Exodus 10:5

5 that shall cover the over-part of the earth, neither anything thereof shall appear, but that, that was left of the hail shall be eaten of (the) locusts; for the locust(s) shall gnaw all the trees that burgeon in [the] fields; (which shall cover the face of the earth, so that none of it can be seen; and what was left by the hail shall be eaten by the locusts, for the locusts shall gnaw all the trees that grow in the fields;)

Exodus 10:5 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:5

And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be
able to see the earth
Or, "cover the eye of the earth" F26; either the appearance and colour of the earth, so as they could not be discerned for the multitude of the locusts on it; so the word is used in ( Numbers 11:7 ) or the eye of man looking upon the earth, which would not be able to see it, because the locusts would be between his eye and the earth. The Targum of Onkelos is,

``and shall cover the eye of the sun of the earth,''

so that its rays shall not reach the earth; and so Abarbinel interprets it of the sun, which is the light of the earth, when it casts forth its rays, as the eye upon the object that is seen; and the meaning is, that the locusts should be so thick between the heavens and the earth, that the eye of the earth, which is the sun, could not see or cast its rays upon it, as in ( Exodus 10:15 ) , and so Pliny says F1, that locusts came sometimes in such multitudes as to darken the sun:

and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which
remaineth unto you from the hail;
particularly the wheat and the rye, or rice, which was not grown, ( Exodus 9:32 ) and the herb or grass of the land, ( Exodus 10:12 )

and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field;
such fruit trees as escaped the hail, and such boughs and branches of them which were not broken off by it, ( Exodus 10:15 ) and locusts will indeed eat trees themselves, the bark of them, and gnaw everything, even the doors of houses, as Pliny F2 relates.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Urah Nye) "oculum terrae", Montanus, Piscator; so Ainsworth.
F1 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.
F2 Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.

Exodus 10:5 In-Context

3 Therefore Moses and Aaron entered to Pharaoh, and said to him, The Lord God of (the) Hebrews saith these things, How long wilt thou not be made subject to me? Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me (Let my people go, so that they can worship me);
4 else soothly if thou against-standest, and wilt not deliver it, lo! I shall bring in tomorrow a locust, that is, a multitude of locusts, into thy coasts, (or else, if thou standest against me, that is, if thou refusest me, and wilt not let them go, lo! tomorrow I shall bring a multitude of locusts into thy land,)
5 that shall cover the over-part of the earth, neither anything thereof shall appear, but that, that was left of the hail shall be eaten of (the) locusts; for the locust(s) shall gnaw all the trees that burgeon in [the] fields; (which shall cover the face of the earth, so that none of it can be seen; and what was left by the hail shall be eaten by the locusts, for the locusts shall gnaw all the trees that grow in the fields;)
6 and they shall full-fill thine houses, and the houses of thy servants, and of all the Egyptians, (by) how great thy fathers and thy grand-sires saw not, since they were born on (the) earth, till into this present day. And Moses turned away himself (And then Moses turned), and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Forsooth the servants of Pharaoh said to him, How long shall we suffer this offense? Deliver the men, that they make sacrifice to their Lord God; seest thou not that Egypt hath perished? (And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long shall we suffer this tribulation?/How long shall this man bring trouble upon us? Let those people go, so that they can worship the Lord their God; seest thou not that Egypt hath been destroyed?)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.