Exodus 8:24

24 And the Lord did so. And a most grievous fly, that is, (a) multitude of flies, came into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was corrupted of such flies (and the land was ruined by such a multitude of flies).

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 And in that day I shall make wonderful the land of Goshen, in which my people is, that flies be not there; and that thou know that I am the Lord in the midst of [the] earth; (But on that day I shall protect the land of Goshen, where my people be, so that there shall be no flies there; and so that thou shalt know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land;)

23 and I shall set parting betwixt my people and thy people; this sign shall be tomorrow (this miracle shall come tomorrow).

24 And the Lord did so. And a most grievous fly, that is, (a) multitude of flies, came into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt; and the land was corrupted of such flies (and the land was ruined by such a multitude of flies).

25 And Pharaoh called (for) Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Go ye, make ye sacrifice to the Lord your God, in this land (Go ye, and offer your sacrifices to the Lord your God, here in this land).

26 And Moses said, It may not be [done] so, for why shall we offer to the Lord our God the abominations of Egyptians; that if we shall slay before the Egyptians those things which they worship, they shall throw us down with stones. (And Moses said, It cannot be done so, for we shall not offer to the Lord our God the abominations of the Egyptians; and if, in front of the Egyptians, we kill those things which they worship, they shall throw us down with stones.)