18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
18 And the magicians H2748 did H6213 so with their enchantments H3909 to bring forth H3318 lice, H3654 but they could H3201 not: so there were lice H3654 upon man, H120 and upon beast. H929
18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
18 And the scribes do so with their flashings, to bring out the gnats, and they have not been able, and the gnats are on man and on beast;
18 And the scribes did so with their sorceries, to bring forth gnats; but they could not. And the gnats were on man and on beast.
18 The magicians tried with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal.
18 And the wonder-workers with their secret arts, attempting to make insects, were unable to do so: and there were insects on man and on beast.
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 8
Commentary on Exodus 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
Three more of the plagues of Egypt are related in this chapter,
Exd 8:1-15
Pharaoh is here first threatened and then plagued with frogs, as afterwards, in this chapter, with lice and flies, little despicable inconsiderable animals, and yet by their vast numbers rendered sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued them with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with vultures or other birds of prey; but he chose to do it by these contemptible instruments.
Exd 8:16-19
Here is a short account of the plague of lice. It does not appear that any warning was given of it before. Pharaoh's abuse of the respite granted to him might have been a sufficient warning to him to expect another plague: for if the removal of an affliction harden us, and so we lose the benefit of it, we may conclude it goes away with a purpose to return or to make room for a worse. Observe,
Exd 8:20-32
Here is the story of the plague of flies, in which we are told,
Lastly, The issue of all was that God graciously removed the plague (v. 30, 31), but Pharaoh perfidiously returned to his hardness, and would not let the people go, v. 32. His pride would not let him part with such a flower of his crown as his dominion over Israel was, nor his covetousness with such a branch of his revenue as their labours were. Note, Reigning lusts break through the strongest bounds, and make men impudently presumptuous and scandalously perfidious. Let not sin therefore reign; for, if it do, it will betray and hurry us to the grossest absurdities.