Exodus 11: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

God tells Moses that one final plague is coming, after which Pharaoh will not just release Israel but drive them out. Moses announces that at about midnight every firstborn in Egypt will die, from Pharaoh's son to the servant girl's son, and the firstborn animals as well, while nothing will disturb the Israelites. Moses says Pharaoh's officials will beg him to leave, and he walks out of Pharaoh's presence angry. The chapter closes by noting that Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders, and that the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would not let Israel go.

Claim by Claim

1. 11:1
   • The LORD spoke to Moses.
   • The LORD said he would bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt.
   • The LORD said that after that plague Pharaoh would send them away from this place.
   • The LORD said that when Pharaoh sent them away, he would drive them out from this place completely.
2. 11:2
   • The LORD told Moses to speak in the hearing of the people.
   • The LORD said each man should ask from his neighbor articles of silver and articles of gold.
   • The LORD said each woman should ask from her neighbor articles of silver and articles of gold.
3. 11:3
   • The LORD gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.
   • The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt.
   • Moses was great in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants.
   • Moses was great in the eyes of the people.
4. 11:4
   • Moses spoke.
   • Moses said that this is what the LORD says.
   • The LORD said that about midnight he would go out into the midst of Egypt.
5. 11:5
   • The LORD said every firstborn in the land of Egypt would die.
   • The dying would extend from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave woman who is behind the millstones.
   • The LORD said every firstborn of livestock would die.
6. 11:6
   • The LORD said there would be a great outcry throughout all the land of Egypt.
   • The LORD said no outcry like it had ever happened before.
   • The LORD said no outcry like it would happen again.
7. 11:7
   • The LORD said that against none of the children of Israel would a dog sharpen its tongue.
   • This would hold against neither man nor beast.
   • The purpose was that they would know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
8. 11:8
   • Moses said that all these servants of Pharaoh would come down to him.
   • Moses said they would bow down to him.
   • Moses said they would say, Go out, you and all the people who follow at your feet.
   • Moses said that after that he would go out.
   • Moses went out from Pharaoh in burning anger.
9. 11:9
   • The LORD spoke to Moses.
   • The LORD said Pharaoh would not listen to them.
   • The LORD said the purpose was that his wonders would be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
10. 11:10
    • Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh.
    • The LORD strengthened Pharaoh's heart.
    • Pharaoh did not send the children of Israel out of his land.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

11:1

"Plague" here translates a Hebrew word meaning a blow or stroke, a blow struck against Egypt, not necessarily a disease. This is the last of a series of ten; the previous nine are described in chapters 7 to 10.

11:2

The King James "borrow" is misleading: the Hebrew verb simply means to ask or request, with no suggestion that the items would be given back. The neighbors meant are Egyptian neighbors, Israelites and Egyptians lived among one another. "Jewels" in 1611 English meant valuable objects of any kind, vessels, ornaments, utensils, not specifically gemstones.

11:3

"Favour in the sight of" is a Hebrew idiom meaning that one party looked kindly on another and was disposed to grant what they asked. When the King James calls Moses "very great," it means important and highly regarded in rank and reputation, not morally great.

11:4

"Thus saith the LORD" is the standard opening a royal messenger used when delivering a king's words. It signals that everything following is quoted speech, not the messenger's own opinion. Midnight mattered as a marker because the night was divided into watches, and midnight was its deepest and most defenseless point.

11:5

The firstborn son held a distinct legal standing in the ancient world: he was heir to a double share of the inheritance and became head of the household on his father's death, so he represented the family's future. Grinding grain at a hand mill was the most menial work in a household, done by female slaves. Naming the king's heir and the slave girl's child together is a way of saying "every rank of society, top to bottom."

11:6

The Hebrew word is a cry of grief, the loud, public wailing that accompanied a death in the ancient Near East, not weeping in private.

11:7

"Not a dog will move his tongue" is a proverbial expression for total silence and stillness. Dogs in ancient Egypt and Israel were mostly half-wild scavengers around settlements, not household pets, and barking at strangers or at animals was what they were noticed for.

11:8

Bowing low to the ground was the standard gesture of submission before a superior; Pharaoh's officials performing it before Moses reverses the normal order of rank between them. "Come down" reflects the fact that a royal court sat on raised ground, so anyone leaving it went down.

11:9

Wonders means amazing things that only God could do.

11:10

In the Bible the heart is where a person decides things. A hard heart means Pharaoh would not change his mind.