Exodus 10:16

16 Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron back in no time. He said, "I've sinned against your God and against you.

Exodus 10:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:16

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste
Or, "hastened to call them" F20; sent messengers in all haste to fetch them, and desire them to come as soon as possible to him. Thus he who a few hours ago drove them from his presence, in a hurry, sends for them to come to him with all speed, which the present circumstances he was in required:

and he said to Moses and Aaron:
when they were brought into his presence:

I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you;
against the Lord by disobeying his command, in refusing to let Israel go, when he had so often required it of him; and against Moses and Aaron his ambassadors, whom he had treated with contempt, and had drove them from his presence with disgrace; and against the people of Israel, whom they personated, by retaining them, and using them so ill as he had. This confession did not arise from a true sense of sin, as committed against God, nor indeed does he in it own Jehovah to be his God, only the God of Moses and Aaron, or of the Israelites; but from the fright he was in, and fear of punishment continued upon him, to the utter ruin of him and his people.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 (arql-rhmyw) "et festinavit ad vocandum", Montanus; "festinavit accersere", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Exodus 10:16 In-Context

14 The locusts covered the country of Egypt, settling over every square inch of Egypt; the place was thick with locusts. There never was an invasion of locusts like it in the past, and never will be again.
15 The ground was completely covered, black with locusts. They ate everything, every blade of grass, every piece of fruit, anything that the hail didn't get. Nothing left but bare trees and bare fields - not a sign of green in the whole land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh had Moses and Aaron back in no time. He said, "I've sinned against your God and against you.
17 Overlook my sin one more time. Pray to your God to get me out of this - get death out of here!"
18 Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to God.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.