And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

And Pharao sent to see: and there was not any thing dead of that which Israel possessed. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

and Pharaoh sendeth, and lo, not even one of the cattle of Israel hath died, and the heart of Pharaoh is hard, and he hath not sent the people away.

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.

Pharaoh sent, and, look, there was not so much as one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

And Pharaoh sent to see; neither was there anything dead of those things that Israel possessed. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not release the people.

Et misit Pharao: et ecce, ex pecore Israel ne unum quidem animal mortuum erat. Et aggravatum fuit cor Pharaonis, ut non dimitteret populum.

And Pharaoh sent. I leave it undecided, whether he then first sent these inspectors; [1] it may be, that, in the blindness of his obstinacy he neglected this, until he was reminded by Moses; for we know how the reprobate shut their eyes against the manifest marks of God's wrath, and willfully indulge in their errors. Certainly there is no doubt that Pharaoh, whilst he seeks to harden himself in every way, deliberately passed over what it was very useful for him to know; but, since he was informed by Moses of the distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites, he is compelled, whether he will or no, to ascertain from actual inspection, what he would have gladly been in ignorance of. But this was no obscure demonstration of God's paternal favor towards His chosen people; that the contagion should not have affected that part of Egypt, which was fullest of cattle, though it ravaged the whole surrounding neighborhood. Wherefore, the hardness of the king's wicked heart was all the more base and marvelous, since he was not moved even by this extraordinary circumstance; for it was a token of horrible folly, that, when the matter was examined and discovered by his underlings, he still hardened his heart and would not obey God.

Footnotes

1 - "It is asked, why he did not do so before? Resp., Because either, first, The roads were impassable on account of the frogs, lice, etc.; or secondly, It did not previously occur to him." -- Menochius in Pol. Syn.

Was hardened - See Exodus 4:21. Pharaoh probably attributed the exemption of the Israelites to natural causes. They were a pastoral race, well acquainted with all that pertained to the care of cattle; and dwelling in a healthy district probably far more than the rest of Lower Egypt.

And Pharaoh sent, etc. - Finding so many of his own cattle and those of his subjects slain, he sent to see whether the mortality had reached to the cattle of the Israelites, that he might know whether this were a judgment inflicted by their God, and probably designing to replace the lost cattle of the Egyptians with those of the Israelites.

And Pharaoh (b) sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
(b) Into the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

And Pharaoh sent,.... Messengers to the land of Goshen, to see whether the murrain was upon the cattle of Israel or not, and whether any of them died or not. The Targum of Jonathan is,"he sent to Pelusium to see"
and inquire about this matter; that is, to Raamses, for so that paraphrase calls Raamses in Exodus 1:11 a city built by the Israelites, and where many of them might dwell. This Pharaoh did, not merely out of curiosity, but to know whether the divine prediction was accomplished, and that he might have wherewith to confront it, could he find the murrain was upon any of the cattle of Israel, or any died of it; and if they did not, his view might be to convert them to his own use, and make up his loss, and the loss of his people, in a good measure in this way, and perhaps this may be the reason why he so little regarded this plague:
and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead; which was very wonderful, and therefore a "behold", a note of admiration, is prefixed to it, yet it made no impression on Pharaoh:
and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go; though this plague was so heavy upon him and his people, and the loss they sustained so great: in the other plagues of the water, the frogs, lice, and flies, though very troublesome and terrible, yet the loss was not very great; but here much damage was done to their property, yet this did not make his heart relent, or cause him to yield to let Israel go.

Pharaoh sent . . . there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead--The despatch of confidential messengers indicates that he would not give credit to vague reports, and we may conclude that some impression had been made on his mind by that extraordinary exemption, but it was neither a good nor a permanent impression. His pride and obstinacy were in no degree subdued.

But Pharaoh's heart still continued hardened, though he convinced himself by direct inquiry that the cattle of the Israelites had been spared.