John Calvin Commentary Exodus 10:24

"And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you." — Exodus 10:24 (ASV)

And Pharaoh called to Moses. We gather that he was greatly alarmed by this infliction; because on his own initiative he again called to him (as before) the men who were so troublesome to him, and the authors of such severe calamities, so that he might negotiate with them about their departure.

But the question is raised: if no one rose from his place for three days, how could Pharaoh send for Moses and Aaron? If we were to answer that the messengers were sent after the darkness had dispersed, this objection would readily arise, namely, that it does not seem probable that this untamable wild beast would be so subdued when the severity of the punishment was relaxed. For up to this point, we perceive that as often as God withdrew his hand, the proud tyrant, having cast aside his fear, returned to his ferocity.

My own opinion is that while the crisis was still pressing upon him, and he feared that the darkness might remain upon him forever, he considered how to appease Moses.

When it is related here that none rose from his place, I understand this to be spoken hyperbolically, as if it were said that they ceased from all activities that required light. Although the night does not allow us to carry out the tasks that people are engaged in during the day, it still does not confine them so much that they are unable to move about. Nor is there anything harsh or severe in this hyperbole¹²⁷—that the Egyptians were so overwhelmed with darkness that they each remained, as it were, fixed in their own place, and could not see each other—because during the three days of darkness, God prevented them from performing their usual activities.

Although Pharaoh was prepared to grant somewhat more than before, he still did not stop his evasions. He allowed their little ones to go, provided their herds remained. This was either because he hoped that the people could easily be recalled through fear of famine, or because his loss would, in any case, be less if he were enriched by such spoils.

For it is clear that he was very concerned about the men themselves, because he so very reluctantly made the concession that they could go out to sacrifice without their goods. This was something he would not have been reluctant to allow if he had only desired to despoil them.

But this passage again teaches us that the wicked yield to God only partially. Meanwhile, they do not stop struggling, like wrongdoers who are forced to follow the executioner when he drags them by a rope around their necks, and yet, for that reason, are no more obedient.

This also should be observed: the wicked are quick to invent deceptions when they are suffering under God’s hand. They turn and twist in every direction to find ways to escape sincere and wholehearted submission.

When he says, let your little ones also go with you, by this added phrase he attempts to make a deceptively attractive show of generosity, in order to coax Moses and Aaron. It is as if he were saying that he now at last granted them what they had seemed primarily to require.

¹²⁷ Excez de parler. — Fr..