Exodus 11:6

6 And there will be a great cry of distress in all the land of Egypt, the like of which has not been nor will be again.

Exodus 11:6 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 11:6

And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
Egypt
Of parents for the loss of their firstborn sons, their heirs, the support and glory of their families; children for the loss of their elder brethren; and servants for the loss of the prime and principal in their masters' houses; and all in a dreadful fright, expecting instantly death themselves: such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more;
for though the later destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea might be a greater loss, yet not occasion greater mourning; since that was only a loss of military persons, and did not affect at least so many families as this; and though their king was lost also, it might not give them so much concern, since through his ill conduct, his hardness and obstinacy, he had been the means of so many plagues inflicted on them.

Exodus 11:6 In-Context

4 And Moses said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'About the middle of the night I [will] go out through the midst of Egypt,

5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave woman who [is] behind the pair of millstones and every firstborn animal.

6 And there will be a great cry of distress in all the land of Egypt, the like of which has not been nor will be again.

7 But against all the {Israelites}, from a man to an animal, a dog will not [even] {bark}, so that you will know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.'

8 And all of these your servants will come down to me and bow to me, saying, 'Go out, you and all the people who [are] at your feet.' And afterward I will go out." And he went out from Pharaoh {in great anger}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "which like it has not been and like it will not be again"