91 Then the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship. 2 For if you will not let them go, but still keep them in your power, 3 Then the hand of the Lord will put on your cattle in the field, on the horses and the asses and the camels, on the herds and the flocks, a very evil disease. 4 And the Lord will make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; there will be no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. 5 And the time was fixed by the Lord, and he said, Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land. 6 And on the day after, the Lord did as he had said, causing the death of all the cattle of Egypt, but there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. 7 And Pharaoh sent and got word that there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard and he did not let the people go.
8 And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Take in your hand a little dust from the fire and let Moses send it in a shower up to heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and will be a skin-disease bursting out in wounds on man and beast through all the land of Egypt. 10 So they took some dust from the fire, and placing themselves before Pharaoh, Moses sent it out in a shower up to heaven; and it became a skin-disease bursting out on man and on beast. 11 And the wonder-workers were not able to take their places before Moses, because of the disease; for the disease was on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians. 12 And the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.
13 And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh, and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship. 14 For this time I will send all my punishments on yourself and on your servants and on your people; so that you may see that there is no other like me in all the earth.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 9:1-14
Commentary on Exodus 9:1-7
(Read Exodus 9:1-7)
God will have Israel released, Pharaoh opposes it, and the trial is, whose word shall stand. The hand of the Lord at once is upon the cattle, many of which, some of all kinds, die by a sort of murrain. This was greatly to the loss of the owners; they had made Israel poor, and now God would make them poor. The hand of God is to be seen, even in the sickness and death of cattle; for a sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father. None of the Israelites' cattle should die; the Lord shall sever. The cattle died. The Egyptians worshipped their cattle. What we make an idol of, it is just with God to remove from us. This proud tyrant and cruel oppressor deserved to be made an example by the just Judge of the universe. None who are punished according to what they deserve, can have any just cause to complain. Hardness of heart denotes that state of mind upon which neither threatenings nor promise, neither judgements nor mercies, make any abiding impression. The conscience being stupified, and the heart filled with pride and presumption, they persist in unbelief and disobedience. This state of mind is also called the stony heart. Very different is the heart of flesh, the broken and contrite heart. Sinners have none to blame but themselves, for that pride and ungodliness which abuse the bounty and patience of God. For, however the Lord hardens the hearts of men, it is always as a punishment of former sins.
Commentary on Exodus 9:8-12
(Read Exodus 9:8-12)
When the Egyptians were not wrought upon by the death of their cattle, God sent a plague that seized their own bodies. If lesser judgments do not work, God will send greater. Sometimes God shows men their sin in their punishment. They had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now the ashes of the furnace are made a terror to them. The plague itself was very grievous. The magicians themselves were struck with these boils. Their power was restrained before; but they continued to withstand Moses, and to confirm Pharaoh in his unbelief, till they were forced to give way. Pharaoh continued obstinate. He had hardened his own heart, and now God justly gave him up to his own heart's lusts, permitting Satan to blind and harden him. If men shut their eyes against the light, it is just with God to close their eyes. This is the sorest judgment a man can be under out of hell.
Commentary on Exodus 9:13-21
(Read Exodus 9:13-21)
Moses is here ordered to deliver a dreadful message to Pharaoh. Providence ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as this Pharaoh to deal with; and every thing made it a most signal instance of the power of God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. When God's justice threatens ruin, his mercy at the same time shows a way of escape from it. God not only distinguished between Egyptians and Israelites, but between some Egyptians and others. If Pharaoh will not yield, and so prevent the judgment itself, yet those that will take warning, may take shelter. Some believed the things which were spoken, and they feared, and housed their servants and cattle, and it was their wisdom. Even among the servants of Pharaoh, some trembled at God's word; and shall not the sons of Israel dread it? But others believed not, and left their cattle in the field. Obstinate unbelief is deaf to the fairest warnings, and the wisest counsels, which leaves the blood of those that perish upon their own heads.