And the Lord shall smite Egypt
By one afflictive providence or another, which shall awaken them to a sense of sin and duty; or smite their consciences with convictions of sin, through the ministry of the word by his spirits:
he shall smite and heal [it];
or "smiting and healing" F6; as he smites he shall heal, by an application of pardoning grace and mercy, by sprinkling the blood of Christ on their wounded consciences, and by pouring in the oil and wine of divine love into the wounds made by sin:
and they shall return, [even] to the Lord:
by faith and repentance; or to his worship, as the Targum; by an obedience to his will, and shall cleave unto him:
and he shall be entreated of them, and he shall heal them;
when wounded with a sense of sin, and pricked to the heart, they shall cry unto him, and entreat his pardoning grace and mercy, which, being applied to them, heals; for healing diseases and forgiving iniquities are one and the same thing; see ( Psalms 103:3 ) .