Keluaran 9:19-21

9:19 So now, send instructions ¹  to gather ²  your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person ³  or animal caught ⁴  in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those ⁵  of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their ⁶  servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those ⁷  who did not take ⁸  the word of the Lord seriously left their servants and their cattle ⁹  in the field.

Keluaran 11:5

11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh ¹⁰  who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.

[9:19]  ¹ tn The object “instructions” is implied in the context.

[9:19]  ² tn הָעֵז (ha’ez) is the Hiphil imperative from עוּז (’uz, “to bring into safety” or “to secure”). Although there is no vav (ו) linking the two imperatives, the second could be subordinated by virtue of the meanings. “Send to bring to safety.”

[9:19]  ³ tn Heb “man, human.”

[9:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “[who] may be found.” The verb can be the imperfect of possibility.

[9:20]  ⁵ tn The text has “the one fearing.” The singular expression here and throughout vv. 20-21 refers to all who fit the description.

[9:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “his” (singular).

[9:21]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text again has the singular.

[9:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “put to his heart.”

[9:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “his servants and his cattle.”

[11:5]  ¹⁰ sn The firstborn in Egyptian and Israelite cultures was significant, but the firstborn of Pharaoh was most important. Pharaoh was considered a god, the son of Re, the sun god, for the specific purpose of ruling over Re’s chief concern, the land of Egypt. For the purpose of re-creation, the supreme god assumed the form of the living king and gave seed which was to become the next king and the next “son of Re.” Moreover, the Pharaoh was the incarnation of the god Horus, a falcon god whose province was the heavens. Horus represented the living king who succeeded the dead king Osiris. Every living king was Horus, every dead king Osiris (see J. A. Wilson, “Egypt,” Before Philosophy, 83-84). To strike any firstborn was to destroy the heir, who embodied the hopes and aspirations of the Egyptians, but to strike the firstborn son of Pharaoh was to destroy this cardinal doctrine of the divine kingship of Egypt. Such a blow would be enough for Pharaoh, for then he would drive the Israelites out.