Exodus 13, The Feast of Unleavened Bread

The firstborn males of the Egyptians have died. The Israelites are now fleeing Egypt.

Exodus 13:1-2, Consecrate the firstborn male

The LORD said to Moses, "Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal."

Of course, in a sense, God owns everything, but in this case, the first offspring male is to be especially consecrated. We have seen a cultural emphasis on the firstborn male throughout the book of Genesis.

Exodus 13:3-8, Celebrate this feast of unleavened bread

Then Moses said to the people, "Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast.

    

Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving. When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites--the land he swore to your forefathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey--you are to observe this ceremony in this month: For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the LORD. Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders.

    

On that day tell your son, `I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.'

The calendar has started over. The Israelites are, for all future time, to reenact this hurried leaving.(Does the lack of yeast indicate urgency?) The day after the Passover, the Israelites are to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread. 

Exodus 13:9-13, Celebrate by redeeming the first-born

This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.

    

"After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your forefathers, you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.

    

Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

Much of the book of Exodus will emphasize observances and remembrances that are to be part of future worship services. In this case the Israelites are to keep this reminder physically close, much like my culture's use of tattoos. 

Exodus 13:14-16, Sons of Israel

"In days to come, when your son asks you, `What does this mean?' say to him, `With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and animal. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.'   

And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand."

Once again, there is an emphasis: "Make sure you remember this."  The Israelites will always be the people of the Exodus; even today most Jewish holidays look back to this time.

Exodus 13:17-22, Traveling towards the Sea of Reeds

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.

    

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place." 

    

After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

The appearance of YHWH as a pillar of cloud or pillar of fire was described by ancient rabbis as the Shekinah Glory.  It will continue to be a visible, physical manifestation of YHWH as His people wander in the desert.

(A reminder: throughout the Old Testament, the Hebrew name Yam Suph, as here in verse 18, is Sea of Reeds, not the Red Sea.)

 

In verse 19, carrying the bones of Joseph, we are remembering Genesis 50:24-25.  (How does the pseudo-Egyptian Moses, presumably raised to adulthood in the palace, know of this old promise?)

There are two feasts mentioned here in Exodus, back-to-back. In chapter 12, we had the Passover and here, immediately after it, we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is matstsah,

מַצָּה

a feminine noun meaning bread (or cake) without leaven. It is translated "unleavened bread" by the NIV; Alter translates it as "flatbread." The issue was not the absence of yeast, but the need to move quickly without waiting for bread to rise.

Some Random Thoughts

People in every culture have set up rituals to memorialized past events or to remember loved ones. This is an important part of human nature. (I have a loved one who has a small tattoo to reminder her of a past miscarriage and more generally, the frailty of human life.)

In this chapter and the one before it, we have two festivals set up: Passover and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one immediately following the other.

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First published March 15, 2023; updated March 14, 2026

Exodus 12, Pesach

After the story of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, covered in chapters 1-11 of Exodus, we suddenly, just before the climactic act, have an interlude. The author of the Torah takes time to carefully describe the expectations of the nation about to rise out of Egypt. This is a new beginning. It will include a new calendar. The birth of the nation includes the first Passover (Hebrew Pesach, פֶסַח.) Out of this event, the People of the Passover are born.

Exodus 12:1-11, The Final Plague is coming

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.

      

If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

    

The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.

    

Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.  This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.

Very specific prescription is given on how each family is to mark their doorposts and cook the lamb. Among the prescription, they are to eat as if in a hurry, ready to go!  These are the people who will always feel like aliens in the land.

Exodus 12:12-14, Passover

"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

    

"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance.

The Passover will be an eternal theme for this nation and so we have instructions to future generations.  The Passover is a central rite of Jewishness.  This is the beginning of a new calendar, a new nation, and a new religion.

Imes, in her online class on Exodus, comments on the word pesach, translated here as Passover. The words "pass over" may not be the best translation.  (She cites Karl Kutz and the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew.) The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew allows pesach to be translated "pass over" or "leap" or "protect".  The term here may more accurately means "protection", that is, it is YHWH who will protect the doorway and the homes as the angel of death passes by. (Alter seems to disagree.)

Exodus 12:15-20, "Remove the yeast!"

For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat--that is all you may do.

    

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born.

    

Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

Emphasized again and again -- remove the yeast! No yeast is allowed at any time during this festival.  Why?  Bread cooked with yeast will require time to rise and the Exodus gives no time. There is to be a sense of urgency.

The "Feast of Unleavened Bread" is a name (hammatztzot) different from Pesach. The Hebrew word matstsah (מַצָּה) is translated "unleavened bread" by the NIV; Alter translates it as "flatbread." The issue was not the absence of yeast, but the need to move quickly without waiting for bread to rise.

Exodus 12:21-23, Blood on the door frame

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.

    

"When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down."

The blood of the sacrificed lamb (and YHWH's protection) will force the "Destroyer" to move on, and pass over the house. 

The blood smeared on the doorframe echoes (says Alter) Zipporah's strange actions in Exodus 4:24-26, when she prevents Moses's death by touching him with the bloody foreskin of their son.

Exodus 12:24-27, A lasting ordinance

"Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants.

    

When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, `What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them, `It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'" 

    

Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

In addition to the drama of the event, there is to be an annual emphasis on remembering Pesach and remembering why it occurred.

Exodus 12:28-30, YHWH strikes the firstborn

The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.

    

Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Now we return to the ten plagues. Across Egypt everyone weeps. The Egypt that long ago had been throwing baby boys in the Nile now loses some of its own children.

Exodus 12:31-34, "Up! Leave!"

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."

    

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!"

    

So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing.

Now everyone, even Pharaoh, wants the Israelites gone.

Exodus 12:35-39, The migration begins

The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.

    

The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. 

  

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

    

With the dough they had brought from Egypt, they baked cakes of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

Six hundred thousand men on foot could mean several million people, counting women and children.  Notice in verse 38 that some Egyptians even join the Israelites! (I will write elsewhere on alternate translations for the 600 elef , אֶלֶף, described here.)

Exodus 12:40-42, 430 years

Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD's divisions left Egypt. Because the LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the LORD for the generations to come.

Verse 40 follows the Masoretic text, stating that the people lived in Egypt for 430 years.  The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint manuscripts have "Egypt and Canaan" in place of "Egypt", extending the 430 years to include, possibly, the life of Jacob. In Genesis 15:13, God tells Abraham that his descendants will be in Egypt for 400 years, a length of time that would fit better with the statement in the Septuagint.

Exodus 12:43-51, Regulations for Passover

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the regulations for the Passover: "No foreigner is to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident and a hired worker may not eat of it. "It must be eaten inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. 

"An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

    

All the Israelites did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron.

    

And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.

Foreigners are prohibited from the Passover celebration.  This includes temporary and hired workers.  However a circumcised slave is treated like any other Jewish male.  Celebrating the Passover requires that the men be circumcised, indicating membership in the Israel covenant community. 

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is ger,

גֵּר

a masculine noun meaning "alien, stranger, sojourner." The Israelites were to always remember that this term once described them.

Some Random Thoughts

The dramatic killing of the firstborn child, which is described in verses 28 to 30 here, is surprisingly not the main point of this chapter. The goal of this chapter is to describe the Passover (Pesach). The Passover will be the fundamental feast -- and the start of the calendar year -- for the new nation of Israel.

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First published March 14, 2023; updated March 13, 2026

Exodus 11, The Final Plague Foretold

The final plague is coming. There have been warnings of this final event. In the last chapter we read of Moses leaving Pharaoh's presence, for the last time. Here we have a summary of that last conversation.

Exodus 11:1-3, One more plague

Now the LORD had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold."

    

(The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people.)

The final plague will completely free the Israelites. For their journey, they are to ask their Egyptian neighbors, those who have a different attitude than the Pharaoh, for treasures and wealth.  (I hope some of these neighbors were warned of what was coming?!)

As the last plague approaches, it appears that Pharaoh is increasing isolated. His officials are probably saying, "Please, let these people go for a time! How is that a problem?"

Exodus 11:4-8, Death of firstborn foretold

So Moses said, "This is what the LORD says: `About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt--worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.

    

But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, `Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave." 

    

Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

The final plague will be devastating. At this point, Moses seems, like YHWH, to run out of patience.

This conversation is a flashback, fitting into a timeline that predates the last verses of chapter 10.

Exodus 11:9-10, Pharaoh refuses to listen

The LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you--so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt."

    

Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

One more time Pharaoh has refused.  He has run out of opportunity and time.

The next chapter will describe this final plague and its result.  But first, there will be a significant interlude in our story.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is nega,

נֶגַע

a masculine noun meaning "sore, plague, wound." It appears 78 times in the Old Testament.

Some Random Thoughts

This short chapter seems strangely out of place to me. It inserts into the last chapter a final conversation with Pharaoh and builds tension towards an outcome that will be briefly described in verses 29 and 30 of the next chapter. Those two verses describe a very memorable event, but from the point of the view of the author of Exodus, the climax of the story is the festival of Pesach (Passover) that is described around the deaths of the firstborn.

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First published March 13, 2023; updated March 12, 2026

Exodus 10, Locusts, Darkness, and...

Pharaoh continues to resist YHWH, Moses and Aaron. And so the plagues continue. There will be three more, two of them in this chapter.

Exodus 10:1-2, "For your children and grandchildren"

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."

Note the long-term view – telling the story to one's children and grandchildren. The eventual results in Egypt will be dramatic. The news about YHWH's work in Israel will spread. Forty years later, a woman, Rahab, will describe (in Joshua 2: 8-11) the terror that came over Jericho when they heard the news about the actions of the God of Israelites, first in Egypt and later, in the desert.

Exodus 10:3-6, A threat of locusts

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: `How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians--something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

The text records YHWH saying, "How long will you refuse me?" while also stating that God "hardens" Pharaoh's heart!

Exodus 10:7-11, Pharaoh refuses

Pharaoh's officials said to him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?"    

    

Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But just who will be going?"

    

Moses answered, "We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD."

     

Pharaoh said, "The LORD be with you--if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil. No! Have only the men go; and worship the LORD, since that's what you have been asking for." Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh's presence.

By this time everyone but a spoiled and stubborn Pharaoh sees the wisdom in giving in to the Israelites.

The Hebrew at the end of verse 10 is difficult. It translates, word-for-word, as "beware for evil is before the face." The NIV translates it as "Clearly you are bent on evil" but allows that it could be translated, "Be careful, trouble is in store for you!" Alter argues that Pharaoh's statement includes a threat -- that Moses and Aaron are walking into trouble.

The Hebrew word for evil, ra' (רַע), sounds very much like the name of the Egyptian god Ra, whom we first encountered in the name of Joseph's father-in-law in Genesis 41:45. It is possible (says Alter) that the ambiguous statement by Pharaoh involves wordplay on that name.

Exodus 10:12-15, The locusts arrive

And the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts will swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail."

    

So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail--everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

And so there is another plague, the eighth. A swarm of locusts, in smaller doses, was a fairly common plague of that region. But this swarm is dramatically bigger than any previous swarm.

Exodus 10:16-20, Repentance and then hardening -- again

Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me."

    

Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD.

    

And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 

    

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

The locusts are carried into the Sea of Reeds by a strong wind.

"Not a single...  survives". This phrase will reappear when the Egyptians attempt to follow the Israelites across the Sea of Reeds.

Exodus 10:21-23, Darkness!

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt--darkness that can be felt."

    

So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Here is the ninth plague. Darkness! It is so deep that it "can be felt." It lasts for three days, so it is not something simple like a solar eclipse.

This reverses Day 1 of Creation, un-creating light.  Quite a number of the plagues "undo" creation, reversing the chaos-to-order progress of Genesis 1.

Exodus 10:24-29, "Do not appear before me again!"

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind."

    

But Moses said, "You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the LORD our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the LORD."

    

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."

    

"Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."

Moses makes it clear that they will not speak again.  The last plague will be extreme and final, indeed indicative of a deep spiritual, universal event. We will build up to that final plague over the next two chapters.

Some Hebrew vocabulary

The Hebrew word erets ,

אֶרֶץ

a feminine noun meaning "earth" or "land." It appears over 2500 times in the Old Testament. It is translated as "earth"in Genesis 1:1 and as land" in Exodus 8:5 but here, in verse 5, it is best translated "ground", as the locusts will be numerous enough to cover the ground.

Some Random Thoughts

The two signs/plagues in this chapter are:

• Locusts
• Darkness

These are plagues eight and nine of the infamous ten.

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First published March 11, 2023; updated March 11, 2026

Exodus 9, Livestock Deaths, Boils, Hail!

Four plagues have descended on Egypt. Despite the series of plagues, the Egyptians refuse to let Moses and his people go. Three more plagues will come in this chapter... and two more in the next.

Exodus 9:1-5, Plague on livestock

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, `This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me."  If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field--on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'"

    

The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land."

Now livestock will die. Again, the Israelites will be spared.

Exodus 9:6-7, Livestock of the Egyptians die

And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

      

Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.

Pharaoh is warned again. Again another plague, the fifth, descends on Egypt.  Although livestock dies, none of the Israelites lose livestock. This is to indicate the special divine action involved in the deaths.

Exodus 9:8-12, Now boils

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land."   

    

So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals.   

     

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.

    

But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.

The sixth plague is some type of skin disease, here translated "boils breaking out."  This is the second time that Pharaoh is not warned.  The magicians' attempt to duplicate the "trick" is stymied by the fact that they themselves have boils! With each new plague, Pharaoh's resistance becomes more isolated; here even his court magicians concede to Moses.

It have been noted that one of the signs given Moses by YHWH in Exodus 4 is a skin disease of white skin, generally translated "leprosy". But Moses does not use that sign before Pharaoh. Instead a different skin disease appears.

This is the first time when YHWH, not Pharaoh, is attributed with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Instead of giving in, Pharaoh now doubles-down on his stubbornness.

Exodus 9:13-15, "Let my people go... or I will send the full force of plagues"

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, `This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth."

Moses is able to speak directly to Pharaoh. He is to confront Pharaoh with the statement that things have only begun, unless the king relents. This confrontation probably occurs along the Nile, not far from the place where an earlier princess pulled a baby out of the water.

Exodus 9:16-21, "Tomorrow, a hailstorm"

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.

    

Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.'"

    

Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.

The previous chapter had a plague that wiped out all the livestock. That report probably involved some typical ANE hyperbole, as in this chapter there is still livestock to bring in from the coming hailstorm.

Note that this plague separates out some Egyptians who "fear the word of the Lord." Many Egyptians no longer support their king. Reading carefully into the text over the ensuing chapters, we will get hints that some Egyptians will join the Israelites, indeed, some follow in the Great Exodus to come.

NIV footnotes: The phrase "I have raised you up" in verse 16 might be translated "I have spared you."

Exodus 9:22-26, Thunder, hail, lightning

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt--on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt."

    

When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields--both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree.The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

This is the seventh plague. A dramatic hailstorm destroys the land -- except in Goshen.

Exodus 9:27-32, Relief from the storm

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer."

    

Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD's.

    

But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God."

    

(The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)

Pharaoh once again repents. Sorta.... He admits that this time he has sinned and done wrong. The response from Moses is that Pharaoh and his officials do not yet truly fear YHWH.

The message from Moses and Aaron is, once again, that all of the Earth is the Lord's and that He controls everything.

Exodus 9:33-35, But the Pharaoh's heart is hard.

Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the LORD; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.

    

So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.

What is going on in Pharaoh’s heart when it hardens?  Does he look out at the fields and say, “This was just coincidence, it was not really God"?

In verse 33 Moses spreads out his hands "to God". Is there a physical direction implied? (Is it up?)

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is shechin,

שְׁחִין

a masculine noun meaning "inflammation, ulcers", or in this chapter, translated "boils." The exact nature of this inflammation is not given. The word appears 13 times in the Old Testament, always as some type of skin disease. According to Alter, the noun is probably related to a root that means "to be hot."

Some Random Thoughts

The next three signs/plagues are:

• Cattle destroyed
• Boils
• Hail

In the list of plagues in Psalm 78:43-51, the plague of boils is not mentioned. In the list of plagues in Psalm 105:27-36, only the plague of hail is mentioned.

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First published March 10, 2023; updated March 10, 2026

Exodus 8, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Oh My!

Moses and Aaron have turned a staff into a threatening snake and then turned the Nile waters into blood. Pharaoh is unperturbed. The pair of Israelite leaders, under YHWH's instruction, will ratchet up the dramatic signs.

Exodus 8:1-4, "Let my people go!"

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, `This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

"If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'"

This is the second plague. Once again, Moses warns Pharaoh. The language of Genesis 1 is used here -- just as God created animals on Days 5 and 6, so that the land and seas "teemed" with them, the Egyptian land will "teem" with frogs. Imes and Fretheim argue for a "de-creation" here -- just as God changed chaos into order in Genesis 1, the ensuing plagues will reverse the process, changing order into chaos.

One might wonder how bad a plague of frogs could be. But this sounds pretty horrid.

The Masoretic text (according to Alter) has a chapter break at this point, ending chapter 7 after the plague of frogs.

Exodus 8:5-7, Frogs

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, `Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'" So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.

    

But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

This seems to be another "trick" that the Egyptian magicians can also do. They have repeated the "sign" with serpents and then the two plagues of blood and frogs. (Do the Egyptians really want a double plague of frogs? It would be much more impressive if the Egyptian magicians waved their hands and the frogs disappeared!)

Exodus 8:8-15, Pharaoh begs for frogs to be removed

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."

    

Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."

      

"Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. 

Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."  

    

After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.

     

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

        

Moses lets Pharaoh have the "honor" of choosing the moment that the frogs would leave. Unlike the court magicians who cannot make the frogs leave, Moses, acting on God's behalf, can make them leave and also have them leave at any set time.

In a pattern that will become annoying, the Pharaoh will express sorrow, ask for help and then change his mind. These actions give the impression of a juvenile tantrum, with negotiations only when things seem bad. Note that although the court magicians seem to be able to create a mess of frogs, they are unable to undo that. Only Moses (through YHWH) can turn the chaos back into order.

Exodus 8:16-19, Dust to gnats

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, `Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.

    

But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.

This is the third plague. This time Moses does not warn Pharaoh. The magicians cannot duplicate this plague and say (finally) "This is an act of God." The court magicians are impressed. But Pharaoh continues to stubbornly resist.

Alter suggests that "lice", not "gnats", may be a better interpretation of this plague.

Exodus 8:20-23, Swarm of flies promised

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, `This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.  If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.

`But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.'"

Moses is to confront Pharaoh on his (daily?) walk to the water. Once again, Moses will warn the king. In this case, the Israelites will not experience the plague; this is a new step, an advancement in the level of the signs and plagues.

Alter suggested there is wordplay here (and in a number of similar places in the plague confrontations) as Moses says, "Let go of my people" and then, using the same verb, threatens to send a plague (such as flies) into Egypt. The Hebrew verb shalach ( שָׁלַח) appears in both places, in different sentence structures (apparently Piel and Hiphil verb stems.)

Fretheim alerts us to the "knowing" passages. Once again, YHWH says, "this will be done so that you will know Me."

Exodus 8:24-28, Flies descend on the Egyptians

And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies. 

    

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land."

    

But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us."

    

Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."

  

The fourth plague is a horrible swarm of flies. (The Hebrew does not describe the insects that are swarming, but an identification with flies is a natural one.)

Moses continues to insist on a three-day journey for the Israelites to sacrifice together. There is a reason that the Israelites want to go into the desert -- they are to worship their god, the God of their forefathers. 

Does Moses really intend just a short retreat for worship?  The three-day journey is likely intended as a simple request. This simple request is denied so many times that when the last plague comes, the Pharaoh expels the people from Egypt so that they must leave permanently, as was planned all along.)

Exodus 8:29-32, But Pharaoh hardens his heart

Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."

    

Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD, and the LORD did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained.

    

But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

Repeatedly the king hardens his heart. We see that, in a sense, this is part of God’s plan. We have a repetitive story-telling theme -- again and again, as things get worse and worse, Pharaoh cycles through repentance and then a "hardened" heart.

 

In the first four plagues, Pharaoh has been warned, warned, then not warned, then warned again. Imes, in her class on Exodus, points out a cyclical nature of these plagues, in cycles of length three. In each cycle, the first two of the plagues are given after a warning; in the third, the plague comes unannounced.  (She observe additional patterns, as the plagues increase in their effect, but that probably takes me away from my goals to keep reading....)

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is kabad,

כָּבַד

a verb meaning "to be honored, glorified, heavy, burdensome." It is used in Exodus 5:9 to describe the burden placed on the Israelites. But in verses 15 and 32, above, it describes Pharaoh's heart. His heart is "heavy, burdensome," that is, it his heart is sluggish, "hardened", and unchanging.

Some Random Thoughts

The three plagues (signs of God's power over creation) in this chapter are:

• Frogs,
• Gnats,
• Flies.

Psalm 78:43-51 only mentions two of these plagues; the plague of gnats/lice is not mentioned. In the list of plagues in Psalm 105:27-36 all three plagues are mentioned.

Years ago I experience a swarm of biting black flies in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was not a trivial problem.

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First published March 9, 2023; updated March 9, 2026

Polygamy and Slavery in Old Testament Times

The Old Testament confronts us with an ancient culture.  Although there are a variety of good things about that culture, the modern reader will be repulsed by the violence, including a number of stories of rape and slaughter.  The author of the Torah adds almost no commentary to the history, merely reporting them.  (Be alert for those rare insertions of commentary into the historical accounts.)

Most of us realize that the violence is merely reported, that it is certainly not promoted and is rarely justified.  But there are several disturbing parts of the ancient culture that seem to be clearly accepted by the author of the Torah.  Are they justified?  Since many of us view the Torah as Scripture, there is a tendency to believe that the historical reports somehow validate the ancient culture.  But that is not so -- the ancient culture is merely reported, in historical context.  The author of the Torah neither condemns nor promotes these cultural beliefs, probably because they themselves were embedded within that culture.

There are three Old Testament cultural practices that I find particularly abhorrent: Polygamy, Slavery, and the treatment of women. The third in the list is pervasive enough that others have written copiously about it -- the ancient Old Testament society is patriarchal, with men often treating women as possessions. The patriarchy is pervasive enough in the ancient near east that those women who break out of it in various ways -- Tamar, some Israelite midwives, a pharaoh's daughter, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Esther... -- are memorable. Since patriarchal attitudes and misogyny appear in every culture, including my own, it may not leap out from the text as sharply as the stories of polygamy and slavery.

Polygamy

Polygamy occurs throughout the Old Testament and is never condemned.  However, as at least one commentator (Dr. James Allman, class on Genesis) has stressed, it is also never promoted.  Polygamy is the source of conflict: there are numerous stories of a favorite wife (often not fertile) and a less favorite wife (who seems to be fertile) and even women who are "concubines", who do not quite have the status of "wife" but are available as potential sex partners and mothers.  The Old Testament Law, as given to Moses, does not abolish polygamy but insists on a structure, forbidding adultery and "coveting" of women other than one's wife.

The ancient near east (ANE) emphasis on polygamy is a natural result of the ancient need for large families, where the children were eventually the work-force. Polygamy was also often used to create alliances with other family groups. This Wikipedia page elaborates further on polygamy, giving the term polygyny for marriages with one man and many wives.

In the New Testament, some 15 or more centuries closer to our time than Abraham, polygamy appears to be much less common.  And church leaders are instructed in several places (eg. here) to have (no more than) one wife.  See this article on Polygamy in the Bible (and what Jesus said about it.)

Slavery

Slavery is also a natural part of the ANE culture.  It appears as a natural part of that ancient culture and thus appears throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament Law, as given to Moses, does not abolish slavery but insists on modifying it so that the ebed (עֶבֶד) is more of an indentured servant. Kidnapping was prohibited (Exodus 21:16), as was the sale of human beings, so one could not capture an ebed nor trade one. This means that slaves in Israel were bond-servants: presumably out of desperate poverty, they offered themselves in servitude in exchange for housing and food. (See Deuteronomy 15: 12-15.) The ebed was to be treated with care and had the opportunity (on a Sabbath year) to be free. If one were a slave in the ANE one would wish to be a slave in Israel.  

My American Twenty-first Century culture certainly finds polygamy, slavery, and misogyny repulsive. And so I react to the Old Testament stories with a bit of disgust. (This is especially strong in reading the book of Judges where even the ancient culture seems horrified by the violence, murder and rape!) There is nothing really wrong with my reaction to the Old Testament stories; it is after all history. The Torah and other writings do not promote polygamy or slavery, but simply appear to modify them.  

Slavery was common in New Testament times also and, indeed, one New Testament letter is written to a former slave-owner.  Like the Old Testament law, there is no aggressive opposition to slavery but it is clear that Paul (in his letter to Philemon) would prefer that Philemon give his slave his freedom.

Wikipedia has a web page on The Bible and Slavery.

When we get to Exodus and Deuteronomy, we will emphasize the importance of reading the Old Testament Law in light of the ancient near eastern culture it was modifying. If one reads through the ancient Code of Hammurabi, translated here, it is obvious that slavery was a significant part of the ancient Near East.

Justice

Even as I recoil to some of the Old Testament stories, I am reminded that my insistence on justice, my beliefs that one must speak and act out against oppression (including slavery and the racist aftermath), my advocacy for refugees and immigrants -- all of these beliefs come from Old Testament teaching. I want to quote Psalm 82:3, "Give justice to the weak...", Isaiah 1:17, "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression...", Micah 6:8, "He has told you, O man, what is good, ..."  Martin Luther King Jr., among others, will quote from the Old Testament in their sermons on justice.

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First published February 12, 2023; updated March 9, 2026