Exodus 10:14

Exo 10:14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous [were they]; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

Ver. 14. And the locusts went up.] As a formidable army. See a graphical description of a like plague threatened in Joe 2:4-11.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, he caused them to remain.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 14. Before them there were no such locusts, &c.] They exceeded all that went before, or were since, in number, and in the devastations they produced. Probably both these things are intended in the passage. See Ex 10:15.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt.—It is not, perhaps, certain that this is intended literally, since universal expressions are continually used by the sacred writers where something less than universality is meant. But, strengthened as the clause is by the succeeding one, we must suppose a very general visitation to be spoken of. Now Egypt extends, from north to south, a distance of above 500 miles, and the Delta has a width of 150 miles. No column of locusts having nearly such dimensions is recorded in history. Perhaps the visitation was confined to the Delta and the vicinity of Memphis. Even so, it would have covered an area of 7,000 square miles, or one nearly equal to that of Wales.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. went up] came up (v. 12).

borders (Heb. border)] i.e. territory, as Exo_8:2, Exo_10:4; Exo_10:19 (cf. p. 56).

grievous] Exo_8:24, Exo_9:3; Exo_9:18; Exo_9:24.

before them, &c.] cf. v. 6b, Exo_9:18 b, 24b, Exo_11:6 b; and p. 56.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt,.... Being raised up by the wind in the places where they were generated, they flew and spread themselves all over the land, being in a wonderful manner produced and multiplied by the power of God:

and rested in all the coasts of Egypt; in every part of it where the Egyptians dwelt, and where there were meadows, pastures, fields, gardens, orchards; here they lighted and fed, excepting the land of Goshen, where Israel dwelt, which must be thought to be exempted from this plague, as from the rest.

Very grievous were they; because of the mischief that they did, and because of their multitude, for they were innumerable, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it, and as it is, Psa 105:34,

there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such; there were none before, and there would be none afterwards like them, which Moses knew by a spirit of prophecy. If this is to be understood of their size, they must be very large; in the year 1556, there were locusts at Milain that were a span long, and had six feet, and these like the feet of rats, and there was one four times bigger than the rest, which was taken and kept by a citizen, and would hiss like a serpent when it saw that no food was set before it (n); yea, Pliny (o) speaks of locusts in India three feet long; and what Moses here says is not contradicted in Joe 2:2 because his words may be understood of the Chaldean army, of which the locusts were an emblem; and besides, each may be restrained to the country in which they were, as that none ever before or since were seen in Egypt as these, though they might be in other countries; and so those in Joel's time were such as never before or since were seen in the land of Judea, though they might be in other places.

(n) Frantzii Hist. Animal. Sacr. par. 5. c. 4. p. 800. (o) Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Went up - At a distance the locusts appear hanging, as it were, like a heavy cloud over the land; as they approach they seem to rise, and they fill the atmosphere overhead upon their arrival.

Over all the land - Travelers mention a cloud of locusts extending over 500 miles, and so compact while on the wing that it completely hid the sun. This passage describes a swarm unprecedented in extent.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hereafter. Joel i. 2, speaking of locusts which infested Judea, uses the same expressions to denote a very heavy judgment. Two events never perfectly agree. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Quest. How can this be true, when the same words are used of the locusts in Joel’s time?

Answ. It might be true of both in divers respects; of these for number and quality, of them for long continuance, for they lasted three or four years, when these were but for a little time; of these for Egypt, of them for Judea, where they were fixed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt. This statement is very emphatic, and seems to imply that the plague was more widely extended than any that had preceded it. Egypt extends about 520 miles from north to south, but except in the Delta is not more than about 20 miles wide. Columns of locusts of the length of 500 miles have been noticed by travellers (Moor in Kirby on Entomology, letter 6.), and 20 miles is not an unusual width for them. But such a length and such a breadth are not elsewhere recorded in combination. Thus the visitation was, in its extent as well as in its circumstances, plainly abnormal.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

so that it was darkened

There were so many locusts that the land appeared to be dark. This can be stated in active form. AT: "so that they darkened the land" or "so that the land appeared dark" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

locust

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ואחריו לא יהיה כן NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH — That plague of locusts which happened during the days of Joel of which it is said, (Joel 2:2) “there hath not been ever the like” — which statement teaches us that it was more grievous than that in the days of Moses — was, however, caused by many species of locusts, together, those called ארבה and ילק and חסיל and גזם; but that which happened in the days of Moses consisted of only one species (the ארבה) and any ארבה like that there never was and never will be.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH [LOCUSTS]. Scripture informs us by way of prophecy that after them, there would never be such [locusts]. Now Rashi commented: “[The plague of locusts] which occurred during the days of Joel, of which it is said, There hath not been ever the like, teaches us that it was greater than that in the days of Moses. The one that happened in the days of Joel was caused by many species together: locust, caterpillar, canker-worm, palmer-worm. But the one which occurred in the days of Moses consisted only of one species, the like of which there never was and never will be.”I have found difficulty in understanding the explanation of the Rabbi [Rashi]. It is written [of the plague which happened in the days of Moses], He also gave their produce unto the caterpillar, and it is also written, He spoke, and the locust came, and the canker-worm without number., 105:34. Thus it is clear that in the plague which occurred in the days of Moses, there were also many species of locusts involved, unlike Rashi’s explanation above. Perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] will answer by saying that in the days of Moses, locust proper was greater than that in the days of Joel, but all other species of locusts in the days of Joel were greater than those in the days of Moses. But these are useless arguments. Instead, [we must say that the expression], in all the borders of Egypt, is connected with the end of the verse: before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such there [in Egypt, but in other places there may be]. It is possible that because the land of Egypt is exceedingly moistened by the river, locusts are not abundant there, for these naturally come in years of drought, as is mentioned by the prophet Joel. (Joel 1:20).Now Rabbeinu Chananel has written in his commentary on the Torah: “From the time that Moses our teacher prayed [for the removal of the locusts] till now, the locusts have not caused damage to the entire land of Egypt, and if an attack of them does occur in the Land of Israel and they proceed to enter within the border of Egypt, they do not devour the produce of the land. People say that this is known by all. Come and see! In the case of frogs, Moses said, Only in the river they will remain, and therefore the altamtzach — [the Arabic word for frogs] — have remained in the river till now. However, in the case of the locusts it is written, There remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt. It is of a phenomenon of this kind that Scripture says, Speak ye of all His marvellous works. ” Thus the language of the Rabbi.In my opinion, the plain meaning of the verse, [neither after them shall be such], is that because the plague of locusts is known to come in all generations, and moreover since this one [in the days of Moses] came in a natural way, it having been the east wind that brought the locusts, [and there was thus reason to believe that such a plague would again come upon Egypt in a natural way], Scripture therefore states that such locusts were the greatest that ever occurred in the natural order of things. Neither before them were there such locusts as they, nor after them shall be such. Through the magnitude of the plague, the Egyptians thus knew that it was a special act of G-d, since the like never happened before. [The plague] that occurred in the days of Joel was likewise a special act of G-d, [and hence Scripture also describes it by saying, There hath never been the like].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.