Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 11

And the Lord said. —Rather, Now the Lord had said. The passage (Exodus 11:1–3) is parenthetic, and refers to a revelation made to Moses before his present interview with Pharaoh began. The insertion is needed in order to explain the confidence of Moses in regard to the last plague (Exodus 11:5), and the effect it would have on the Egyptians (Exodus 11:8).

When he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. —The word rendered “altogether” belongs to the first clause. Translate, when he shall let you go altogether, he shall assuredly thrust you out hence.

Let every man borrow. —See the comment on Exodus 3:22. The directions to “ask” the Egyptians for presents are extended here from the women alone to both women and men. Egyptian obduracy and Israelite loss through some of the plagues may have caused the enlargement of the original instruction.

The Lord gave the people favour —that is, when the time arrived. (See below, Exodus 12:36.)

The man Moses. —At first sight, there seems to be a difficulty in supposing Moses wrote this way about himself. “The man” is not a title by which writers of any time or country typically speak of themselves.

However, it is far more difficult to imagine anyone but Moses giving him such a plain and meager designation. To other writers, he is a “prophet” (Deuteronomy 34:10; Luke 24:27; Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37), “a man of God” (Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6;Psalms 90:0, Title; Ezra 3:2), or “the servant of the Lord” (Joshua 1:1; Hebrews 3:5)—never simply “the man.”

Very great. —It has been said that this expression does not align well with the “meekness” of Moses. But it is merely the statement of a fact, and one that needs to be stated for the proper understanding of the narrative.

In the course of his long contention with Pharaoh as an equal, Moses had come to be regarded not only by the courtiers but by the Egyptians generally as a great personage—a personage almost on par with the Pharaoh, whom they revered as a god on earth.

The position he had thus attained exerted an important influence on the entire Egyptian people at this time. This caused them to be well-inclined toward his countrymen and willing to make sacrifices to help them and obtain their goodwill.

And Moses said. —In continuation of the speech recorded in Exodus 10:29, face to face with Pharaoh, Moses makes his last appeal—utters his last threats. Pharaoh has told him see his face no more (Exodus 10:28), and he has accepted the warning, and declared, I will see thy face again no more (Exodus 10:29). It is the last interview—the last interchange of speech. Moses had to deliver a message.

Hardened as his heart is, Pharaoh is still to be allowed “a place for repentance.” God announces to him, through Moses, the coming destruction of the firstborn—emphasizes the terrible nature of the impending calamity by the announcement that throughout all Egypt there would be a great cry—contrasts their despair with the absolute immunity of the Israelites—and finally warns Pharaoh that he and his people will soon urge the departure that they now refuse to permit.

If Pharaoh had even then relented, it was not too late—the great blows might have been escaped: the death of the firstborn and the destruction of the armed force in the Red Sea. But he had “hardened himself,” and then “been hardened,” until, practically, the time for relenting had passed. He remained obdurate, and would not let the children of Israel go out of his land (Exodus 11:10).

About midnight. —The particular night was not specified; and the torment of suspense was thus added to the pain of an unceasing fear. But the dreadful visitation was to come at the most dreaded hour of the twenty-four—midnight. This much was placed beyond doubt.

All the firstborn ... shall die. —The Hebrew word translated firstborn is applied only to males; and thus the announcement was that in every family the eldest son should be cut off. In Egypt, as in most other countries, the law of primogeniture prevailed—the eldest son was the hope, stay, and support of the household, his father’s companion, his mother’s joy, the object of his brothers’ and sisters’ reverence.

The firstborn of the Pharaoh bore the title of erpa suten sa, or “hereditary crown prince,” and succeeded his father, unless he died or was formally set aside during his father’s lifetime. Among the nobles, estates were inherited, and sometimes titles descended to the firstborn.

No greater affliction can be conceived, short of the general destruction of the people, than the sudden death in every family of him round whom the highest interests and fondest hopes clustered.

The maidservant that is behind the mill marks the lowest grade in the social scale, as the king that sits upon his throne marks the highest. All alike were to suffer. In every family there was to be one dead (Exodus 12:30).

All the firstborn of beasts. —The aggravation of the calamity by its extension to beasts is very remarkable, and is probably to be connected with the Egyptian animal-worship. At all times there were in Egypt four animals regarded as actual incarnations of deity, and the objects of profound veneration. Three of these were bulls, while one was a white cow.

It is not unlikely that all were required to be firstborns; in which case the whole of Egypt would have been plunged into a religious mourning on account of their deaths, in addition to the domestic mourning that must have prevailed in each house. The deaths of other sacred animals, and of many pet animals in houses, would have increased the general consternation.