Exodus 10:7

7 And the servants of Pharao say to him, How long shall this be a snare to us? send away the men, that they may serve their God; wilt thou know that Egypt is destroyed?

Exodus 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:7

And Pharaoh's servants said to him
His courtiers and counsellors, such of them as were not so hardened as others, or however now began to relent, and dreaded what would be the consequence of things, even the ruin of the whole country, the good of which they seem to have had at heart:

how long shall this man be a snare unto us?
an occasion of ruin and destruction, as birds by a snare; they speak in a contemptuous manner of Moses, calling him "this man", the rather to ingratiate themselves into the good will of Pharaoh, and that their advice might be the better and the easier taken:

let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God:
that is, Moses and his people, grant them their request, that the land may be preserved from ruin; for if things go on long at this rate, utter destruction must ensue:

knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
as good as ruined, by the plagues that already were come upon it, especially by the last, by the murrain and boils upon the cattle, which destroyed great quantities, and by the hail which had smitten their flax and their barley; or, "must thou first know that Egypt is destroyed?" before thou wilt let the people go; or dost thou first wish, or is it thy pleasure, that it should be first declared to thee that Egypt is destroyed, as Aben Ezra interprets it, before thou wilt grant the dismission of this people? The Targum of Jonathan is,

``dost thou not yet know, that by his hands the land of Egypt must perish?''

(See Gill on Exodus 1:15). (See Gill on Exodus 2:15).

Exodus 10:7 In-Context

5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, and thou shalt not be able to see the earth; and they shall devour all that is left of the abundance of the earth, which the hail has left you, and shall devour every tree that grows for you on the land.

6 And thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of thy servants, and all the houses in all the land of the Egyptians; things which thy fathers have never seen, nor their forefathers, from the day that they were upon the earth until this day. And Moses turned away and departed from Pharao.

7 And the servants of Pharao say to him, How long shall this be a snare to us? send away the men, that they may serve their God; wilt thou know that Egypt is destroyed?

8 And they brought back both Moses and Aaron to Pharao; and he said to them, Go and serve the Lord your God; but who are they that are going with you?

9 And Moses said, We will go with the young and the old, with our sons, and daughters, and sheep, and oxen, for it is a feast of the Lord.