Exodus 10:15-17

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Exodus 10:15 tn Heb “and they covered.”
2. Exodus 10:15 tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 5; Num 22:5, 11).
3. Exodus 10:15 tn The verb is וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ (vattekhshakh, “and it became dark”). The idea is that the ground had the color of the swarms of locusts that covered it.
4. Exodus 10:16 sn The third part of the passage now begins, the confrontation that resulted from the onslaught of the plague. Pharaoh goes a step further here—he confesses he has sinned and adds a request for forgiveness. But his acknowledgment does not go far enough, for this is not genuine confession. Since his heart was not yet submissive, his confession was vain.
5. Exodus 10:16 tn The Piel preterite וַיְמַהֵר (vay^emaher) could be translated “and he hastened,” but here it is joined with the following infinitive construct to form the hendiadys. “He hurried to summon” means “He summoned quickly.”
6. Exodus 10:16 sn The severity of the plague prompted Pharaoh to confess his sin against Yahweh and them, now in much stronger terms than before. He also wants forgiveness—but in all probability what he wants is relief from the consequences of his sin. He pretended to convey to Moses that this was it, that he was through sinning, so he asked for forgiveness “only this time.”
7. Exodus 10:17 sn Pharaoh’s double emphasis on “only” uses two different words and was meant to deceive. He was trying to give Moses the impression that he had finally come to his senses, and that he would let the people go. But he had no intention of letting them out.
8. Exodus 10:17 sn “Death” is a metonymy that names the effect for the cause. If the locusts are left in the land it will be death to everything that grows.