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Exodus 11
The Final Plague Announced
The Lord announces the final judgment on Egypt’s firstborn while promising provision, protection, and covenant distinction for His people.
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Chapter Summary
The Lord announces the final judgment on Egypt’s firstborn while promising provision, protection, and covenant distinction for His people.
Overview
Exodus 11 argues that the climactic deliverance of Israel will come through decisive divine judgment. Pharaoh has refused to release the Lord’s firstborn son, Israel, so the Lord announces judgment on Egypt’s firstborn. Yet judgment will not fall indiscriminately. The Lord will distinguish Israel from Egypt, provide for His people through Egyptian silver and gold, and reverse Egypt’s posture so that officials will plead for Israel to leave.
Pharaoh’s hardness does not defeat the Lord’s purpose; it becomes the stage for multiplied wonders and the revelation of divine justice and covenant faithfulness.
Context
Israel, the covenant people redeemed from Egypt and taught to understand the Lord’s deliverance through judgment, distinction, covenant promise, and mighty power.
Egypt after the ninth plague of darkness and after Pharaoh has warned Moses not to appear before him again.
The Lord announces the final judgment on Egypt’s firstborn while promising provision, protection, and covenant distinction for His people.
Moses
Israel, the covenant people redeemed from Egypt and taught to understand the Lord’s deliverance through judgment, distinction, covenant promise, and mighty power.
Egypt after the ninth plague of darkness and after Pharaoh has warned Moses not to appear before him again.
Social Pressure
- Egypt has been devastated by repeated plagues, Pharaoh remains hardened, Israel remains in Egypt awaiting release, and the confrontation has reached its final stage before Passover and the death of the firstborn.
The firstborn held major familial, social, inheritance, and representative significance in the ancient world. The announced death of Egypt’s firstborn strikes the household, throne, servant class, and livestock, bringing judgment across the entire land. The request for silver and gold from Egyptian neighbors anticipates Israel leaving Egypt with provision rather than empty-handed.
Exodus 11 announces the final plague before the Passover instructions and the actual judgment in Exodus 12. The chapter serves as a hinge between the plague confrontations and the climactic act of deliverance through judgment and covenant distinction.
Chapter Movement
The Lord announces one final plague, instructs Israel to ask for silver and gold, declares that every Egyptian firstborn will die, promises a sharp distinction between Egypt and Israel, and confirms that Pharaoh’s hardened refusal will magnify the Lord’s wonders.
Discourse Insight
Theological exposition and fulfillment
Exodus 11 prepares the gospel pattern that Exodus 12 will display more fully. Judgment is coming, and no status in Egypt can avoid it. Yet the Lord makes a distinction for His people and is about to provide the Passover means of protection. The chapter therefore teaches that salvation is not escape from judgment by denial, status, or negotiation, but deliverance through the provision God Himself appoints.
In Christ, the true Passover Lamb, God’s people are sheltered from judgment by His blood and brought out of bondage into redeemed life.
Structural Flow
The Lord declares that the coming plague will be decisive and will result in Israel’s complete expulsion from Egypt.
Israel is prepared to leave with silver and gold, showing that the Lord will not bring His people out empty-handed.
The Lord announces a judgment that will reach every level of Egyptian society and even livestock.
Israel will be preserved so Egypt will know the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and His people.
Pharaoh’s officials will bow before Moses and plead for Israel’s departure.
Pharaoh’s refusal is interpreted in light of the Lord’s purpose to multiply His wonders in Egypt.
Chapter Outline
- 1: The Lord announces that one final plague will lead Pharaoh to drive Israel out completely.
- 2-3: Israel is instructed to ask for silver and gold, and the Lord grants favor in Egypt.
- 4-6: The Lord will pass through Egypt at midnight, and every firstborn in Egypt will die.
- Israel will be protected so Egypt may know that the Lord distinguishes His people from Egypt.
- Egyptian officials will bow before Moses and plead for Israel’s departure.
- 9-10: The chapter closes by summarizing Pharaoh’s refusal and the Lord’s purpose to multiply wonders in Egypt.
Key Hebrew Terms
Sense plague, blow, affliction
Definition A blow, plague, or affliction.
References Exodus 11:1
Lexicon plague, blow, affliction
Why it matters The Lord announces one final plague that will decisively bring Israel out of Egypt.
Sense to drive out, expel
Definition To drive out or expel, intensified by repetition.
References Exodus 11:1
Lexicon to drive out, expel
Why it matters The wording reverses Pharaoh’s repeated refusal: he will not merely permit Israel to leave but will drive them out completely.
Pastoral Entry
Pastoral Definition
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חֵן is found, not earned. The idiom 'find favor in the eyes of' captures this exactly: Noah does not manufacture his standing before YHWH; he finds it. Gen 6:8 — 'Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord' — immediately precedes the announcement of the flood: the finding of חֵן is what distinguishes Noah from the generation that perished, and it is YHWH's disposition toward him, not his own achievement.
Exod 33:12-17 is the most theologically developed OT חֵן text: Moses asks YHWH to 'know me and show me your ways, that I may find favor in your eyes.' YHWH's response — 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest' — shows that חֵן is the ground of divine presence, not the reward of adequate performance. This is the logic the NT inherits and escalates: Eph 2:8-9 ('by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works') is the full flower of what חֵן's 'find favor' idiom was already beginning to describe.
Sense favor, grace
Definition Favor or gracious regard.
References Exodus 11:3
Lexicon favor, grace
Why it matters The Lord gives Israel favor with the Egyptians, fulfilling His promise that they would not leave empty-handed.
Pastoral Entry
Pastoral Definition
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כֶּסֶף (keseph) is the Hebrew word for silver and, by extension, money — the primary medium of exchange in the ancient Near East. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 403 occurrences; in the OT, it spans the full range of economic life: the wealth of the patriarchs, the price of slaves, the temple offerings, and the thirty pieces of silver for which the shepherd was sold. But beyond its economic uses, the OT uses keseph as a theological image in two directions: the refining of silver as the image of divine testing and purification, and the inadequacy of any amount of keseph for the redemption of a soul.
Psalm 12:6 gives keseph its most exalted theological use: 'The words of YHWH are pure words, like silver (keseph) refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.' The psalmist has been lamenting the unreliable words of human beings (vv. 2-4) — flattery, lips of deceit, double-hearted speech. The contrast is the word of YHWH: pure keseph, seven-times refined, with no dross left. The silver-refining image captures both the preciousness and the purity of the divine word. Seven times refined is the superlative of purity.
Proverbs 17:3 uses the same refining image in the opposite direction: 'The refining pot (kur) is for silver and the furnace for gold, but YHWH tests (bochan) hearts.' The testing of hearts by YHWH is like the smelter's fire that tests and purifies silver — it reveals what is actually there and removes what should not be. The keseph-refining image for divine testing appears also in Zech 13:9 ('I will refine them as one refines silver') and Mal 3:3 ('he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver').
Psalm 49:7-8 gives the negative verdict: no keseph is sufficient for redemption: 'No one can ransom another, or give to God the price (kofer, H3724) of his life — for the ransom of their life is too costly (yakar) and can never suffice.' The greatest economic transaction imaginable — every piece of keseph in the world — falls short of what it costs to redeem a life before God. The inadequacy of keseph for ultimate redemption is what makes the NT's 'you were not redeemed with perishable things such as silver (argyrion) or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ' (1 Pet 1:18-19) so theologically charged.
Zechariah 11:12-13 introduces the most ominous keseph price: thirty pieces of keseph, the value the people assigned to the shepherd. YHWH tells Zechariah to throw it to the potter — 'the magnificent price at which I was priced by them.' Matthew 27:3-10 quotes this as fulfilled in Judas's thirty pieces of silver.
For the preacher, כֶּסֶף (keseph) is the word that tests what we actually value — and reveals that the thing most needed cannot be bought.
Sense silver, money
Definition Silver, often used as wealth or money.
References Exodus 11:2
Lexicon silver, money
Why it matters The request for silver forms part of Israel’s provision in fulfillment of covenant promise.
Sense gold
Definition Gold as precious metal and wealth.
References Exodus 11:2
Lexicon gold
Why it matters Gold given by Egyptians becomes part of Israel’s departure provision and later plays a role in worship-related materials and also in later covenant testing.
Individual words כַּחֲצֹת הַלַּיְלָה kachatsot hallaylah · שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת sheloshah yamim u-sheloshah leylot
Sense about midnight
Definition The middle of the night.
References Exodus 11:4
Lexicon about midnight
Why it matters The final plague is announced for the night, preparing the Passover setting of watchfulness, judgment, and deliverance.
Pastoral Entry
Pastoral Definition
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יָצָא (yatsa) is the Hebrew verb of going out — and in its most theologically charged form, it is the verb of the exodus. YHWH is the God who brought Israel out (hetseti, Hiphil of yatsa) of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (Exod 20:2). This formula, repeated often in the OT, makes yatsa one of the most theologically loaded departures in the Bible: many later going-out themes are measured against YHWH's great yatsa from Egypt. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 1,076 occurrences.
Exodus 20:2 gives yatsa its foundational covenantal use: 'I am YHWH your God, who brought you out (hetseti, Hiphil causative) of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.' The Ten Commandments begin not with a command but with a declaration of identity grounded in the divine yatsa. Before YHWH says 'you shall have no other gods before me' (v. 3), he says who he is: the one who did the yatsa. The covenant obligation rests on the prior act of redemption. The Hiphil form (hetseti, I caused you to go out, I brought you out) makes clear that Israel's departure from Egypt was not Israel's achievement — it was YHWH's. He is the subject of the yatsa; Israel is the object.
Isaiah 52:12 gives yatsa its new-exodus form: 'For you shall not go out (tetse'u) in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for YHWH will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.' The return from Babylon is a new yatsa — but greater than the first: the first exodus was hurried (Exod 12:33), the new exodus will not be. YHWH will again be the one who goes before and behind his people in their yatsa.
Isaiah 55:11 gives yatsa its word-of-YHWH use: 'so shall my word be that goes out (yatsa) from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.' The word of YHWH is itself a yatsa — a purposeful going out that never fails to arrive. This is the theology of divine speech as effective act: YHWH speaks and his word yatsa's, and the yatsa of his word is as certain as the yatsa from Egypt.
Genesis 4:16 gives yatsa its negative counterpart: 'Then Cain went out (vayetse) from the presence of YHWH and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.' Cain's yatsa from YHWH's presence is the opposite of the worshiper's coming in: it is exile, banishment, the loss of the face of YHWH. Every wanderer's yatsa echoes Cain's.
Zechariah 14:8 gives yatsa its eschatological use: 'On that day living waters shall go out (yetse'u) from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.' The living waters' yatsa from Jerusalem is the eschatological reversal of Cain's yatsa from YHWH's presence — from the city of YHWH, life itself goes out to water the whole earth.
For the preacher, יָצָא (yatsa) gives the congregation the grammar of redemption: you were brought out. The covenant always begins with the divine yatsa before it issues any covenant demand.
Sense to go out, go forth
Definition To go out or go forth.
References Exodus 11:4
Lexicon to go out, go forth
Why it matters The Lord Himself will go throughout Egypt in judgment, showing direct divine action.
Pastoral Entry
Pastoral Definition
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בְּכוֹר names the firstborn — of a human family, of a flock, of a nation — and carries with it a weight that goes far beyond birth sequence. In ancient Israel, the firstborn son held a unique claim: a double portion of inheritance, the right of leadership within the household, and a status that reflected the father's honor, strength, and hope. The word does not simply describe chronological priority; it describes covenantal preeminence. To be firstborn was to stand at the head of all that followed.
The theological gravity of בְּכוֹר builds across the whole Old Testament in layers. At the literal level, the word governs inheritance law, the redemption of firstborn sons and animals, and the narrative of blessing. At the national level, the word is charged with Exodus significance: when God claims Israel as His firstborn son before Pharaoh (Exod 4:22), the word becomes a declaration of covenant identity, of belonging and divine call. Israel is firstborn not because of anything Israel has produced, but because of what God has declared.
At the royal level, Psalm 89:27 places the word in God's own mouth concerning David: 'I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.' Here the word has moved from genealogy to appointment. Firstborn is what God makes someone by sovereign act. The Davidic king's preeminence is not inherited by descent from other kings — it is conferred by the God who sets him at the head of the nations.
For a pastor or teacher, בְּכוֹר is not merely a household legal term. It is a word that announces where God's favor, inheritance, and purpose are concentrated. When the firstborn is killed, inheritance is severed. When the firstborn is redeemed, the household lives. When the firstborn is named, the future is declared.
Sense firstborn
Definition The firstborn son or firstborn offspring, often bearing representative and inheritance significance.
References Exodus 11:5
Lexicon firstborn
Why it matters The final plague targets Egypt’s firstborn in response to Pharaoh’s refusal to release Israel, the Lord’s firstborn son.
Sense throne, seat of rule
Definition A throne or seat of royal authority.
References Exodus 11:5
Lexicon throne, seat of rule
Why it matters The judgment reaches Pharaoh’s firstborn on the throne, striking Egypt’s royal future and succession.
Sense female servant, slave woman
Definition A female servant or slave woman.
References Exodus 11:5
Lexicon female servant, slave woman
Why it matters The judgment reaches from the throne to the hand mill, showing its reach across all Egyptian society.
Sense millstones, hand mill
Definition A grinding mill or millstones used for preparing grain.
References Exodus 11:5
Lexicon millstones, hand mill
Why it matters The phrase marks the lowliest labor setting, emphasizing that the plague reaches every level of Egypt.
Sense great cry, loud outcry
Definition A loud cry of anguish or distress.
References Exodus 11:6
Lexicon great cry, loud outcry
Why it matters Egypt’s great cry reverses the earlier cries of oppressed Israel and marks the severity of divine judgment.
Sense dog
Definition A dog.
References Exodus 11:7
Lexicon dog
Why it matters The image that not even a dog will bark against Israel emphasizes complete peace and protection among the Lord’s people.
Sense to distinguish, set apart, deal differently
Definition To make a distinction or treat separately.
References Exodus 11:7
Lexicon to distinguish, set apart, deal differently
Why it matters The Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel, revealing covenant precision in judgment.
Sense wonders, miraculous signs
Definition Extraordinary acts displaying divine power.
References Exodus 11:9-10
Lexicon wonders, miraculous signs
Why it matters The Lord multiplies His wonders in Egypt through Pharaoh’s refusal, revealing His power and name.
Pastoral Entry
Pastoral Definition
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חָזַק (chazaq) is the Hebrew verb most commonly translated 'be strong' or 'strengthen.' It covers the spectrum from simple physical strength (a firm grip, a reinforced wall) to the moral courage required to face an overwhelming task. In the Piel stem, it means to strengthen or encourage someone; in the Hiphil, to make strong, seize, or hold fast.
The word appears at every great moment of transition and commission in the OT. When Moses charges Joshua before the entire assembly, when Joshua commissions the tribal leaders, when God speaks to Joshua after Moses dies — the repeated command is chazaq: 'Be strong and courageous.' The word creates a frame for covenantal obedience: the courage called for is not self-confidence but trust in the God who goes before.
But chazaq also describes Pharaoh's hardened heart (Exod 4:21 and throughout the plague narrative). This is the same word used for Israel's courageous call — and the contrast is theologically intentional. The strength that responds to God's commission and the stubbornness that resists God's demand are both described by chazaq. Strength, in biblical terms, is always morally directional: it can be strength toward God or strength against him.
Sense to strengthen, harden, make firm
Definition To strengthen or make firm; used here of the LORD hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
References Exodus 11:10
Lexicon to strengthen, harden, make firm
Why it matters The hardening summary frames Pharaoh’s refusal within the Lord’s sovereign purpose to multiply wonders.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
Hebrew Verb Morphology
| v.1 | H935בּוֹאHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortativeH7971שָׁלַחPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH1644גָּרַשׁPiel · Infinitive absoluteH1644גָּרַשׁPiel · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.10 | H6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · IndicativeH7971שָׁלַחPiel · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.2 | H1696דָבַרPiel · Imperative · Imperative |
| v.4 | H559אָמַרQal · Perfect · IndicativeH3318יָצָאQal · Participle |
| v.6 | H1961הָיָהNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH3254יָסַףHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.7 | H2782חָרַץQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH6395פָּלָהHiphil · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.8 | H3318יָצָאQal · Imperative · ImperativeH3318יָצָאQal · Imperfect · Indicative/cohortative |
| v.9 | H8085שָׁמַעQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussiveH7235רָבָהQal · Infinitive construct |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
Theological Argument
Exodus 11 argues that the climactic deliverance of Israel will come through decisive divine judgment. Pharaoh has refused to release the Lord’s firstborn son, Israel, so the Lord announces judgment on Egypt’s firstborn. Yet judgment will not fall indiscriminately. The Lord will distinguish Israel from Egypt, provide for His people through Egyptian silver and gold, and reverse Egypt’s posture so that officials will plead for Israel to leave.
Pharaoh’s hardness does not defeat the Lord’s purpose; it becomes the stage for multiplied wonders and the revelation of divine justice and covenant faithfulness.
From the final plague announced, to Israel’s provision, to firstborn judgment, to covenant protection, to Egypt’s coming submission, to Pharaoh’s hardened refusal explained.
- 1.The LORD determines the final plague and the moment when Pharaoh will release Israel completely.
- 2.The LORD gives His people favor and provision so they will not leave Egypt empty-handed.
- 3.The death of the firstborn is judicially tied to Egypt’s oppression and Pharaoh’s refusal to release the LORD’s firstborn son.
- 4.The LORD’s covenant people will be protected so Egypt will know He makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
- 5.The power relationship will be reversed as Pharaoh’s officials bow and urge Israel to leave.
- 6.Pharaoh’s refusal remains within the LORD’s revealed purpose to multiply His wonders in Egypt.
Theological Focus
- Final judgment
- The death of the firstborn
- Covenant distinction
- Divine justice
- The Lord’s sovereignty over Pharaoh
- Provision for the redeemed people
- Reversal of oppressive power
- The multiplication of wonders
- Deliverance through judgment
- The Lord’s faithfulness to His promise
- Finality of judgment
- Firstborn judgment
- Provision in redemption
- The reversal of power
- Hardening and wonders
- Righteous anger
- Divine Judgment
- Divine Sovereignty
- Covenant Distinction
- Covenant Faithfulness
- Human Hardness
- Redemption
- Providence
- Passover Preparation
Theological Themes
The Lord announces one more plague that will decisively end Pharaoh’s refusal and force complete release.
The judgment on Egypt’s firstborn answers Pharaoh’s refusal to release Israel, whom the Lord had called His firstborn son.
Israel will leave with silver and gold, not as escaping beggars but as a people provided for by the Lord.
The Lord makes a clear distinction between Egypt and Israel, showing that His judgment is precise and His people are known to Him.
Egyptian officials who once served Pharaoh’s oppressive order will bow before Moses and plead for Israel’s departure.
Pharaoh’s hard heart allows the Lord’s wonders to be multiplied and His authority to be displayed in Egypt.
Moses leaves Pharaoh in hot anger, reflecting the moral seriousness of Pharaoh’s continued rebellion and the coming judgment.
Covenant Significance
Exodus 11 brings the covenant conflict to the edge of its climax. The Lord had identified Israel as His firstborn son in Exodus 4 and warned Pharaoh that refusal would bring judgment on Pharaoh’s firstborn. That warning is now about to be fulfilled. The Lord also preserves Israel, gives them favor, and provides for their departure, showing that covenant redemption includes judgment on the oppressor, protection of the covenant people, and provision for the journey.
Old Testament Connections
- Covenant sonship - The death of Egypt’s firstborn must be read in light of Israel’s identity as the Lord’s firstborn son.
- Covenant distinction - The Lord distinguishes Israel from Egypt in the final plague announcement.
- Covenant provision - The Lord gives Israel favor and silver and gold as they prepare to leave Egypt.
- Covenant justice - Egypt’s oppression and Pharaoh’s refusal are answered by judicial plague.
- Covenant fulfillment - The departure with wealth recalls God’s earlier promise that Abraham’s descendants would come out with great possessions.
- Genesis 15:13-14 - God foretold that Abraham’s descendants would be oppressed in a foreign land, that He would punish that nation, and that they would come out with great possessions.
- Exodus 3:21-22 - The Lord promised to give Israel favor with the Egyptians so they would not leave empty-handed.
- Exodus 4:22-23 - The Lord called Israel His firstborn son and warned Pharaoh that refusal would bring death to Pharaoh’s firstborn.
- Exodus 8:22-23 - The Lord previously distinguished Goshen from Egypt during the plague of flies.
- Exodus 10:23 - The Lord distinguished Israel from Egypt by giving Israel light while Egypt was in darkness.
Canonical Connections
The announced death of Egypt’s firstborn is tied to Pharaoh’s refusal to release Israel, the Lord’s firstborn son.
Israel’s request for silver and gold fulfills the Lord’s promise that Abraham’s descendants would leave with possessions.
The Lord’s distinction between Egypt and Israel reaches a climactic form in the final plague and Passover.
The judgment announced in Exodus 11 is answered by the Passover lamb and blood in Exodus 12.
The great cry throughout Egypt anticipates later biblical images of judgment grief.
The Lord’s wonders in Egypt become a defining biblical memory of divine power and redemption.
Cross References
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they...
Shows Old Testament grounding that frames or supports this passage.
He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Canon-Wide Connections
Cross-reference data: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Gospel Clarity
Exodus 11 prepares the gospel pattern that Exodus 12 will display more fully. Judgment is coming, and no status in Egypt can avoid it. Yet the Lord makes a distinction for His people and is about to provide the Passover means of protection. The chapter therefore teaches that salvation is not escape from judgment by denial, status, or negotiation, but deliverance through the provision God Himself appoints.
In Christ, the true Passover Lamb, God’s people are sheltered from judgment by His blood and brought out of bondage into redeemed life.
Gospel Guardrails
- Judgment is real and universal in reach - The plague reaches from Pharaoh’s household to the slave woman’s household, showing that no social rank stands above God’s judgment.
- God distinguishes His people - Israel is preserved, not because of inherent superiority, but because of the Lord’s covenant mercy and appointed redemption.
- Provision accompanies deliverance - The Lord gives Israel favor and resources for departure, showing that redemption includes His care for the journey.
- Passover is necessary - The announced death of the firstborn creates the urgent need for the Passover provision in Exodus 12.
- Christ fulfills the Passover pattern - Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, bears judgment and shelters His people by His blood.
- Hardness warns the unbelieving heart - Pharaoh’s refusal after many signs warns that repeated truth rejected can deepen guilt and hardness.
- Do not soften the severity of judgment in a way that empties Passover of meaning.
- Do not present Israel’s protection as based on moral superiority.
- Do not detach Exodus 11 from Exodus 12 · the announced judgment prepares for the appointed shelter.
- Do not treat silver and gold as prosperity symbolism · it fulfills covenant promise and provides for departure.
- Do not treat Pharaoh’s hardening as mechanical fate detached from his repeated rebellion.
- Do not jump to Christ without preserving the Exodus movement through firstborn sonship, judgment, distinction, Passover preparation, and deliverance.
Primary Emphasis
Exodus 11 prepares for Passover by announcing judgment on the firstborn and protection for the Lord’s covenant people. This sets up the blood-centered redemption of Exodus 12, which becomes one of the clearest Old Testament patterns fulfilled in Christ. The final plague shows that deliverance comes through judgment, and the coming Passover will show that God provides a way for His people to be sheltered from judgment. In Christ, the true Passover Lamb, judgment and deliverance meet fully and finally.
Chapter Contribution
Exodus 11 argues that the climactic deliverance of Israel will come through decisive divine judgment. Pharaoh has refused to release the Lord’s firstborn son, Israel, so the Lord announces judgment on Egypt’s firstborn. Yet judgment will not fall indiscriminately. The Lord will distinguish Israel from Egypt, provide for His people through Egyptian silver and gold, and reverse Egypt’s posture so that officials will plead for Israel to leave.
Pharaoh’s hardness does not defeat the Lord’s purpose; it becomes the stage for multiplied wonders and the revelation of divine justice and covenant faithfulness.
Doctrines in This Chapter
The Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel, showing that his covenant people are preserved by his purpose and not by Egypt's permission.
The final plague is judicial, public, and covenantally meaningful, responding to Egypt's oppression and Pharaoh's defiance of the Lord.
The Lord governs Pharaoh's resistance, the timing of judgment, the favor shown to Israel, and the outcome of deliverance.
Pharaoh's refusal continues despite overwhelming signs, showing that hardened rebellion does not submit merely because evidence increases.
Israel's release is secured through the Lord's decisive judgment on the oppressor, preparing the Passover pattern of deliverance under blood.
The announced distinction and final plague reveal that the Lord is not one deity among many but the sovereign God over Egypt, Pharaoh, life, death, and history.
Doctrinal Weight
The Lord announces the final plague against Egypt’s firstborn as judicial response to Pharaoh’s hardened oppression and refusal.
The Lord determines the final plague, Pharaoh’s eventual expulsion of Israel, and the multiplication of wonders in Egypt.
The Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel, preserving His covenant people in judgment.
The silver and gold provision fulfills the Lord’s earlier promises that Israel would not leave empty-handed.
Pharaoh refuses to listen despite repeated wonders, confirming the depth of his hardened rebellion.
The final plague is the immediate prelude to Israel’s release from Egypt.
The Lord gives Israel favor with the Egyptians and raises Moses’ reputation among Pharaoh’s officials.
The announced judgment creates the context for the lamb, blood, and household protection of Exodus 12.
Reading Lenses
Theological exposition and fulfillment
- Exodus 11 prepares the gospel pattern that Exodus 12 will display more fully. Judgment is coming, and no status in Egypt can avoid it. Yet the Lord makes a distinction for His people and is about to provide the Passover means of protection. The chapter therefore teaches that salvation is not escape from judgment by denial, status, or negotiation, but deliverance through the provision God Himself appoints. In Christ, the true Passover Lamb, God’s people are sheltered from judgment by His blood and brought out of bondage into redeemed life.
Formation Focus
The Lord’s final judgment on Egypt is just, purposeful, covenantally governed, and inseparable from His deliverance and preservation of His people.
God’s people must learn to tremble at His warnings, trust His protection, receive His provision, and see the coming Passover as the gracious answer to judgment.
Reverence, trust, sober repentance, covenant confidence, gratitude for provision, and readiness to obey God’s appointed means of deliverance.
Practice Response
- Read Exodus 11 together with Exodus 4:22-23 to see the firstborn judgment in context.
- Pray for a heart that responds to God’s warnings before consequences arrive.
- Give thanks for God’s provision in past seasons of deliverance.
- Teach the seriousness of judgment in a way that magnifies the mercy of God’s provided rescue.
- Ask where repeated exposure to truth has produced dullness instead of repentance.
- Prepare to read Exodus 12 with attention to blood, household, lamb, judgment, and protection.
- Remember that God’s distinction of His people is mercy, not human superiority.
Warnings and Misreadings
- The chapter gives a severe warning that persistent refusal of the Lord’s word ends in judgment. Pharaoh’s hardness, despite repeated wonders, leads to the most devastating plague. It also warns against assuming that privilege, throne, status, labor, or livestock can shield anyone from the Lord’s final judgment.
- Reading the death of the firstborn as arbitrary cruelty. - The judgment must be read within the narrative of Pharaoh’s oppression, attempted destruction of Israel’s sons, and refusal to release the Lord’s firstborn son.
- Ignoring the connection between Exodus 11 and the Passover of Exodus 12. - Exodus 11 announces the judgment · Exodus 12 explains the means by which Israel will be sheltered from it.
- Treating the silver and gold as mere economic gain. - The provision fulfills covenant promise and prepares Israel for departure, journey, and later worship-related use.
- Assuming distinction means Israel is inherently superior to Egypt. - The distinction is grounded in the Lord’s covenant purpose and mercy, not Israel’s moral superiority.
- Separating Pharaoh’s hardening from his long pattern of refusal. - The summary in verses 9-10 follows a sustained narrative of Pharaoh resisting the Lord’s command despite repeated signs and warnings.
- Treating Moses’ anger as uncontrolled impatience. - The context presents Moses’ anger in relation to Pharaoh’s hardened rebellion and the moral seriousness of the final judgment.
Discipleship Questions
- Where have repeated warnings from the Lord become familiar rather than weighty?
- Do I trust that the Lord knows how to distinguish those who belong to Him?
- How does God’s provision for Israel challenge my anxiety about the journey after deliverance?
- Do I understand judgment as part of God’s moral rule, or do I avoid the subject because it is severe?
- Where am I tempted to interpret God’s patience as permission to continue resisting?
- How does the announced final plague prepare my heart to value the Passover blood in the next chapter?
- What would it look like to respond to God’s warning before judgment falls rather than after consequences arrive?
Pastoral Applications
- Preach judgment with narrative and covenant context.
- Warn against hardened familiarity.
- Comfort believers with covenant distinction.
- Show that redemption includes provision.
- Prepare people for Passover theology.
- Expose false security.
Pastoral Trajectories
The chapter announces that the long confrontation is reaching decisive judgment.
The one who refused to let Israel go will soon drive them out completely.
Israel, once exploited, will receive silver and gold from the Egyptians.
Egypt will wail, but among Israel not even a dog will bark.
Pharaoh’s officials will bow before Moses and plead for departure.
The chapter closes the plague confrontation summary and prepares for the Passover instructions.
Commentary (Keil & Delitzsch)
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
The Lord announces one final plague, instructs Israel to ask for silver and gold, declares that every Egyptian firstborn will die, promises a sharp distinction between Egypt and Israel, and confirms that Pharaoh’s hardened refusal will magnify the Lord’s wonders.
Exodus 11 brings the covenant conflict to the edge of its climax. The Lord had identified Israel as His firstborn son in Exodus 4 and warned Pharaoh that refusal would bring judgment on Pharaoh’s firstborn. That warning is now about to be fulfilled. The Lord also preserves Israel, gives them favor, and provides for their departure, showing that covenant redemption includes judgment on the oppressor, protection of the covenant people, and provision for the journey.
Exodus 11 prepares the gospel pattern that Exodus 12 will display more fully. Judgment is coming, and no status in Egypt can avoid it. Yet the Lord makes a distinction for His people and is about to provide the Passover means of protection. The chapter therefore teaches that salvation is not escape from judgment by denial, status, or negotiation, but deliverance through the provision God Himself appoints.
In Christ, the true Passover Lamb, God’s people are sheltered from judgment by His blood and brought out of bondage into redeemed life.
Reverence, trust, sober repentance, covenant confidence, gratitude for provision, and readiness to obey God’s appointed means of deliverance.
Focus Points
- Final judgment
- The death of the firstborn
- Covenant distinction
- Divine justice
- The Lord’s sovereignty over Pharaoh
- Provision for the redeemed people
- Reversal of oppressive power
- The multiplication of wonders
- Deliverance through judgment
- The Lord’s faithfulness to His promise
- Finality of judgment
- Firstborn judgment
- Provision in redemption
- The reversal of power
- Hardening and wonders
- Righteous anger
- Divine Judgment
- Divine Sovereignty
- Covenant Faithfulness
- Human Hardness
- Redemption
- Providence
- Passover Preparation
Cross References
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the Lord says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son, and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
Firstborn warning background
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions.
Covenant promise background
And I will grant this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed. Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
Provision promise
Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month is the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first month of your year. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.
Immediate continuation
Now at midnight the Lord struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock. During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there...
Fulfillment
Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor. He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and none among His tribes stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.
Psalm reflection
By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.
Faith interpretation
Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Christological fulfillment
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.
Redemption by blood
Passages
Chapter opening: Exodus 11:1-10
Exo 11:1 Proclamation of the Tenth Plague; or the Decisive Blow. - Exo 11:1-3. The announcement made by Jehovah to Moses, which is recorded here, occurred before the last interview between Moses and Pharaoh (Exo 10:24-29); but it is introduced by the historian in this place, as serving to explain the confidence with which Moses answered Pharaoh (Exo 10:29). This is evident from Exo 11:4-8, where Moses is said to have foretold to the king, before leaving his presence, the last plague and all its consequences.
ויּאמר therefore, in Exo 11:1, is to be taken in a pluperfect sense: “ had said; ” and may be grammatically accounted for from the old Semitic style of historical writing referred to in the commentary on Gen 2:18-22, as Gen 2:1 and Gen 2:2 contain the foundation for the announcement in Gen 2:4-8. So far as the facts are concerned, Gen 2:1-3 point back to Exo 3:19-22.
One stroke more (נגע) would Jehovah bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt, and then the king would let the Israelites go, or rather drive them out. כּלה כּשׁלּחו, “ when he lets you go altogether (כּלה adverbial as in Gen 18:21), he will even drive you away . ”
Exo 11:2-3 In this way Jehovah would overcome the resistance of Pharaoh; and even more than that, for Moses was to tell the people to ask the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, for Jehovah would make them willing to give. The renown acquired by Moses through his miracles in Egypt would also contribute to this. (For the discussion of this subject, see Exo 3:21-22.) The communication of these instructions to the people is not expressly mentioned; but it is referred to in Exo 12:35-36, as having taken place.
Exo 11:2-3 In this way Jehovah would overcome the resistance of Pharaoh; and even more than that, for Moses was to tell the people to ask the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold, for Jehovah would make them willing to give. The renown acquired by Moses through his miracles in Egypt would also contribute to this. (For the discussion of this subject, see Exo 3:21-22.) The communication of these instructions to the people is not expressly mentioned; but it is referred to in Exo 12:35-36, as having taken place.
Exo 11:4-8 Moses’ address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be “the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,” as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3).
What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the Exodus, all came between.
The “ going out ” of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך “ in (through) the midst of Egypt: ” the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king’s throne, over the whole land.
“ Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill, ” i. e. , the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), “ and all the first-born of cattle .
” This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh’s conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3).
But against the whole of the people of Israel “ not a dog shall point its tongue ” (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of “man or beast. ” By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians.
The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be “ a great cry, ” having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. “ At thy feet, ” i. e. , in thy train (vid. , Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath.
Moses’ wrath was occasioned by the king’s threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah , which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him.
In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses’ negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.)
, would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: “As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
”
Exo 11:4-8 Moses’ address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be “the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,” as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3).
What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the Exodus, all came between.
The “ going out ” of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך “ in (through) the midst of Egypt: ” the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king’s throne, over the whole land.
“ Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill, ” i. e. , the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), “ and all the first-born of cattle .
” This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh’s conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3).
But against the whole of the people of Israel “ not a dog shall point its tongue ” (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of “man or beast. ” By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians.
The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be “ a great cry, ” having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. “ At thy feet, ” i. e. , in thy train (vid. , Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath.
Moses’ wrath was occasioned by the king’s threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah , which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him.
In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses’ negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.)
, would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: “As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
”
Exo 11:4-8 Moses’ address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be “the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,” as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3).
What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the Exodus, all came between.
The “ going out ” of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך “ in (through) the midst of Egypt: ” the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king’s throne, over the whole land.
“ Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill, ” i. e. , the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), “ and all the first-born of cattle .
” This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh’s conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3).
But against the whole of the people of Israel “ not a dog shall point its tongue ” (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of “man or beast. ” By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians.
The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be “ a great cry, ” having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. “ At thy feet, ” i. e. , in thy train (vid. , Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath.
Moses’ wrath was occasioned by the king’s threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah , which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him.
In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses’ negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.)
, would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: “As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
”
Exo 11:4-8 Moses’ address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be “the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,” as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3).
What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the Exodus, all came between.
The “ going out ” of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך “ in (through) the midst of Egypt: ” the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king’s throne, over the whole land.
“ Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill, ” i. e. , the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), “ and all the first-born of cattle .
” This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh’s conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3).
But against the whole of the people of Israel “ not a dog shall point its tongue ” (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of “man or beast. ” By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians.
The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be “ a great cry, ” having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. “ At thy feet, ” i. e. , in thy train (vid. , Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath.
Moses’ wrath was occasioned by the king’s threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah , which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him.
In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses’ negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.)
, would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: “As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
”
Exo 11:4-8 Moses’ address to Pharaoh forms the continuation of his brief answer in Exo 10:29. At midnight Jehovah would go out through the midst of Egypt. This midnight could not be “the one following the day on which Moses was summoned to Pharaoh after the darkness,” as Baumgarten supposes; for it was not till after this conversation with the king that Moses received the divine directions as to the Passover, and they must have been communicated to the people at least four days before the feast of the Passover and their departure from Egypt (Exo 12:3).
What midnight is meant, cannot be determined. So much is certain, however, that the last decisive blow did not take place in the night following the cessation of the ninth plague; but the institution of the Passover, the directions of Moses to the people respecting the things which they were to ask for from the Egyptians, and the preparations for the feast of the Passover and the Exodus, all came between.
The “ going out ” of Jehovah from His heavenly seat denotes His direct interposition in, and judicial action upon, the world of men. The last blow upon Pharaoh was to be carried out by Jehovah Himself, whereas the other plagues had been brought by Moses and Aaron. מצרים בּתוך “ in (through) the midst of Egypt: ” the judgment of God would pass from the centre of the kingdom, the king’s throne, over the whole land.
“ Every first-born shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh, that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid that is behind the mill, ” i. e. , the meanest slave (cf. Exo 12:29, where the captive in the dungeon is substituted for the maid, prisoners being often employed in this hard labour, Jdg 16:21; Isa 47:2), “ and all the first-born of cattle .
” This stroke was to fall upon both man and beast as a punishment for Pharaoh’s conduct in detaining the Israelites and their cattle; but only upon the first-born, for God did not wish to destroy the Egyptians and their cattle altogether, but simply to show them that He had the power to do this. The first-born represented the whole race, of which it was the strength and bloom (Gen 49:3).
But against the whole of the people of Israel “ not a dog shall point its tongue ” (Exo 11:7). The dog points its tongue to growl and bite. The thought expressed in this proverb, which occurs again in Jos 10:21 and Judith 11:19, was that Israel would not suffer the slightest injury, either in the case of “man or beast. ” By this complete preservation, whilst Egypt was given up to death, Israel would discover that Jehovah had completed the separation between them and the Egyptians.
The effect of this stroke upon the Egyptians would be “ a great cry, ” having no parallel before or after (cf. Exo 10:14); and the consequence of this cry would be, that the servants of Pharaoh would come to Moses and entreat them to go out with all the people. “ At thy feet, ” i. e. , in thy train (vid. , Deu 11:6; Jdg 8:5). With this announcement Moses departed from Pharaoh in great wrath.
Moses’ wrath was occasioned by the king’s threat (Exo 10:28), and pointed to the wrath of Jehovah , which Pharaoh would soon experience. As the more than human patience which Moses had displayed towards Pharaoh manifested to him the long-suffering and patience of his God, in whose name and by whose authority he acted, so the wrath of the departing servant of God was to show to the hardened king, that the time of grace was at an end, and the wrath of God was about to burst upon him.
In Exo 11:9 and Exo 11:10 the account of Moses’ negotiations with Pharaoh, which commenced at Exo 7:8, is brought to a close. What God predicted to His messengers immediately before sending them to Pharaoh (Exo 7:3), and to Moses before his call (Exo 4:21), had now come to pass. And this was the pledge that the still further announcement of Jehovah in Exo 7:4 and Exo 4:23, which had already been made known to the hardened king (Exo 11:4.)
, would be carried out. As these verses have a terminal character, the vav consecutive in ויּאמר denotes the order of thought and not of time, and the two verses are to be rendered thus: “As Jehovah had said to Moses, Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt, Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
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