Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 10:7
And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
7. a snare ] fig. for an occasion of destruction. See 1Sa 18:21; and cf. on ch. Exo 23:33 Lit. a fowling-instrument; and probably, in fact, not a ‘snare’ (i.e. a noose; Germ. Schnur, a ‘string’) at all, but the trigger of a trap with the bait upon it 1 [127] .
[127] This must be the meaning, if the Mass. text of Amo 3:5 a (‘Will a bird fall into a trap upon the earth, when there is no mksh for it?’) is right; but even though ‘into a trap’ be omitted with LXX., it still (in spite of EB. ii. 1561) seems to be a probable meaning of the word.
destroyed ] i.e. ruined, viz. through all the calamities that have visited it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7 11. The Pharaoh’s ministers suggest to him that Moses should no longer be permitted to ruin Egypt. He accordingly makes an attempt to come to terms with Moses; but when Moses declares that the whole people must go to hold the feast to Jehovah, he replies that he can only in the men go. The ministers shew by what they say that they are prompted not by religious fear, but only by solicitude for the welfare of their country, the misfortunes of which they attribute to Moses.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the first time the officers of Pharaoh intervene before the scourge is inflicted, showing at once their belief in the threat, and their special terror of the infliction. Also, for the first time, Pharaoh takes measures to prevent the evil; he does not indeed send for Moses and Aaron, but he permits them to be brought into his presence.
Let the men go – i. e. the men only, not all the people. See Exo 10:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 10:7
Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Lessons
1. Threatening from God may touch hearts of servants and not of rulers.
2. God useth kings own servants to move them, when His ministers can avail nothing.
3. Fear of plagues may move wicked ones to yield, where the fear of God is not.
4. It is usual for wicked men to charge Gods servants to be snares, when their sins make them.
5. When God makes His servants ministers of wrath, the wicked are willing to be rid of them.
6. Idolatrous persecutors may tolerate Gods Church to serve Him, when vengeance forces them.
7. Experience of destruction past, and fear of more to come, may cause enemies to move for the Churchs liberty.
8. Persecuting powers are apt to be stupid and willingly ignorant of such destructions. (G. Hughes, D. D.)
A remonstrance against sin
I. Addressed by inferiors to their superiors.
1. Bold.
2. Wise.
3. Needed.
II. Inspired by a deep feeling of terror. It is well for men under any circumstances to cry out against moral evil.
III. Influential for temporary good. Some men are apparently more accessible to the advice of their comrades than they are to the commands of heaven. The wicked servant may preach the gospel to his despotic master.
IV. Ultimately disregarded. Lessons:–
1. Remonstrate with the sinner.
2. Show him the folly and woe of sin.
3. You are not responsible for the result of such a remonstrance. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaohs mad ignorance
Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? was the plea of Pharaohs servants before the locusts came. No; he knew it not; he would not know it. Even now, with the scene of utter desolation everywhere around him, with the fields scorched and barren, and the naked trees stretching out their white and shattered boughs like ghastly skeletons, with even the walls of his houses and the furniture of his chambers marked by the gnawings of those very grievous locusts, with all these terrible witnesses before his eyes, Pharaoh knew it not. (T. S. Millington.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. How long shall this man be a snare unto us?] As there is no noun in the text, the pronoun zeh may either refer to the Israelites, to the plague by which they were then afflicted, or to Moses and Aaron, the instruments used by the Most High in their chastisement. The Vulgate translates, Usquequo patiemur hoc scandalum? “How long shall we suffer this scandal or reproach?”
Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God] Much of the energy of several passages is lost in translating Yehovah by the term Lord. The Egyptians had their gods, and they supposed that the Hebrews had a god like unto their own; that this Jehovah required their services, and would continue to afflict Egypt till his people were permitted to worship him in his own way.
Egypt is destroyed?] This last plague had nearly ruined the whole land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How long shall this man be a snare; an occasion of sin and destruction? See Exo 23:33; Jos 23:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-11. Pharaoh’s servants saidManyof his courtiers must have suffered serious losses from the latevisitations, and the prospect of such a calamity as that which wasthreatened and the magnitude of which former experience enabled themto realize, led them to make a strong remonstrance with the king.Finding himself not seconded by his counsellors in his continuedresistance, he recalled Moses and Aaron, and having expressed hisconsent to their departure, inquired who were to go. The prompt anddecisive reply, “all,” neither man nor beast shall remain,raised a storm of indignant fury in the breast of the proud king. Hewould permit the grown-up men to go away; but no other terms would belistened to.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Pharaoh’s servants said to him,…. His courtiers and counsellors, such of them as were not so hardened as others, or however now began to relent, and dreaded what would be the consequence of things, even the ruin of the whole country, the good of which they seem to have had at heart:
how long shall this man be a snare unto us? an occasion of ruin and destruction, as birds by a snare; they speak in a contemptuous manner of Moses, calling him “this man”, the rather to ingratiate themselves into the good will of Pharaoh, and that their advice might be the better and the easier taken:
let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: that is, Moses and his people, grant them their request, that the land may be preserved from ruin; for if things go on long at this rate, utter destruction must ensue:
knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? as good as ruined, by the plagues that already were come upon it, especially by the last, by the murrain and boils upon the cattle, which destroyed great quantities, and by the hail which had smitten their flax and their barley; or, “must thou first know that Egypt is destroyed?” before thou wilt let the people go; or dost thou first wish, or is it thy pleasure, that it should be first declared to thee that Egypt is destroyed, as Aben Ezra interprets it, before thou wilt grant the dismission of this people? The Targum of Jonathan is,
“dost thou not yet know, that by his hands the land of Egypt must perish?”
[See comments on Ex 1:15].
[See comments on Ex 2:15].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The announcement of such a plague of locusts, as their forefathers had never seen before since their existence upon earth, i.e., since the creation of man (Exo 10:6), put the servants of Pharaoh in such fear, that they tried to persuade the king to let the Israelites go. “ How long shall this (Moses) be a snare to us?…Seest thou not yet, that Egypt is destroyed? ” , a snare or trap for catching animals, is a figurative expression for destruction. (Exo 10:7) does not mean the men, but the people. The servants wished all the people to be allowed to go as Moses had desired; but Pharaoh would only consent to the departure of the men ( , Exo 10:11).
Exo 10:8-11 As Moses had left Pharaoh after announcing the plague, he was fetched back again along with Aaron, in consequence of the appeal made to the king by his servants, and asked by the king, how many wanted to go to the feast. , “ who and who still further are the going ones; ” i.e., those who wish to go? Moses required the whole nation to depart, without regard to age or sex, along with all their flocks and herds. He mentioned “ young and old, sons and daughters; ” the wives as belonging to the men being included in the “ we.” Although he assigned a reason for this demand, viz., that they were to hold a feast to Jehovah, Pharaoh was so indignant, that he answered scornfully at first: “ Be it so; Jehovah be with you when I let you and your little ones go; ” i.e., may Jehovah help you in the same way in which I let you and your little ones go. This indicated contempt not only for Moses and Aaron, but also for Jehovah, who had nevertheless proved Himself, by His manifestations of mighty power, to be a God who would not suffer Himself to be trifled with. After this utterance of his ill-will, Pharaoh told the messengers of God that he could see through their intention. “ Evil is before your face; ” i.e., you have evil in view. He called their purpose an evil one, because they wanted to withdraw the people from his service. “ Not so, ” i.e., let it not be as you desire. “ Go then, you men, and serve Jehovah.” But even this concession was not seriously meant. This is evident from the expression, “ Go then, ” in which the irony is unmistakeable; and still more so from the fact, that with these words he broke off all negotiation with Moses and Aaron, and drove them from his presence. : “ one drove them forth; ” the subject is not expressed, because it is clear enough that the royal servants who were present were the persons who drove them away. “ For this are ye seeking: ” relates simply to the words “serve Jehovah,” by which the king understood the sacrificial festival, for which in his opinion only the men could be wanted; not that “he supposed the people for whom Moses had asked permission to go, to mean only the men” ( Knobel). The restriction of the permission to depart to the men alone was pure caprice; for even the Egyptians, according to Herodotus (2, 60), held religious festivals at which the women were in the habit of accompanying the men.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 7-11:
For the first time, Pharaoh’s courtiers speak out. Terrible plagues had devastated the land, the livestock were slain, and the crops were destroyed. They foresaw ultimate ruin to the entire country, if Pharaoh did not agree to Moses’ request. By this time, many of these servants had begun to believe in the power of Moses. Now that he threatened a plague of locusts which would completely wipe out their remaining crops, they were frightened.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron before him. He demanded to know just who would go out of Egypt should he allow their request. Moses’ reply: the entire nation of Israel, with all their possessions.
Moses’ statement angered Pharaoh. This demand seemed so unreasonable that he would under no circumstances grant it. Pharaoh did make a concession: he would allow the adult males to go and worship Jehovah. With this reply, an officer drove the brothers from Pharaoh’s presence.
Pharaoh’s concession reflects a tactic of Satan: that commitment to God should not be of the total person. Pharaoh knew that if the men left their families in Egypt, they were sure to return for them. Satan knows that if we leave our dearest possessions with him, we will return for them.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him. We have seen, a little above, that they were obstinate in common with their king; nor can it be doubted that by their servile flattery they had blinded him more and more; but now, conquered by their calamities, and fearing something still worse, they seek to mitigate his fury, — not because they had themselves returned to their senses, but because they feel that they are overcome by the hand of God, and that strength to resist had failed them. They say, therefore, that Moses, until he should be dismissed, would be a constant source of evil to them. Whether you translate the word מוקש, (117) mokesh, a snare or a stumbling-block, is of little consequence, because it is taken metaphorically for every kind of misfortune or injury. They signify, then, that no end of their troubles was to be expected so long as Pharaoh shall contend with Moses; for that evils would follow upon evils. By the question “how long?” they admonish him that his pertinacity had already been more injurious than enough; and thence they conclude that there is nothing better to be done than, by the expulsion of Moses, to free himself from the snare, or to avoid the stumbling-block, since he could only fight unsuccessfully. As to the second part of the verse, interpreters differ. The Chaldee Paraphrast translates it with the introduction of a negative, — “Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” Word for word it is, “whether to know before,” or “before that to know.” But because the infinitive is sometimes taken for the future, thus does it seem to accord very well with the sense — “Do you wish to know the destruction of the whole kingdom before you desist from your unhappy contention?” as if they had said, that unless God should avert His anger, the remedy would be soon too late and useless.
(117) מוקש. The root of this word makes it obvious that its proper meaning is a snare. The word offendiculum mentioned by C., he found in S. M.; but the LXX and V. have also rendered it a stumbling-block
As to the latter part of this verse, C. : appears to have given too hasty a glance at S. M. ’s notes. Neither the Hebrew nor the Chaldee Paraphrast has used the infinitive. S.M. has ceased to speak of Onkelos, when he proceeds to say, Alii sic vertunt, visne prius experiri? — W.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Let the men go.Though the heart of Pharaoh remained hard, the plagues had a certain effect on the minds of the Egyptians. First, the magicians were impressed, and said, This is the finger of God (Exo. 8:19). Then a certain number of the people feared the word of the Lord, and made their servants and their cattle flee into the houses (Exo. 9:20). Now the very officers of the Court, those who were in the closest contact with the king, believed that the words of Moses would come true, and counselled the king to yield, and let the men go. It has been supposed that they meant the men only (Knobel, Cook); but this is pure conjecture. The word used, which is not that of Exo. 10:11, would cover women and children. The officers of the Courtrich landowners mostlywould dread impending ruin if the wheat and doora crops were destroyed, and would intend to counsel entire submission.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Pharaoh’s servants said unto him For the first time the courtiers of Pharaoh venture to plead with him, and for the first time he sends for Moses and Aaron after they have predicted the plague and gone forth to bring it upon the land . This shows how these judgments were more and more profoundly impressing the Egyptian people .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 10:7. How long shall this man be a snare unto us This thing, LXX. Houbigant renders it, How long shall these things be a snare to us? There is no noun in the text, only the pronoun zeh, which may, with as much propriety, be rendered this thing, as, this man.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 5:13
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 10:7 And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Ver. 7. And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him.] They were convinced and mollified, though he was not. “Whom he will God hardeneth.” Rom 9:18
How long shall this man be a snare unto us?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
this man. Hebrew this one. No word for man here in Hebrew text.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
How long: Exo 10:3
snare: Exo 23:33, Jos 23:13, 1Sa 18:21, Pro 29:6, Ecc 7:26, 1Co 7:35
that Egypt: Psa 107:34, Isa 14:20, Isa 51:9, Jer 48:4, Jer 51:8, Zep 1:18
Reciprocal: Deu 4:34 – temptations 1Sa 5:7 – saw Job 8:2 – How long Psa 46:8 – desolations Psa 105:38 – glad Isa 43:3 – I gave
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 10:7. Pharaohs servants His nobles and counsellors; said, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? That is, lay before us the occasion of our falling into one calamity after another. To the impenitent the punishment of sin, not the sin which is punished, is the cause of their sorrow. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? It was so in a great degree by these repeated and very destructive plagues.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:7 And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a {c} snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
(c) Meaning, the occasion of all these evils: so are the godly ever charged as Elijah was by Ahab.