Exodus 9:16

And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up.—Rather, but truly on this account have I made thee stand—i.e., kept thee alive, not for thy deserts, not even in pity, but only “for to show in thee My power.” Thou hast provoked Me so that long since thou wouldst have been “cut off from the earth,” only that My glory will be the more shown forth by thy continuance in life, and by the further plagues and punishments whereto thou wilt be subjected.

That my name may be declared.—Comp. Exodus 14:17; Exodus 15:14-16, &c.

Benson Commentary

Exodus 9:16. For this cause have I raised thee up — A most dreadful message Moses is here ordered to deliver to him, whether he will hear, or whether he will forbear. He must tell him that he is marked for ruin: that he now stands as the butt at which God would shoot all the arrows of his wrath. For this cause I raised thee up — To the throne, at this time; and made thee to stand — The shocks of the plagues hitherto; to show in thee my power — Providence so ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit to deal with, to make it a most signal and memorable instance of the power God has to bring down the proudest of his enemies. It must be observed, that the Hebrew word, here rendered raised up, never signifies to raise, or bring a person or thing into being; but to preserve, support, establish, or make to stand, as in the margin of our Bibles, and as may be seen, 1 Kings 15:4; Proverbs 29:4. And accordingly, the Septuagint translation, the Chaldee, Samaritan, Arabic, and Junius and Tremellius, all render this place, “For this cause thou hast hitherto been preserved,” ενεκεν τουτου διετηρηθης, Sept. The meaning therefore of this passage is, not that God brought Pharaoh into being, or made him on purpose, that he might be an example of his severity and vengeance, but that, though Pharaoh had long deserved to be destroyed, yet God had spared him, and made him subsist for a considerable time, to show his power, by the signs and wonders which he wrought in the land of Egypt, and by delivering his people at length, in spite of all the opposition of Pharaoh, with a strong hand and outstretched arm. That my name might be known — My being, and providence, and manifold perfections; my patience in bearing with thee so long, my justice in punishing thee, my power in conquering thee, my wisdom in overruling thy pride, tyranny, cruelty, to thy own destruction and the redemption of my oppressed people, and my faithfulness in accomplishing my promises to them, and my threatenings to thee. Throughout all the earth — Not only in all places, but throughout all ages, while the earth remains. This will infallibly be the event.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:13-21 Moses is here ordered to deliver a dreadful message to Pharaoh. Providence ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as this Pharaoh to deal with; and every thing made it a most signal instance of the power of God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. When God's justice threatens ruin, his mercy at the same time shows a way of escape from it. God not only distinguished between Egyptians and Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield, and so prevent the judgment itself, yet those that will take warning, may take shelter. Some believed the things which were spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle, and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants of Pharaoh, some trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons of Israel dread it? But others believed not, and left their cattle in the field. Obstinate unbelief is deaf to the fairest warnings, and the wisest counsels, which leaves the blood of those that perish upon their own heads.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Have I raised thee up - See the margin. God kept Pharaoh "standing", i. e. permitted him to live and hold out until His own purpose was accomplished.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. Moses took ashes from the furnace—Hebrew, "brick-kiln." The magicians, being sufferers in their own persons, could do nothing, though they had been called; and as the brick-kiln was one of the principal instruments of oppression to the Israelites [De 4:20; 1Ki 8:51; Jer 11:4], it was now converted into a means of chastisement to the Egyptians, who were made to read their sin in their punishment.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Raised thee up; so the Hebrew word is translated, Romans 9:17. I have raised thee up out of thy first nothing, into thy being, and life, and kingdom; and upheld thy being and reign even in the midst of thy tyranny. Heb. I have made thee to stand, i.e. to remain alive and untouched, when thy magicians could not stand, Exodus 9:11. I have preserved thee in life, not for want of power to destroy thee, as thou mayst fancy, nor for want of provocation from thee, but for my own glory.

To show in thee my power, in those mighty works which have been occasioned by thy rebellion and obstinacy. My name; my being and providence, and my manifold perfections; my patience in bearing thee so long, my justice in punishing thee, my power in conquering thee, my wisdom in overruling thy pride, and tyranny, and cruelty, to thy own destruction, and the redemption of my oppressed people, and my faithfulness in making good my promises to them, and my threatenings to thee.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up,.... Or but truly or verily (c); instead of smiting thee with the pestilence, and cutting thee off out of the land of the living, "I have raised thee up"; made thee to stand (d), to continue in being; I have preserved thine from perishing by the former plagues, and have reserved thee for greater judgments and sorer punishments. It may take in all that God did to him; the constitution and appointment of him to all this in his eternal mind; his bringing him into being, and raising him up to kingly dignity; preserving him from perishing by the pestilence, boils and blains, and keeping him for future evils, and all upon this account for the following reasons:

for to shew in thee my power; in working miracles, inflicting judgments one after another, and especially in destroying him and his host in the Red sea:

and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth; as it has been more by that last action than by all the rest of the plagues; though, in all, his sovereignty, wisdom, power, patience, longsuffering, and justice, are most visibly displayed and glorified.

(c) "veruntamen", Junius & Tremellius, Psicator, Drusius, Fagius; so Ainsworth. (d) "stare fecite", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

Geneva Study Bible

And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my {d} name may be declared throughout all the earth.

(d) That is, that all the world may magnify my power in overcoming you.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. made thee to stand] i.e. maintained thee alive, the causative of to ‘stand’ in the sense of to continue, ch. Exodus 21:21, Psalm 102:28 [Heb. 27]. The same sense is expressed by the paraphrase of LXX. thou wast preserved (διετηρήθης). St Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, in his argument to prove the absolute sovereignty of God. He there (disregarding the LXX.) expresses the verb by ἐξήγειρά σε, raised thee up, i.e. brought thee on to the stage of history (cf. ἐξεγείρω in LXX., Habakkuk 1:6, Zechariah 11:16, and ἐγείρω, Jdg 2:16; Jdg 2:18; Jdg 3:9 al.),—a sense which העמיד might have had in post-exilic Hebrew, but hardly at the date when this passage of Ex. was written1[126]. The difference between raised up and kept alive does not, however, affect the Apostle’s argument. He is arguing against the Jews (who strongly maintained that their national privileges were inalienable), that God, in rejecting Israel, is not arbitrary or unjust; and he quotes two passages from the OT. to shew the absolute character of the Divine sovereignty, Exodus 33:19 b as proof that God can choose Himself the recipients of His mercy, and the present passage as proof that He may, if it pleases Him, be severe, in order to carry out His Divine purpose. See further p. 54.

[126] In post-exilic Heb. עמד and העמיד acquire meanings which in early Heb. are expressed by קום and הקים: see examples in the writer’s Introduction, pp. 475, 503 (ed. 6 or 7, pp. 507, 535), Nos. 16 and 4. In early Heb. ἐξεγείρω would have been expressed by הקים (as in Habakkuk 1:6, &c., quoted above).

to shew thee,—lit. to make thee see, i.e. experience,—my power] which might have had the effect of softening Pharaoh’s heart, and did in fact lead him more than once to give God the glory (v. 27, Exodus 10:16 f.).

and that my name, &c.] Pharaoh is a signal type of the power of the world, as opposed to God; and God’s victory over him will cause His name to be declared (Psalm 102:21) and known far and wide in the world.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - And in very deed, etc. Rather, "But truly for this cause have I caused thee to stand," i.e., "kept thee alive and sustained thee in the position thou occupiest" for to shew to thee my power - i.e., to impress thee, if it is possible that thou canst be impressed, with the greatness of my power, and the foolishness of any attempt to resist it, and also that my name may be declared throughout all the earth - i.e., that attention may be called widely among the neighbouring nations to the great truth that there is really but one God, who alone can deliver, and whom it is impossible to resist. Exodus 9:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

As the plagues had thus far entirely failed to bend the unyielding heart of Pharaoh under the will of the Almighty God, the terrors of that judgment, which would infallibly come upon him, were set before him in three more plagues, which were far more terrible than any that had preceded them. That these were to be preparatory to the last decisive blow, is proved by the great solemnity with which they were announced to the hardened king (Exodus 9:13-16). This time Jehovah was about to "send all His strokes at the heart of Pharaoh, and against his servants and his people" (Exodus 9:14). אל־לבּך does not signify "against thy person," for לב is not used for נפשׁ, and even the latter is not a periphrasis for "person;" but the strokes were to go to the king's heart, "It announces that they will be plagues that will not only strike the head and arms, but penetrate the very heart, and inflict a mortal wound" (Calvin). From the plural "strokes," it is evident that this threat referred not only to the seventh plague, viz., the hail, but to all the other plagues, through which Jehovah was about to make known to the king that "there was none like Him in all the earth,;" i.e., that not one of the gods whom the heathen worshipped was like Him, the only true God. For, in order to show this, Jehovah had not smitten Pharaoh and his people at once with pestilence and cut them off from the earth, but had set him up to make him see, i.e., discern or feel His power, and to glorify His name in all the earth (Exodus 9:15, Exodus 9:16). In Exodus 9:15 וגו שׁלחתּי (I have stretched out, etc.) is to be taken as the conditional clause: "If I had now stretched out My hand and smitten thee...thou wouldest have been cut off." העמדתּיך forms the antithesis to תּכּהד, and means to cause to stand or continue, as in 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Chronicles 9:8 (διετηρήθης lxx). Causing to stand presupposes setting up. In this first sense the Apostle Paul has rendered it ἐξήγειρα in Romans 9:17, in accordance with the purport of his argument, because "God thereby appeared still more decidedly as absolutely determining all that was done by Pharaoh" (Philippi on Romans 9:17). The reason why God had not destroyed Pharaoh at once was twofold: (1) that Pharaoh himself might experience (הראת to cause to see, i.e., to experience) the might of Jehovah, by which he was compelled more than once to give glory to Jehovah (Exodus 9:27; Exodus 10:16-17; Exodus 12:31); and (2) that the name of Jehovah might be declared throughout all the earth. As both the rebellion of the natural man against the word and will of God, and the hostility of the world-power to the Lord and His people, were concentrated in Pharaoh, so there were manifested in the judgments suspended over him the patience and grace of the living God, quite as much as His holiness, justice, and omnipotence, as a warning to impenitent sinners, and a support to the faith of the godly, in a manner that should by typical for all times and circumstances of the kingdom of God in conflict with the ungodly world. The report of this glorious manifestation of Jehovah spread at once among all the surrounding nations (cf. Exodus 15:14.), and travelled not only to the Arabians, but to the Greeks and Romans also, and eventually with the Gospel of Christ to all the nations of the earth (vid., Tholuck on Romans 9:17).