Exodus 9:10

Exo 9:10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth [with] blains upon man, and upon beast.

Ver. 10. And they took ashes of the furnace.] Whereby, being cast up towards heaven, was sent up, as it were, a complaint to God against the oppression of the Israelites in the furnace of the brick kilns, - see Deu 4:20, - which came down with a vengeance upon man and beast.

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.

The sixth plague.

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

Moses took ashes from the furnace--Hebrew, "brick-kiln." The magicians, being sufferers in their own persons, could do nothing, though they had been called; and as the brick-kiln was one of the principal instruments of oppression to the Israelites [Deu 4:20; Kg1 8:51; Jer 11:4], it was now converted into a means of chastisement to the Egyptians, who were made to read their sin in their punishment.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(10) Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven.—Presenting it, as it were, to God, in evidence of His people’s wrongs.

A boil breaking forth with blains.—Heb., an inflammation, producing pustules. Diseases of this character are not uncommon in Egypt (comp. Deu_28:27), but they are not often very severe; nor do they attack indifferently man and beast. The miraculous character of the plague was shown (1) by its being announced beforehand; (2) by its severity (Exo_9:11); (3) by its universality (Exo_9:11); and (4) by its extension to animals.

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

10. The soot of a kiln, and tossed it for ‘sprinkled it up,’ as v. 8.

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 they took ashes of the furnace,.... Which was near at hand, perhaps in Pharaoh's kitchen:

and stood before Pharaoh; not in his palace, or in any covered room, but in some place open to the heaven, a courtyard or garden adjoining to the palace: and Moses sprinkled it up towards heaven; cast it up in the air; this being again ascribed to Moses, seems to confirm the notion of those who think he only did it; but, for the reasons before given, both may be thought to be concerned:

and it became a boil breaking forth with blains, upon man, and upon beast; these failing down in the manner before described, on whomsoever they lighted, whether man or beast, produced sore boils and inflammations, and raised blisters and blotches; and hence arose those lying scandalous stories of the Israelites being a scabby people, and of their being driven out of Egypt on that account, affirmed by Manetho, Lysimachus, Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Justin, and others; See Gill on Exo 4:6 with this plague the first vial poured forth on mystical Egypt, or antichrist, has some agreement, Rev 16:2.

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

God multiplying that dust, and heating it, and then dispersing it over all the land, and causing it to fall and rest upon the bodies of the Egyptians.

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

The furnace. It is perhaps not very important what kind of "furnace" is meant. But the point has been seriously debated. Some suppose a furnace for the consumption of victims, human or other; some a baking oven, or cooking stove; others a furnace for smelting metal; others again a limekiln. The ordinary meaning of the word used, kibshon, is a "brick-kiln;" but bricks were not often baked in Egypt. Nor is it at all clear that any victims were ever consumed in furnaces. Probably either a brick-kiln or a furnace for the smelting of metals is meant.

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

Ashes of the furnace - Sometimes God shews men their sin in their punishment: they had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now the ashes of the furnace are made as much a terror to them as ever their task-masters had been to the Israelites. This is afterwards called the botch of Egypt, Deut. xxviii, 27, as if it were some new disease, never heard of before, and known ever after by that name.

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

באדם ובבהמה UPON MAN AND UPON CATTLE — If you ask, “Whence did they obtain these cattle”? Has it not already been stated, (v. 6) “And all the cattle of Egypt died”? I reply that this judgment was decreed only against the cattle that were in the fields, as it is said, (v. 3) “[The hand of the Lord is] upon thy cattle which is in the field”, and everyone who feared the Lord took his cattle in-doors. So it is taught in the Mechilta in the comment on (Exodus 14:7) “And he took six hundred chosen chariots.”

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.