And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my
people dwell
Distinguish it from other parts of the land of Egypt:
that no swarms of flies shall be there;
which was a very wonderful thing, and so the word may be rendered. "I will marvellously sever or separate" F15, and so the Targum of Jonathan, "I will do wonders or miracles in that day": as they were to make such a difference in one part of the country from another, and so near as Goshen was to the place where Pharaoh lived, and to bound and limit such sort of creatures as flies, which move swiftly from place to place, and particularly to keep the land of Goshen clear of them; when, as Bishop Patrick observes, it was a country that abounded with cattle, whose dung is apt to breed flies:
to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the
earth;
he is God over all the earth, and rules as a King in the midst of it, and does whatsoever he pleases in it; see ( Psalms 74:12 ) and in the midst of the land of Goshen where his people dwelt, and over whom he was King in a peculiar manner, and took a peculiar care of them, to protect and defend them; and which must the more vex and distress the Egyptians, when they saw the Israelites clear of those plagues they were afflicted with.