Exodus 8:21

21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms[a] of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

Exodus 8:21 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:21

Else, if thou wilt not let my people go
But remainest obstinate and inflexible:

behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee;
the word used is generally thought to signify a "mixture", and is interpreted by many a mixture of various creatures; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it a mixture of wild beasts, and so Josephus F11 understands it of all sorts of beasts, of many forms, and such as were never seen before; according to Jarchi, all sorts of evil beasts are meant, as serpents and scorpions, mixed together; and so Aben Ezra says it signifies evil beasts mixed together, as lions, wolves, bears, and leopards; but it is not likely the houses should be filled with these, or the ground covered with them, as after related: and besides, they would soon have destroyed, all the inhabitants of the land, since as it follows they are said to be upon them; rather a mixture of insects is intended; the Septuagint; version renders it the "dog fly", and so Philo the Jew F12; which, as Pliny F13 says, is very troublesome, to dogs especially, about their ears, and this version Bochart F14 approves of:

and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses;
they should be sent unto and settle first on his own person, and also on his ministers and courtiers, and upon all his subjects in general, and get into their houses, and be very troublesome guests there:

and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of the swarms of flies,
and also the ground whereon they are;
their number would be so very great.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Antiqu. l. 2. c. 14. sect. 3.
F12 De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 622.
F13 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 34.
F14 Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 15. col. 555.

Exodus 8:21 In-Context

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
20 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.
21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. swarms...: or, a mixture of noisome beasts, etc
The King James Version is in the public domain.