better mind; as though he acknowledged that he had been hitherto perfidious, and promised that he would hereafter obey God in good earnest. Whence we gather, that the reprobate do not return immediately to their natural habits and disposition, because they are ignorant of the power and nature of true conversion, but, because being without a spirit of uprightness, they have a perverse and crooked heart. Moreover, by desiring only that this present death should be removed from him, he seems not much to care for an entire reconciliation with God; as it is usual for the wicked to be indifferent to the hatred or favor of God, and only to have a dread of His hand. Careless, then, of his sin, he merely wishes that punishment should be far removed from him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 10:16-20
A FALSE REPENTANCE
Pharaoh had driven Moses and Aaron from his presence, but now he recalls them in great haste, and with much respect. The day will come when all rebellious souls will be glad to engage the intercessions of the good; even though they may despise them now. Hence the plague of locusts made a great impression upon the king, and he became very anxious for its removal. A False Repentance:
I. It proceeds from the impulse of the moment, and not from conscientious conviction. This token of repentance was the outcome of impulse. The king was awe-stricken by the plague of locusts, and for the moment was bowed in repentant mood. His confessions of sin were prompted by the feeling of the hour, and would be silenced by the removal of the plague. His repentance was not a matter of deep conviction. His soul felt no agony for sin. It had no vision of an offended God, of a broken law, or of a woful destiny to come. It saw only a temporary retribution. A truly penitent spirit will look through all the pain that occasions its grief to that Being who alone can pardon its sin. Conviction rather than impulse must mark the commencement of a new life, and can alone give it permanent reality. The repentance of impulse is but of short duration.
II. It is marked by selfish terror, and not by a godly sorrow for sin. Pharaoh evinces a slavish dread, and a fear of death. He had no thought about the sin he had committed. He was not filled with genuine sorrow on account of his wilful rejection of the Divine claims. His cries were those of a despairing soul; they were not the utterances of a contrite heart. He felt the force of the retribution that rested upon him. He had no means whereby to escape it. Death was before him. He saw little hope of mercy; in fact, mercy in the true sense of the word he did not seek. And a false repentance has always a large element of terror in it, and that sorrow for sin, which is so true and refreshing, is unknown to it.
III. It craves forgiveness of an immediate offence rather than a thorough cleansing of the heart. Pharaoh sought the forgiveness of his sin this once; he did not ask for the purification of his moral nature. He had spent a long life in sin, he had been guilty of continued opposition to God, and his repentance ought to have had reference to his entire life. But he cared not for the cleansing of his soul, he only wanted the removal of the plague. A false repentance only contemplates the sin that is nearest the trouble that has come upon the sinner, and which seems to have brought it. It does not imagine that the cleansing of the heart is the first condition of freedom from retribution. One plague may be removed, but if the soul is unchanged in its mood, another will succeed it. The heart must be pure before the plague will cease, before heaven will smile upon the soul.
IV. It confides in the intercession of a fellow-mortal rather than in the personal humbling of the soul before God. Pharaoh asked Moses to pray for him, but was not much inclined to pray for himself. False repentance always substitutes the petitions of others for its own pleadings with the Almighty. It has more faith in the supplications of the good than in its own selfish prayers. In the work of repentance the soul must be intensely personal. It must think for itself. It must feel for itself. It must pray for itself. The ministers of God may direct and aid a soul in the hour of sorrow for sin, but beyond this they are useless. The soul must come direct to God if it seeks mercy. Christ is the only mediator. A human priest usurps the Divine prerogative.
V. It regards God more as a terrible Deity whose wrath is to be appeased, than as the Infinite Father whose love is better than life. Pharaoh regarded the great God as a Despot whose wrath he had awakened, and whose retribution he had invited. He saw the Divine character through the medium of retribution. He beheld not the mercy of the Infinite. A false repentance always has wrong notions of the character and government of God. It sees the tyrant where it ought to see the Father. It sees the despot where it ought to see the Judge.
VI. It expresses a promise of amendment which is falsified by previous dissemblings. A false repentance is always loud in its promises of reformation, which are generally falsified by the subsequent conduct of the sinner. Some men have appeared penitent so often that it is difficult to know when their sorrow is real and whether it is likely to be abiding. Repentance is such a beautiful thing that Satan is sure to try to imitate it, and satisfy men with its counterfeit if he can so delude them. LESSONS:
1. To be sure that our repentance is genuine.
2. To bring forth fruit meet for repentance in daily conduct.
3. Not to pass a hasty judgment on the repentance of men. Half the Revivalists of the day would have called Pharaoh a true convert; time tests conversion.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 10:15-17. Vengeance may make persecutors call in Gods servants for help as hastily as they drove them out.
Double confession of sin many hypocrites make under plagues, yet not in truth.
Proud persecutors may be forced to acknowledge their guilt against man and God.
It is only death which troubled sinners deprecate.
Exo. 10:18-20. The winds are in the hand of God. God spares the wicked in answer to the prayer of the good.
God can make winds take away plagues as well as bring them.
Miraculous is Gods healing, as well as plaguing, at the desires of His servants.
Judgments of removing and heart hardening from God may be coupled together in the wicked.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste.Heb., hasted to call for Moses and Aaron. The expression hasted to call is new, and marks extreme urgency. The visitation of the locusts was felt as far more severe than any previous one. It entirely destroyed all the remaining harvest, both of grain and fruit, and must have produced a terrible famine, had it not been for the Egyptian institution of granaries (Gen. 41:35; Gen. 41:48, &c).
I have sinned . . . Comp. Exo. 9:27. This confession is an improvement upon the former one: (1) as acknowledging a double faultagainst the Lord and against you; and (2) as free from any attempt to put the blame, either wholly or in part, upon others. It was probably sincere at the time; but the feeling from which it sprang was short-lived.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16, 17. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste This awful destruction humbles him to more earnest entreaty than ever before, and it seems to him that if “this death only” be removed, no more dreadful judgment can be inflicted by Jehovah .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 10:16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
Ver. 16. I have sinned against the Lord. ] A fair confession, but forced and extorted. Thus the toad, if beaten on the belly, will vomit up his venom, and the malefactor on the rack will utter all. But as water heated, if taken off the fire will soon return to its natural coldness, yea, become colder after heating than before; a so hypocrites’ heats are not kindly, from the Spirit, but violent, from the outward fire of God’s judgments: therefore when that is out, these are gone.
a Aristot., Meteor., i. 12.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sinned. Hebrew. chat’a. App-44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
called for: Heb. hastened to call
I have: Exo 9:27, Num 21:7, Num 22:34, 1Sa 15:24, 1Sa 15:30, 1Sa 26:21, 2Sa 19:20, Job 34:31, Job 34:32, Pro 28:13, Mat 27:4
Reciprocal: Gen 41:14 – and they brought him hastily Exo 8:25 – General Exo 10:8 – brought Jos 7:20 – Indeed 2Sa 19:19 – did perversely
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
AN INSINCERE CONFESSION
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.
Exo 10:16
The words I have sinned occur nine times in the Bible, and of the nine we may except two. In the seventh chapter of Micah they are the language, not of an individual, but of a Church. And the prodigals use of them is, of course, not matter of fact or history, but only part of a parable. Of the seven that are left, four are utterly hollow and worthless; in Gods scale, wanting, unreal, and unprofitable. One of these was Pharaohs.
I. At what time Gods hardening of Pharaohs heart began, it is impossible exactly to determine.But, from the first, it was judicial. It is a common story. A sin is indulged till the man is given over to his sin, then the sin is made its own punishment. It was no doubt in consequence of this hardness that Pharaohs repentance was never anything more than one after a worldly sort. If we allow ourselves to go through hardening processes we shall ultimately put repentance out of our power.
II. Pharaohs I have sinned was(1) A mere hasty impulse. There was no thought in it; no careful dealing with his own soul; no depth. (2) The moving principle was fear. He was agitated: only agitated. Fear is a sign of penitence, but it is doubtful whether there was ever a real repentance that was promoted by fear only. (3) Pharaohs thoughts were directed too much to man. He never went straight to God, and hence his confession was not thorough.
III. God accepts even the germs of repentance.Even Pharaohs miserable acknowledgment had its reward. Twice, upon his confession, God stayed His hand. The loving Father welcomed even the approximation to a grace.
Rev. Jas. Vaughan.
Illustration
Property was going; the land was being devastated; his empire was impoverished; and he exclaimed, I have sinned. He simply desired to avert a punishment that was throwing a black shadow over him!
Now, fear may be, and probably it must be, a part of real repentance. I do not despise fear. Fear is a sign of penitence. Fear is a very good thing. But I doubt whether there was ever a real repentance that was promoted by fear only.
This is the reason why so fewso very fewsick-bed repentances ever stand. They were dictated by fear only. When the Holy Ghost gives repentance, He inspires fear; and He also adds, whatif we may not yet call it love, yet has certainly some soft feelingsome desire towards God Himself.
I believe that to be essential to the grace of repentance.
That, Pharaoh had not. Again, and againas soon as ever the chastening hand was taken offhe returned to his apathy,to his covetousness,to his scepticism!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
10:16 Then Pharaoh called for {f} Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
(f) The wicked in their misery seek God’s ministers for help, even though they hate and detest them.