Exodus 8:19

19 And the witches said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And the heart of Pharaoh was made hard, and he heard not them, as the Lord commanded (But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said).

Exodus 8:19 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:19

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this is the finger of
God
This is to be ascribed to a power superior to human, to a divine power; so long as they could do something similar, or impose upon the senses of men, and make them believe they did the like, they would not acknowledge divine omnipotence; but when they no longer could deceive the sight of Pharaoh and the Egyptian, then they own the effects of a superior power: and this they did partly to detract from the power of Moses and Aaron, because they would not have them pass for more skilful persons in the magic art than themselves; and therefore suggest, that this was done not by virtue of any human skill and art, but by the power of the Supreme Being; and partly to detract from the honour of the God of Israel; for they do not say this is the finger of Jehovah, whom they accounted, as Dr. Lightfoot ^F7 observes, as a petty trivial god, but this is the finger of Elohim, the Supreme Deity. It is conjectured by some ^F8, that in memory of this plague the Egyptian priests scrape their whole bodies, lest there should be a louse or any unclean thing on them when they worship their gods, as Herodotus ^F9 relates:

and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them;
either not unto the magicians owning the hand of God, and his divine power in the plague inflicted; or to Moses and Aaron demanding the dismission of the people of Israel, which latter seems to be confirmed by the usual phrase, as follows,

as the Lord had said;
see ( Exodus 7:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Ut supra. (Works, vol. 1. p. 705, 706.)
F8 Vid. Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 132.
F9 Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37.

Exodus 8:19 In-Context

17 And they did so; and Aaron held forth the hand, and held the rod, and smote the dust of [the] earth; and gnats were made in men, and in work beasts; all the dust of the earth was turned into gnats by all the land of Egypt. (And they did so; and Aaron stretched forth the staff with his hand, and struck the dust of the earth; and gnats came on people, and on the work beasts; yea, all the dust of the earth was turned into gnats in all the land of Egypt.)

18 And the witches did in like manner by their enchantments, that they should bring forth gnats, and they might not; and gnats were as well in men as in work beasts. (And the witches did likewise with their enchantments, so that they would also bring forth gnats, but they could not do so; still, gnats covered all the people, and the work beasts as well.)

19 And the witches said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And the heart of Pharaoh was made hard, and he heard not them, as the Lord commanded (But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said).

20 And the Lord said to Moses, Rise thou (up) early, and stand before Pharaoh, for he shall go out to the waters; and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me (The Lord saith these things, Let my people go, so that they can worship me);

21 that if thou wilt not deliver the people (but if thou wilt not let the people go), lo! I shall send into thee, and into thy servants, and into thy people, and into thine houses, all the kind(s) of flies; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full-filled with flies of diverse kinds, and all the land in which they shall be.