Exodus 8:24

24 And the Lorde dyd euen so: and there came noysom flyes in to the housse of Pharao, and in to his servauntes housses and in to all the lode of Egipte: so that the londe was marred with flyes.

Exodus 8:24 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:24

And the Lord did so
And this he did immediately of himself without any means; not by the rod of Aaron, to let the Egyptians see that there was nothing in that rod, that it had no magic virtue in it, and what was done by it was from the Lord himself, who could as well inflict plagues without it as with it; see ( Psalms 105:31 ) and there came a grievous swarm of flies; or a "heavy" ^F17 one, which was both very numerous, and very troublesome and distressing:

into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and
into all the land of Egypt:
into the palace of Pharaoh, and into the palaces of his nobles, ministers, and courtiers, and into the dwelling places of all his subjects, throughout the whole land, excepting the land of Goshen:

the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies;
Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 says, the land lay neglected and uncultivated by the husbandmen; it may be, the air was infected by the flies, which produced a pestilence that took off many of the inhabitants; so among the Eleans, as Pliny ^F19 reports, a multitude of flies produced a pestilence; however, it is certain many of the inhabitants of Egypt perished by them; they might sting them to death, suck their blood, and poison them with their envenomed stings; see ( Psalms 78:45 ) .

F17 (dbk) "gravis", Montanus, "gravissime", V. L.
F18 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 2. c. 14. sect. 3.)
F19 Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 28.

Exodus 8:24 In-Context

22 But I will separate the same daye the londe of Gosan where my people are, so that there shall no flyes be there: that thou mayst knowe that I am the Lorde vppon the erth.

23 And I will put a deuision betwene my people and thine. And euen tomorow shall this myracle be done.

24 And the Lorde dyd euen so: and there came noysom flyes in to the housse of Pharao, and in to his servauntes housses and in to all the lode of Egipte: so that the londe was marred with flyes.

25 Then Pharao sent for Moses and Aaron and sayde: Goo and do sacrifice vnto youre God in the land.

26 And Moses answered: it is not mete so to do, for we must offer vnto the Lorde oure God, that whiche is an abhominatyon vnto the Egiptians: beholde, shall we sacrifice that which is an abhominacion vnto the Egiptians before their eyes, and shall they not stone vs?