29 Moses said to him, "As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh's.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
And Moses said. In this answer Moses indirectly hints, that he leaves the presence of Pharaoh, in order duly and purely to supplicate God; since by his unbelief he would in a manner pollute the sacrifices. For, as he had already shown, that legitimate worship could not be offered by the people except away from Egypt, so now he seeks to be alone for prayer; and thus, by this change of place, he indicates that the place, in which Pharaoh dwells, is unholy. We have already said, that Moses promises nothing out of mere rash impulse, but that, taught either by the inspiration of the Spirit, or by sure revelation, he pronounces, with the authority of a prophet, what God is about to do. Moreover, it is not without reason that Moses exhorts Pharaoh to learn from the remission of the punishment, that the God of Israel is the Lord of Egypt also; for the word earth seems here to be limited to Egypt; although I do not deny that it may be properly understood of the whole world; but, whichever you may prefer, Moses rightly concludes, that the glory and dominion of God is perfectly manifested, not only when he appears as an avenger in the infliction of punishment, but that He also shows it in an opposite way, when all the elements are subservient to His mercy. Besides, His power is still more clearly shown forth, when He himself heals the wounds which He has inflicted; and, therefore, in Isaiah 41:23, and 45:7, in order to prove His divinity, He joins the two together, viz., that it is His prerogative and attribute both to "do good, or to do evil."
The earth is the Lord's - This declaration has a direct reference to Egyptian superstition. Each god was held to have special power within a given district; Pharaoh had learned that Yahweh was a god, he was now to admit that His power extended over the whole earth. The unity and universality of the divine power, though occasionally recognized in ancient Egyptian documents, were overlaid at a very early period by systems alternating between Polytheism and Pantheism.
I will spread abroad my hands - That is, I will make supplication to God that he may remove this plague. This may not be an improper place to make some observations on the ancient manner of approaching the Divine Being in prayer. Kneeling down, stretching out the hands, and lifting them up to heaven, were in frequent use among the Hebrews in their religious worship. Solomon kneeled down on his knees, and spread forth his hands to heaven; 2-Chronicles 6:13. So David, Psalm 143:6 : I stretch forth my hands unto thee. So Ezra: I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God; Ezra 9:5. See also Job Job 11:13 : If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thy hands towards him. Most nations who pretended to any kind of worship made use of the same means in approaching the objects of their adoration, viz., kneeling down and stretching out their hands; which custom it is very likely they borrowed from the people of God. Kneeling was ever considered to be the proper posture of supplication, as it expresses humility, contrition, and subjection. If the person to whom the supplication was addressed was within reach, the supplicant caught him by the knees; for as among the ancients the forehead was consecrated to genius, the ear to memory, and the right hand to faith, so the knees were consecrated to mercy. Hence those who entreated favor fell at and caught hold of the knees of the person whose kindness they supplicated. This mode of supplication is particularly referred to in the following passages in Homer: -
Των νυν μιν μνησασα παρεζεο, και λαβε γουνων.
Iliad i., ver. 407.
Now therefore, of these things reminding Jove,
Embrace his knees.
Cowper.
To which the following answer is made: -
Και τοτ' επειτα τοι ειμι Διος ποτι χαλκοβατες δω,
Και μιν γουνασομαι, και μιν πεισεσθαι οΐω.
Iliad i., ver. 426.
Then will I to Jove's brazen-floor'd abode, That I may clasp his knees; and much misdeem Of my endeavor, or my prayer shall speed. Id. See the issue of thus addressing Jove, Ibid., ver. 500-502, and ver. 511, etc.
In the same manner we find our Lord accosted, Matthew 17:14 : There came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him γονυπετων αυτον, falling down at his knees.
As to the lifting up or stretching out of the hands, (often joined to kneeling), of which we have seen already several instances, and of which we have a very remarkable one in this book, Exodus 17:11, where the lifting up or stretching out of the hands of Moses was the means of Israel's prevailing over Amalek; we find many examples of both in ancient authors. Thus Homer: -
Εσθλον γαρ Δυ χειρας ανασχεμεν, αι κ' ελεησῃ.
Iliad xxiv., ver. 301.
For right it is to spread abroad the hands To Jove for mercy.
Also Virgil: -
Corripio e stratis corpus,
Tendoque supinas ad coelum
cum voce manus, et munera libo
Aeneid iii., ver. 176.
I started from my bed, and raised on high
My hands and voice in rapture to the sky;
And pour libations.
Ptt.
Dixerat: et Genua Amplexus,
genibusque volutans Haerebat.
Ibid., ver. 607.
Then kneel'd the wretch, and suppliant clung around
My knees with tears, and grovell'd on the ground.
Id.
- media inter numina divum Multa Jovem
Manibus Supplex orasse SUPINIS.
Ibid. iv., ver. 204.
Amidst the statues of the gods he stands,
And spreading forth to Jove his lifted hands.
Id.
Et Duplices cum voce Manus ad sidera
Tendit. Ibid. x., ver. 667.
And lifted both his hands and voice to heaven.
In some cases the person petitioning came forward, and either sat in the dust or kneeled on the ground, placing his left hand on the knee of him from whom he expected the favor, while he touched the person's chin with his right. We have an instance of this also in Homer:
Και ρα παροιθ' αυτοιο καθεζετο, και λαβε γουνων
Σκαιῃ· δεξιτερῃ δ' αρ' ὑπ' ανθερεωνος ἑλουσα.
Iliad i., ver. 500.
Suppliant the goddess stood: one hand she placed
Beneath his chin, and one his knee embraced.
Pope.
When the supplicant could not approach the person to whom he prayed, as where a deity was the object of the prayer, he washed his hands, made an offering, and kneeling down, either stretched out both his hands to heaven, or laid them upon the offering or sacrifice, or upon the altar. Thus Homer represents the priest of Apollo praying: -
Χερνιψαντο δ' επειτα, και ουλοχυτας ανελοντο.
Τοισιν δε Χρυσης μεγαλ' ευχετο, χειρας ανασχων.
Iliad i., ver. 449.
With water purify their hands, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake,
While thus, with arms devoutly raised in air,
And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer.
Pope.
How necessary ablutions of the whole body, and of the hands particularly, accompanied with offerings and sacrifices were, under the law, every reader of the Bible knows: see especially Exodus 29:1-4, where Aaron and his sons were commanded to be washed, previously to their performing the priest's office; and Exodus 30:19-21, where it is said: "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands - that they die not." See also Leviticus 17:15. When the high priest among the Jews blessed the people, he lifted up his hands, Leviticus 9:22. And the Israelites, when they presented a sacrifice to God, lifted up their hands and placed them on the head of the victim: "If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord - of the cattle of the herd, and of the flock - he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him;" Leviticus 1:2-4. To these circumstances the apostle alludes, 1-Timothy 2:8 : "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." In the apostle's word επαιροντας, lifting up, there is a manifest reference to stretching out the hands to place them either on the altar or on the head of the victim. Four things were signified by this lifting up of the hands. 1. It was the posture of supplication, and expressed a strong invitation - Come to my help; 2. It expressed the earnest desire of the person to lay hold on the help he required, by bringing him who was the object of his prayer to his assistance; 3. It showed the ardor of the person to receive the blessings he expected; and 4. By this act he designated and consecrated his offering or sacrifice to his God.
From a great number of evidences and coincidences it is not unreasonable to conclude that the heathens borrowed all that was pure and rational, even in their mode of worship, from the ancient people of God; and that the preceding quotations are proofs of this.
And Moses said unto him, as soon as I am gone out of the city,.... Zoan or Tanis, for it was in the field of Zoan where these wonders were wrought, Psalm 78:12, the reason why he went out of the city to pray, Jarchi says, was because it was full of idols; but the truer reason was, that he might be private and alone while he was praying to God; and perhaps he went out also to show that he was not frightened at the storm, or afraid of being destroyed by it, and was confident of preservation in the midst of it, in the open field, by the power of God, whom he served:
I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; which was a prayer gesture directed to by the light of nature, and was used very anciently, and by the Heathens, as well as others; of which the learned Rivet has given many instances in his comment on this text:
and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; this he had faith in, and full assurance of before he prayed for it; he knew the mind and will of God, and not only he knew what he could do, but what he would do, and which he tells Pharaoh of before hand; which was a full proof that he was a god to Pharaoh, as the Lord said he had made him, Exodus 7:1.
that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord's; that the whole earth is his, and therefore he can do, and does in it whatever he pleases; as the heavens also are his, and therefore can cause thunder, lightning, hail, and rain, and stop them when he thinks fit; or that the land of Egypt particularly was his, and not Pharaoh's, and therefore could destroy, or save it at his pleasure; and particularly it being his, Pharaoh had no right to detain his people in it against his will, who was Lord of it.
Moses promised that his request should be granted, that he might know "that the land belonged to Jehovah," i.e., that Jehovah ruled as Lord over Egypt (cf. Exodus 8:18); at the same time he told him that the fear manifested by himself and his servants was no true fear of God. יי מפּני ירא denotes the true fear of God, which includes a voluntary subjection to the divine will. Observe the expression, Jehovah, Elohim: Jehovah, who is Elohim, the Being to be honoured as supreme, the true God.
The earth - The world, the heaven and the earth.
*More commentary available at chapter level.