Exodus 8:19

19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.

Exodus 8:19 in Other Translations

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

19 “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

19 The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is God's doing." But Pharaoh was stubborn and wouldn't listen. Just as God had said. Strike Four: Flies

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as Jehovah had spoken.

19 So the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the hand of God!" Yet, Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, as the LORD had predicted.

19 "This is the finger of God," the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

19 The magicians said to Pharaoh, "God's powerful finger has done this." But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn. He wouldn't listen, just as the LORD had said.

Exodus 8:19 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:19

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this is the finger of
God
This is to be ascribed to a power superior to human, to a divine power; so long as they could do something similar, or impose upon the senses of men, and make them believe they did the like, they would not acknowledge divine omnipotence; but when they no longer could deceive the sight of Pharaoh and the Egyptian, then they own the effects of a superior power: and this they did partly to detract from the power of Moses and Aaron, because they would not have them pass for more skilful persons in the magic art than themselves; and therefore suggest, that this was done not by virtue of any human skill and art, but by the power of the Supreme Being; and partly to detract from the honour of the God of Israel; for they do not say this is the finger of Jehovah, whom they accounted, as Dr. Lightfoot ^F7 observes, as a petty trivial god, but this is the finger of Elohim, the Supreme Deity. It is conjectured by some ^F8, that in memory of this plague the Egyptian priests scrape their whole bodies, lest there should be a louse or any unclean thing on them when they worship their gods, as Herodotus ^F9 relates:

and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them;
either not unto the magicians owning the hand of God, and his divine power in the plague inflicted; or to Moses and Aaron demanding the dismission of the people of Israel, which latter seems to be confirmed by the usual phrase, as follows,

as the Lord had said;
see ( Exodus 7:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Ut supra. (Works, vol. 1. p. 705, 706.)
F8 Vid. Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 132.
F9 Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37.

Exodus 8:19 In-Context

17 They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.

18 But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere,

19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

Cross References

• 1. Exodus 7:5; Exodus 10:7; Exodus 12:33; Exodus 31:18; 1 Samuel 6:9; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 8:3; Psalms 33:6; Luke 11:20
• 2. S Exodus 7:22
• 3. S Exodus 7:4