Pharaoh considered this demand as not only peremptory, but insolent: he therefore bade them look to it, and consider well what they insisted on; after which, in a very threatening manner, he dismissed them. This repulse occasioned another judgment to be inflicted on the miserable subjects of an infidel king; for Moses, by the divine command, stretched out his hand, with the rod in it, and immediately a scorching wind blew all that day and the succeeding night; the consequence of which was, the next morning there appeared endless legions of locusts, which, in a short time, so devoured the fruits of the earth, that it became, as it were, quite naked the happy productions arising from the fertile Nile, and all that bountiful nature afforded, were carried off by these airy pillagers, and nothing appeared but horror and desolation throughout the land of Egypt. The hardened Pharaoh was more sensibly affected at this plague than he had been at any of the former. He plainly saw that the destruction of the fruits of the earth must be succeeded by the destruction of man and beast. Wherefore, sending for Moses and Aaron, he, in a more suppliant manner, addressed them in words to this effect : I have, indeed, offended Jehovah your God, in refusing to obey his command, and you, in so often breaking my word with you: forgive me this offence, and entreat your God to avert this judgment, that I and my people perish not by devouring famine." Moses obeyed the Divine command, immediately on which such solid and thick clouds of darkness invaded the sky, that nature seemed at once to be involved in one dreadful eclipse: the sun no longer enlightened the lower world with his cheerful beams; the moon, with the stars, no more illuminated the air; and so dismal was the aspect of all things, that nature appeared as if about to return to her original chaos. This dreadful scene of horror lasted three days, and the haughty Pharaoh was SO affected at it, that though he had long stood immovable against the threats and judgments of God, yet he now, fearing a universal dissolution, and frightened at the continual terror of this long night, began seriously to relent, and sending for Moses, thus addressed him : Ye may go," said he, "with your little ones, and serve the Lord; but, for my security, I would have you leave your flocks and herds behind.” But this not being absolutely consistent with the Divine command, Moses would not accept it. He told Pharaoh that it was the express command of their God to remove with all their substance; and that they knew not in what manner they were to offer sacrifice to their God, nor should they till they came into the wilderness. The haughty tyrant, incensed at the noncompliance of Moses to what he esteemed a distinguished indulgence, commanded him to be gone, and, with great austerity, told him if he ever appeared before him again, should cost him his life. Moses, once more compassionating the case of the justly afflicted king, addressed himself to the Almighty in his behalf, and Moses promised Pharaoh he should never the locusts, by the force of a strong westerly again see his face; but, by the Divine comwind, were driven into the Red Sea. But mand, he once more visited him, and that this plague was no sooner removed than with a message more severe than any he had Pharaoh's obstinacy and contempt of God's yet delivered. Tell him," says the commands returned, and he again refused Almighty to Moses, "in the hearing of the departure of the Israelites. All these methods to reduce Pharaoh to an obedience of the Divine command proving ineffectual, the Almighty commanded Moses to stretch forth his hand toward heaven, that there might be a universal darkness, such as before had never been known, throughout the land of Egypt. *It was usual for the lowest slaves to be employed in the drudgery of the mill; and therefore the prophet Isaiah uses this idea to express the abject state of slavery to which Babylon should be reduced: “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon: sit on the ground, take the mill-stones and grind meal." Isaiah Ivii. his people, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt. And all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the female servant that is behind the mill; * and all the first-born of beasts. And there shall be a great cry 1, 2. Dr. Shaw observes, that most families in those countries still grind their wheat and barley at home, having two portable mill-stones for that purpose; the uppermost whereof is turned round by a small handle of wood or iron, which is placed in the rim. When the stone is large, or expedition is required, then a second person is called in throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was never before, nor shall be again. But the children of Israel shall not be in the least affected, that ye may know the distinction made by the Lord between you and Women grinding corn with the hand-mill of modern Syria. them. And all thy servants shall come down unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee; and after that will I go out myself. Moses delivered this message to Pharaoh in the manner he had been commanded. But the haughty tyrant defied his threats, Section of Eastern hand-mill. and still persisted in his obstinacy that the Israelites should not depart from Egypt; to assist; and it is usual for the women alone to be concerned in this employment, who seat themselves over against each other with the mill-stones between them. We may see not only the propriety of the expression in this verse, of sitting behind the mill, but the force of another, Matt. xxiv. 41, that "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." * These directions given by the Almighty to Moses are introduced by the following passage: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first day of the first month of the year to you." The Jews, like most other nations, began their year, before this event, about the autumnal equinox, in the month Tifri, after their harvest and vintage; but that which was their first month, now became their seventh; as the month of Abib, which answers principally to our March, was, by God's appointment, and in commemoration of this their deliverance, constituted the first month of their sacred year. Abib signifies the green corn; and the month was so named, because, about this time, the corn in those countries began to ripen. upon which Moses, finding him inflexible, turned away and left him. Previous to the carrying of this last sentence into execution, the Almighty instructed Moses and Aaron in what manner to direct the people to prepare the passover, which was to be a feast in commemoration of their departure out of Egypt, and was to be held on the day preceding that event.* The directions which, by the Divine command, Moses gave to the people on this occasion, were to the following effect: that every family of Israel (or, if the family was too small, two neighboring families joining together) should, on the tenth day of the month, take a lamb, or kid, and having shut it up till the fourteenth day, then kill it. That the lamb, or kid, should be a male not above a year old, and without any manner of blemish: that, when they killed it, they should catch the blood in a vessel, and, with a bunch of hyssop dipped in it, sprinkle the side-posts of the outer door, after which they should not stir out of the house till the next morning. In the mean time, they were to eat the lamb, or kid (dressed whole, and without breaking a bone of it), neither raw nor sodden, but roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; that if there was more than they could dispense with, they were to bury it; and, lastly, that the posture in which they were to eat it was to be in a hurry, with their clothes on their shoulders and their staves in their hands, as if they were just upon the point of going to depart. The tremendous night was not long de †The passover, or feast, was to be celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month, so that four days were allowed previous to its being held. In after-times the Jews did not begin their preparations till the thirteenth, or the day preceding the passover; but here, they are ordered to prepare on the tenth day of the month, not only because this being the first time of the celebration of the passover, they might require more time to prepare for a ceremony entirely new, but because, being to depart from Egypt suddenly, and in great haste, they might be perfectly ready, and have no hin derance to make them neglect any part of the duty enjoined. These clothes were slight thin garments, resembling those which the Arabs now wear, and which they call hykes. These hykes," says Dr. Shaw, "are of various sizes, and of different quali ties and fineness. The usual size of them is six yards long and two broad. It serves them for a complete dress in the day; and, as they sleep in their raiments, as the Israelites did of old (Deut. xxiv. 13), it serves likewise for their bed and cov ering at night." layed. While the Jews were celebrating this shrieks of the living, with the groans of newly instituted feast at midnight the those about to die, breaking in upon the destroying angel went forth in a pestilence, stillness of the night—the darkness of which and smote all the first-born in the land of must greatly have aggravated the horror and Egypt, "from the first-born of Pharaoh, confusion of that hour-made the people that sat on his throne, to the first-born of the fancy they were all doomed to destruction, captive that lay in the dungeon; and all the and that the work of death would not cease first-born of cattle." And there was a great till they had all perished. The king himself cry in Egypt - lamentation and bitter weep- was filled with horror and alarm. Without ing-for there was not a house in which truly repenting his obduracy, he bitterly there was not one dead. lamented its effects. It appeared to him The effect of this dreadful blow was ex- that the only method of arresting the proactly such as Moses had foretold. The king,gress of the destruction was to send the his nobles, and the Egyptian people, rose in Hebrews instantly away-in the fear that sorrow from their beds that night. The every moment they tarried would prove the loss of a thousand lives to Egypt. He and the Hebrews had been instructed by Moses to take advantage of it, by borrowing ornaments of precious metal "Jewels of gold and jewels of silver," with rich dresses, from the Egyptians. On the principle that, "all that a man hath will he give for his life," there can be no doubt but that, under circumstances which made them consider their own lives in jeopardy, and when the losses they had sustained were calculated to make their finery seem of small value in their sight, the Egyptians were quite as ready to lend as the Hebrews to borrow. The women also were authorized to borrow from the Egyptian females: and we may easily believe that their exertions added much to the large amount of valuable prop Egyptian Necklaces. Gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and Assyrian armlets. 1, 2, 3, from Nineveh marbles; 4, 5, iron. jasper. (From originals in British Museum.) received, the ultimate effect is, that in this final settlement, the Hebrews received something like wages-though, as such, inadequate for the long services they had rendered to the Egyptians.* So eager were the Egyptians to get them *There has been much discussion in respect to the morality of the transaction of the Hebrews in borrowing jewels and other valuable articles of the Egyptians. Borrowing implies a promise to return what is borrowed, which in this case was not done. But it is alleged by critics, that the word translated "borrow," in the account of this ம் 000000 Egyptian Armlets. (Description de l'Égypte.) transaction, signifies to ask, demand, request. The Hebrews were encouraged to follow the lead of Moses in the avowed purpose of going forth from Egypt, by the assurance that God would give (From originals in Brit. Mus.) might be offered by their first halt. Hurried as they were, they forgot not the bones of Joseph, which they had kept at hand, and now bore away with them. On they marched, driving before them their cattle and their beasts of burden, laden with their movables them favor in sight of the Egyptians, who would be ready to treat them at last with clemency and generosity. And they were instructed to borrow, i. e. ask or request, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment; and it was added, "Ye shall spoil the Egyptians." They did not take these things by virtual stealth, but as spoils voluntary given up to them by the Egyptians on their request. They were not therefore chargeable with dishonesty. The Hebrews were expecting to go three days' journey into the wilderness, that they might hold a festival in honor of their God. In accordance with oriental usage, they would want rich jewelry and raiment for such a sacred occasion. The masses of the people might have expected to return, as nothing was proposed by Moses further than the celebration of this feast in the wilderness. With this understanding, it would be easy to obtain from the Egyptians these valuable ornaments for such a purpose. It was foretold that "they should come out with great substance." The spoils with which they were laden were but the well-earned reward of the labors of many years in the service of their oppressors, and there was no wrong done in the course adopted to obtain this reward.-A. B. |