Read Exodus 8:20-9:35 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Exo 8:20-32 {p} The plague of flies + no flies in Goshen
Exo 9:1-7 {p} The plague of pestilence on the cattle
Exo 9:8-12 {s} The plague of boils
Exo 9:13-21 {p} Warning re: the plague of hail
Exo 9:22-35 {p} The plague of hail
Exo 8:20-9:35 reverse parallelism
1a.1) Exo 8:20a YHVH said to Moses: Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water, then say to him;
1a.2) Exo 8:20b-31 The plague of flies came upon Egypt, but no flies in Goshen;
1a.1) Exo 8:20b Thus says YHVH: Let My people go, that they may serve Me;
1a.2) Exo 8:21-24 YHVH brought swarms of flies upon the Egyptians;
1a) Exo 8:21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand;
1b) Exo 8:22a And in that day;
1c) Exo 8:22b I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there;
central axis) Exo 8:22c In order that you may know that I am YHVH in the midst of the land;
2c) Exo 8:23a I will make a difference between My people and your people;
2b) Exo 8:23b Tomorrow this sign shall be;
2a) Exo 8:24 And YHVH did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies;
1b) Exo 8:25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said: Go, sacrifice to your God in the land;
1c) Exo 8:26a And Moses said: It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians;
central axis) Exo 8:26b To YHVH our God;
2c) Exo 8:26c If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?
2b) Exo 8:27-28 Pharaoh concedes to let the people go and sacrifice in the wilderness;
1a) Exo 8:27a We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness;
1b) Exo 8:27b And sacrifice to YHVH our God as He will command us;
central axis) Exo 8:28a So Pharaoh said: I will let you go;
2b) Exo 8:28b That you may sacrifice to YHVH your God in the wilderness;
2a) Exo 8:28c Only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me;
2a.1) Exo 8:29-30 Let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go;
1a) Exo 8:29a Then Moses said: Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat YHVH, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people;
central axis) Exo 8:29b But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to YHVH;
2a) Exo 8:30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated YHVH;
2a.2) Exo 8:31 And YHVH did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained;
1a.3) Exo 8:32 {p} But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go;
1b) Exo 9:1-7 {p} The plague of pestilence on the cattle;
1a) Exo 9:9:1-2 Then YHVH said to Moses: Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: Thus says YHVH God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them;
1b.1) Exo 9:3 Behold, the hand of YHVH will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence;
1b.2) Exo 9:4 And YHVH will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel;
1c) Exo 9:5a Then YHVH appointed a set time, saying: Tomorrow YHVH will do this thing;
central axis) Exo 9:5b In the land;
2c) Exo 9:6a So YHVH did this thing on the next day;
2b.1) Exo 9:6b And all the livestock of Egypt died;
2b.2) Exo 9:6c-7a, But of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead;
2a) Exo 9:7b {p} But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go;
2b) Exo 9:8-12 {s} The plague of boils on men and beasts;
1a) Exo 9:8a So YHVH said to Moses and Aaron;
1b.1) Exo 9:8b Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh;
1b.2) Exo 9:9a And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast;
central axis) Exo 9:9b Throughout all the land of Egypt;
2b.1) Exo 9:10a Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven;
2b.2) Exo 9:10b-11 And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians;
2a) Exo 9:12 But YHVH hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as YHVH had spoken to Moses;
2a.1) Exo 9:13-17 Rise early in the morning + warn of the plague of hail;
1a) Exo 9:13 Then YHVH said to Moses: Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him: Thus says YHVH God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me;
1b) Exo 9:14 For at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth;
central axis) Exo 9:15 Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth;
2b) Exo 9:16 But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth;
2a) Exo 9:17 As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go;
2a.2) Exo 9:18-35 {p+p} The plague of hail came upon Egypt, but no hail in Goshen;
1a) Exo 9:18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now;
1b) Exo 9:19 Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die;
central axis) Exo 9:20 He who feared the word of YHVH among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses;
2b) Exo 9:21 {p} But he who did not regard the word of YHVH left his servants and his livestock in the field;
2a) Exo 9:22-35 {p} The plague of hail, but no hail in Goshen;
1a) Exo 9:22-25 The plague of hail came upon Egypt;
1a) Exo 9:22 Then YHVH said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt;
1b) Exo 9:23a And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and YHVH sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground;
central axis) Exo 9:23b And YHVH rained hail on the land of Egypt;
2b) Exo 9:24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation;
2a) Exo 9:25 And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field;
1b) Exo 9:26a Only in the land of Goshen;
central axis) Exo 9:26b Where the children of Israel were;
2b) Exo 9:26c There was no hail;
2a) Exo 9:27-35 The plague of hail ceased from Egypt when Pharaoh repented;
1a) Exo 9:27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them: I have sinned this time. YHVH is righteous, and my people and I are wicked;
1b) Exo 9:28a Entreat YHVH, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough;
central axis) Exo 9:28b I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer;
2b) Exo 9:29-33 Moses entreated YHVH and the thunder and the hail ceased;
1a) Exo 9:29-30 So Moses said to him: As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to YHVH; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is YHVH’s. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear YHVH God;
1b) Exo 9:31a Now the flax and the barley were struck;
central axis) Exo 9:31b For the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud;
2b) Exo 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops;
2a) Exo 9:33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to YHVH; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth;
2a) Exo 9:34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants;
2a.3) Exo 9:35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as YHVH had spoken by Moses.
The central axis’ of both B pairs also pair:
1b central axis) Exo 9:5b In the land;
2b central axis) Exo 9:9b Throughout all the land of Egypt;
The emphasis is that the plagues were happening in the land of Egypt, the whole land of Egypt. Why make this emphasis? Because it brings into stark relief that the plagues were not happening in Goshen, which is a district in Egypt. The separation between the children of Israel and the Egyptians was stark and undeniable. Some people claim that the plagues were naturally occurring phenomenon with a natural explanation. Tf that were the case, there would be no stark separation, and the plagues would not come and go at the entreaty of Moses.
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