Exodus 8:23

Exo 8:23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

Ver. 23. And I will put a division.] Heb., A redemption; so Luk 1:68. Aristotle reporteth that, when from the hill Etna there ran down a torrent of fire that consumed all the houses thereabouts, in the midst of those fearful flames the river of fire parted itself, and made a kind of lane for those who ventured to rescue their aged parents. This extorted from him an acknowledgment of God’s good providence for the godly here on earth. {a}

{a} Eνθα το των ευσεβων μενος εξοχως ετιμησε το δαιμονιον. Arist., De Mundo., cap. 6.

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.

Exo 8:23-24. A division — A wall of partition. There came a grievous swarm of flies — The prince of the power of the air has gloried in being Beel-zebub, the god of flies; but here it is proved that even in that he is a pretender, and a usurper; for even with swarms of flies God fights against his kingdom and prevails. The land was corrupted — By the land Bochart understands the inhabitants of the land, whose blood these flies sucked, and left such a poison in it that their bodies swelled, and many of them died.

But Le Clerc understands it of the flesh and other eatables, which those vermin having preyed upon and fly-blown, bred maggots, and spread stench and putrefaction throughout the land.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 23. And I will put a division] פדת peduth, a redemption, between my people and thy people; God hereby showing that he had redeemed them from those plagues to which he had abandoned the others.

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

23. set redemption (RVm.) between, &c. A singular expression, interpreted to mean make a distinction by redeeming (‘redemption,’ as Isa_50:2, Psa_111:9; Psa_130:7†). There is probably some error in the text; perhaps make a severance (pelûth for pedûth) should be read.

to-morrow] Cf. Exo_9:5-6; Exo_9:18, Exo_10:4; also Exo_8:10; Exo_8:29 (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 Lord did so,.... And this he did immediately of himself without any means; not by the rod of Aaron, to let the Egyptians see that there was nothing in that rod, that it had no magic virtue in it, and what was done by it was from the Lord himself, who could as well inflict plagues without it as with it; see Psa 105:31 and there came a grievous swarm of flies; or a "heavy" (q) one, which was both very numerous, and very troublesome and distressing:

into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt: into the palace of Pharaoh, and into the palaces of his nobles, ministers, and courtiers, and into the dwelling places of all his subjects, throughout the whole land, excepting the land of Goshen:

the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies; Josephus (r) says, the land lay neglected and uncultivated by the husbandmen; it may be, the air was infected by the flies, which produced a pestilence that took off many of the inhabitants; so among the Eleans, as Pliny (s) reports, a multitude of flies produced a pestilence; however, it is certain many of the inhabitants of Egypt perished by them; they might sting them to death, suck their blood, and poison them with their envenomed stings; see Psa 78:45.

(q) "gravis", Montanus, "gravissime", V. L. (r) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 2. c. 14. sect. 3.) (s) Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 28.

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

Be. Here again the Samaritan copy observes, that Moses told this to Pharao. (Haydock)

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).

A division; Heb. a redemption or deliverance, i.e. a token or mean of deliverance, by a metonomy; a wall of partition, by which I will preserve the Israelites, whilst I destroy the Egyptians.

Tomorrow shall this sign be. This he saith, partly to gain the more belief to himself in what he now did or should timber speak in God’s name to them; and partly to warn them of their danger, and make their disobedience more inexcusable.

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

A division. Literally "a redemption," i.e. , a sign that they are redeemed from bondage, and are "My people," not thine any longer. Tomorrow. Particulars of time and place are fixed beforehand, to mark clearly that the visitation does not take place by chance, or by mere natural law, but by Gods positive decree and by his agency.

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

A division - A wall of partition.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

division Heb. peduth, trans. "reemption."

Psa 111:9; Psa 130:7. It is, in type, Gal 6:14.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.