Exodus 8:20-24 And the LORD said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; see, he comes forth to the water; and say to him… The flies of this plague were evidently of a formidable kind, and very grievous. The Psalmist says — "He sent flies among them, which devoured them" (Psalm 78:45). There is a kind of beetle common in Egypt which is very destructive, inflicting painful bites, and consuming all sorts of materials. The mosquito also, which is a terrible nuisance in all hot climates, and especially in the vicinity of rivers, answers to this description; and the house-fly, which swarms in Egypt, carries corruption, and not unfrequently infectious disease, wherever it alights. It is probable, however, that the flies of this plague were of various kinds, including the above and many others, for David says again "He spake the word, and there came all manner of flies," or "divers sorts of flies" (Psalm 105:31). The marginal reading gives a similar description, "a mixture of noisome beasts." There is no reason, therefore, for supposing that the plague was limited to any one species; on the contrary, as the flies were everywhere, upon the people and in their houses, on the ground and in the air, and in all the land of Egypt, it appears almost certain that they were of different habits, and therefore of different species. There were flies that devoured, and flies that stung; flies that corrupted, and flies that hovered whirring in the air; flies upon men, inflaming their eyelids and blinding them, and flies upon the cattle; there were beetles that crawled upon the ground, and perhaps also bees, and wasps, and hornets, pursuing the people fiercely. It is doubtful whether some kind of flies were not among the sacred insects of the Egyptians. Some of them have been preserved, perhaps accidentally, in the mummy cloths, and some few, among which are the house-fly, the wasp, and the butterfly, are represented in paintings on the monuments and walls. To make the miracle more evident, these pests, while vexing the Egyptians almost beyond endurance, giving them no rest either by night or day, were not suffered to approach the Israelites. "In the land of Goshen were no flies." (T. S. Millington.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. |
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