Exodus 10:12

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹"Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and ²eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left."

Exodus 10:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:12

And the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the
land of Egypt
First one way, and then another, towards every quarter, and every part of the land, to signify that the following plague would come upon the whole land:

for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt;
the stretching out of his hand was to be the signal to them to come up and spread themselves over the land, which was brought about by the mighty power of God; for otherwise there was no such virtue in the hand or rod of Moses, to have produced so strange an event:

and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left;
the wheat and the rye, or rice, the grass, herbs, and plants, it had beat down, but not utterly destroyed, as well as some boughs and branches of trees which were left unbroken by it.

Exodus 10:12 In-Context

10 But he said to them, "The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left."

13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.

14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again.

Cross References

• 1. See Exodus 7:19
• 2. ver. 4, 5