Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 11:7
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
7. shall not a dog whet his tongue ] A proverbial expression, implying that not only should they suffer no actual harm, but no unfriendly sound should even be heard against them. Cf. Jdt 11:19 ; and, with ‘no man’ as subject, Jos 10:21.
that ye may know, &c.] cf. on Exo 8:10, and p. 56.
put a difference ] in the Heb. a single word, the verb rendered ‘sever’ on Exo 8:22, Exo 9:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shall not a dog move his tongue – A proverb expressive of freedom from alarm and immunity front assault.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. Not a dog move his tongue] This passage has been generally understood as a proverbial expression, intimating that the Israelites should not only be free from this death, but that they should depart without any kind of molestation. For though there must be much bustle and comparative confusion in the sudden removal of six hundred thousand persons with their wives, children, goods, cattle, c., yet this should produce so little alarm that even the dogs should not bark at them, which it would be natural to expect, as the principal stir was to be about midnight.
After giving this general explanation from others, I may be permitted to hazard a conjecture of my own. And,
1. Is it not probable that the allusion is here made to a well-known custom of dogs howling when any mortality is in a village, street, or even house, where such animals are? There are innumerable instances of the faithful house-dog howling when a death happens in a family, as if distressed on the account, feeling for the loss of his benefactor but their apparent presaging such an event by their cries, as some will have it, may be attributed, not to any prescience, but to the exquisite keenness of their scent. If the words may be understood in this way, then the great cry through the whole land of Egypt may refer to this very circumstance: as dogs were sacred among them, and consequently religiously preserved, they must have existed in great multitudes.
2. We know that one of their principal deities was Osiris, whose son, worshipped under the form of a dog, or a man with a dog’s head, was called Anubis latrator, the barking Anubis. May he not be represented as deploring a calamity which he had no power to prevent among his worshippers, nor influence to inflict punishment upon those who set his deity at naught? Hence while there was a great cry, tseakah gedolah, throughout all the land of Egypt, because of the mortality in every house, yet among the Israelites there was no death, consequently no dog moved his tongue to howl for their calamity; nor could the object of the Egyptians’ worship inflict any similar punishment on the worshippers of Jehovah.
In honour of this dog-god there was a city called Anubis in Egypt, by the Greeks called Cynopolis, the city of the dog, the same that is now called Menich; in this he had a temple, and dogs, which were sacred to him, were here fed with consecrated victuals.
Thus, as in the first plagues their magicians were confounded, so in this last their gods were put to flight. And may not this be referred to in Ex 12:12, when Jehovah says: Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment? Should it be objected, that to consider the passage in this light would be to acknowledge the being and deity of the fictitious Anubis, it may be answered, that in the sacred writings it is not an uncommon thing to see the idol acknowledged in order to show its nullity, and the more forcibly to express contempt for it, for its worshippers, and for its worship. Thus Isaiah represents the Babylonish idols as being endued with sense, bowing down under the judgments of God, utterly unable to help themselves or their worshippers, and being a burden to the beasts that carried them:
BEL boweth down, NEBO stoopeth; their idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy laden; they are a burden to the weary beast. THEY stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity; Isa 46:1-2. The case of Elijah and the prophets of Baal should not be forgotten here; this prophet, by seeming to acknowledge the reality of Baal’s being, though by a strong irony, poured the most sovereign contempt upon him, his worshippers, and his worship: And Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; FOR HE IS A GOD: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked; 1Kg 18:27. See the observations at the end of chap. xii. See Clarke on Ex 12:51.
The Lord doth put a difference] See on Ex 8:22. See Clarke on Ex 8:22. And for the variations between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch in this place, see at the end of the chapter. See Clarke on Ex 11:9.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Instead of those loud cries of the Egyptian families, there shall be so great a tranquillity among the Israelites, that even the dogs, which are sensible of, and awaked, and provoked by, the least noise, shall not be stirred up by them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. against any of the children ofIsrael shall not a dog move his tongueNo town or village inEgypt or in the East generally is free from the nuisance of dogs, whoprowl about the streets and make the most hideous noise at anypassers-by at night. What an emphatic significance does the knowledgeof this circumstance give to this fact in the sacred record, that onthe awful night that was coming, when the air should be rent with thepiercing shrieks of mourners, so great and universal would be thepanic inspired by the hand of God, that not a dog would move histongue against the children of Israel!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,…. That is, as no hurt should be done to man or beast among them, to the firstborn of either of them, so there would be no noise or cry in their dwellings, but the profoundest silence, stillness, and quietness among them; though this is generally understood of what would be their case when on their march departing out of Egypt, which was immediately upon the slaying of the firstborn; and, if literally understood, it was a very extraordinary thing that a dog, which barks at the least noise that is made, especially in the night, yet not one should move his tongue or bark, or rather “sharpen” u his tongue, snarl and grin, when 600,000 men, besides women and children, with their flocks and herds, set out on their journey, and must doubtless march through many places where dogs were, before they came to the Red sea; though it may also be interpreted figuratively, that not an Egyptian, though ever so spiteful and malicious, and ill disposed to the children of Israel, should offer to do any hurt either to the Israelites or their cattle, or exclaim against them on account of the slaughter of their firstborn, or say one word against their departure, or attempt to stop them, but on the contrary would hasten their going, and be urgent for it:
that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel; by preserving them and theirs, when the firstborn of Egypt were destroyed, and by causing stillness and quietness among them when there was an hideous outcry and doleful lamentation among the Egyptians; and by bringing Israel quietly out from among them, none offering to give the least molestation.
u non acuet, Noldius, p. 517. No. 1471. so Jarchi.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) Shall not a dog move his tongue.Com pare Jos. 10:21. The expression is evidently proverbial.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Shall not a dog move his tongue The very dogs of Egypt shall respect the people before whom their masters cower in fear .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 11:7. Against any of the children of Israel, &c. Observe here, again, the Lord’s distinction of the Israelites. The phrase, a dog shall not move his tongue, is proverbial; and imports, that they should depart with the utmost peace and quietness. See Jdt 11:19.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 75
GOD PUTS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS PEOPLE AND OTHERS
Exo 11:7. Know, how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
A PRINCIPAL intent of God in the various dispensations of his providence is, to make himself known unto the world. By some of his works he makes known his natural perfections of wisdom and power; by others, his moral perfections of goodness and truth. In his dealings with Pharaoh in particular, we are expressly told that he had this end in view [Note: Exo 10:1-2.]. The exercise of his sovereignty was in that instance intended to be displayed [Note: Rom 9:17-20.] ; as also in the whole of the difference which he put between the Israelites and the Egyptians: but if we consider these two nations as types or representatives of the friends and enemies of God, we shall be rather led to contemplate the equity of all his dispensations towards them. It is in this light that we propose to dwell upon the words before us.
Know ye then that the Lord doth put a difference between his own people and others
I.
He did so from the beginning
[Go back to the antediluvian world [Note: How different his conduct towards the two first men that were born into the world! Gen 4:3-5. What singular honour did he confer on Enoch! Heb 11:5. What distinguished mercy did he vouchsafe to Noah! Gen 6:9-13.] Consult the patriarchal age [Note: How different his regards to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from any that he shewed to those amongst whom they dwelt!] Look at the history before us [Note: From the latter plagues, the flies, the murrain, the darkness, and the slaughter of the first-born, the Israelites were exempt. The cloud also was dark to one, but light to the other: and the sea was both a passage and a grave.] Search the records of all succeeding ages [Note: It is impossible to read the history of David or Elijah in the Old Testament, or of the Apostles in the New, and not see this written as with a sunbeam.] The annals of the whole world conspire to establish this important truth.]
II.
He does so at this present hour
[If we have been attentive observers of what passes around us, or within our own hearts, we shall not need to be told that God does at this time, no less than in former ages, distinguish his people from others. He does so in the dispensations [Note: He not unfrequently interposes to screen them from calamities, (Job 5:19-24.) and always to sanctify the calamities he sends. Rom 8:28. His very presence with them in trouble is equivalent to a deliverance from it. Psa 31:20. (The full import of that verse will, when discovered, richly repay our meditations upon it.)] of his providence and in the communications of his grace [Note: Whence is it that the Lords people are enabled to triumph, as they do, over the world, the flesh, and the devil? Is it not that they are strengthened by Christ, (Php 4:13.) and that his grace is sufficient for them?] ]
III.
He will do so to all eternity
[If we would know the full extent of that difference which he will put between his people and others, we must go up to heaven, and taste all the glories of it and go down to hell, and experience all its miseries Never till then shall we be adequate judges of this momentous subject.]
Questions
1.
Do you believe this truth?
[Many think that God will not do good or evil, and that he will neither reward nor punish. Whether they be conscious of such infidelity or not, their life too plainly proves its dominion over them Beware of such atheistical sentiments; and seek that, whatever becomes of others, ye may be monuments of his love and favour ]
2.
Do you live under the influence of it?
[Happy were it for us, if we could always bear in mind this solemn truth! How importunate would be our prayers, how ardent our praises, how indefatigable our exertions! Let us contemplate the separation which God will make in the day of judgment [Note: Mal 3:18; Mat 25:33; Mat 25:46.] ; and labour incessantly, that we may be numbered amongst his most favoured saints [Note: Mal 3:16-17.] ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Reader! again remark the striking tokens of distinguishing grace. Oh! did you, my brother, but always keep this view of things alive in the soul, of the present distinctions which the Lord makes, and the everlasting distinctions which will one day be made, between the precious and the vile, you would taste a thousand mercies, which are lost to the unobserving. Job 5:11-15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 11:7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Ver. 7. Shall not a dog move his tongue. ] And yet how many dead dogs do now-a-days bark and snarl a at the Israel of God! Which, nevertheless, is not without God, 2Sa 16:9-10 who will one day make iniquity to stop her mouth, Job 5:16 Why should this dead dog curse? said Abishai.
a Canina facundia.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dog, &c. Figure of speech Parcemia (App-6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
dog: Jos 10:21, Job 5:16
a difference: Exo 7:22, Exo 10:23, Mal 3:18, 1Co 4:7
Reciprocal: Gen 41:44 – lift up his hand Exo 8:22 – sever Exo 9:26 – General Exo 15:16 – still Psa 8:2 – still Psa 107:42 – iniquity Lam 3:46 – have Act 28:21 – We
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WHEREIN THE DIFFERENCE?
That ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Exo 11:7
I. There is no difference by nature (Rom 3:22-23).All have sinned, all have come short, all are under the curse of a broken law. But by grace the difference is vast as the abyss of space, and is ever widening. There is a difference by grace, for whereas the Egyptians are at the best children of the fallen family of man, the Israelites, who are Israelites indeed, have been born again, the incorruptible seed has been sown in their hearts, and they have become partakers of the Divine nature.
II. There is a difference in their attitude.The Egyptian says, I know not the Lord, neither will I obey His voice. If he shows signs of relenting, and cries, I have sinned, it is only under the pressure of some sudden and terrible calamity, because as soon as it is removed he returns again to the old courses, with even additional hardness of heart. But the Israelite, who is one in the inner man, knows God as Father and Friend. If he falls into sin he is filled with the most bitter compunction, not because of the penalties of sin, but because it causes sorrow to an Infinite Love. He goes softly and carefully, that he may not grieve the Holy Spirit of God; and is conscious that, in spite of all his unworthiness, God has made a covenant with him of life and peace. He is accepted in the Beloved, sees the face of God, knows Him and is known by Him.
III. This difference will, some day, become even more apparent, as one of destiny.Even now it is clear that God makes a difference, not in outward circumstances always, but in peace and rest of soul; but ultimately the wicked shall be severed from among the just, as chaff from wheat; the Egyptians will be whelmed in the sea, whilst the Israel-host shall stand on its margin, with the harps of God. They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked.
Illustration
(1) In some senses there is no difference between Israel and Egypt. There is none as to sinnership, for all have sinned and come short, and none in inclusion in the love of God, Who is rich unto all them that call upon Him. But there is one, and a very deep one, between those who are included in the terms of the covenant, because of their faith in the God-appointed lamb, and those who are enemies in their mind by wicked works. That difference is ordained by God, and lies in the very nature of things. God is their strength and shield. He builds around them a strong wall of defence. He becomes to them a place of broad rivers and streams, on which goes no galley with oars, neither does gallant ship pass thereby. All is helpful and favourable, with as few disadvantages as possible. And when God thus becomes the Deliverer of His people, how absolutely does all opposition break down and give way.
(2) That there are diversities in human character and conduct, in human fortune and destiny, no one questions. The atheist sees in such diversities the result of circumstances and, since in his view there is no controlling mind in the universe, of inexplicable caprice. The Christian, on the contrary, believes that in these diversities there exists, though it is not always discoverable, the operation of Divine wisdom, and even of Divine benevolence. The providence of God and the moral nature of man are sufficient, if both were fully understood, to account for all.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Exo 11:7. Shall not a dog move his tongue A proverbial expression, importing all should be peace and quietness among the Israelites, far from any frightful outcry: that in that memorable night they should meet with nothing to molest or disturb them.