Exodus 8:19

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
magicians	הַֽחַרְטֻמִּים֙ ha.char.tu.Mim	H2748	a horoscopist (as drawing magical lines or circles) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
said	וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ vai.yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Pharaoh	פַּרְעֹ֔ה par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
finger	אֶצְבַּ֥ע 'etz.Ba'	H676	something to sieze with · noun, common feminine singular construct
God	אֱלֹהִ֖ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Pharaoh’s	פַּרְעֹה֙ par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
heart	לֵב lev-	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct
hardened	וַיֶּחֱזַ֤ק vai.ye.che.Zak	H2388	to fasten upon · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hearkened	שָׁמַ֣ע sha.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said	דִּבֶּ֥ר di.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Psalms 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among…
Matthew 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Acts 4:16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusa…
Exodus 10:7 And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: kn…
1 Samuel 6:3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shal…
1 Samuel 6:9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know th…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 8:16-19

Here is a short account of the plague of lice. It does not appear that any warning was given of it before. Pharaoh's abuse of the respite granted to him might have been a sufficient warning to him to expect another plague: for if the removal of an affliction harden us, and so we lose the benefit of it, we may conclude it goes away with a purpose to return or to make room for a worse. Observe, I. How this plague of lice was inflicted on the Egyptians, Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17. The frogs were produced out of the waters, but these live out of the dust of the earth; for out of any part of the creation God can fetch a scourge, with which to correct those that rebel against him. He has many arrows in hi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:16

PLAGUE OF LICE. (Exo 8:16-19) smite the dust of the land, &c.--Aaron's rod, by the direction of Moses, who was commanded by God, was again raised, and the land was filled with gnats, mosquitoes--that is the proper meaning of the original term. In ordinary circumstances they embitter life in Eastern countries, and therefore the terrible nature of this infliction on Egypt may be imagined when no precautions could preserve from their painful sting. The very smallness and insignificance of these fierce insects made them a dreadful scourge. The magicians never attempted any imitation, and what neither the blood of the river nor the nuisance of the frogs had done, the visitation of this tiny enem…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:19

This is the finger of God - That is, The power and skill of God are here evident. Probably before this the magicians supposed Moses and Aaron to be conjurers, like themselves; but now they are convinced that no man could do these miracles which these holy men did, unless God were with him. God permits evil spirits to manifest themselves in a certain way, that men may see that there is a spiritual world, and be on their guard against seduction. He at the same time shows that all these agents are under his control, that men may have confidence in his goodness and power.

The Church Fathers

Isn't the finger of God to be understood as being the Holy Spirit? Read the Gospel, and see that where one Evangelist has the Lord saying, "If I with the Spirit of God cast out demons," another says, "If I with the finger of God cast out demons." So if that law too was written by the finger of God, that is, by the Spirit of God, the Spirit by which Pharaoh's magicians were defeated, so they said, "This is the finger of God, … why can it not be said of it, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has delivered you from the law of sin and death"?
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 155.3

Here I see a difficulty occurring to one of limited knowledge [of Scripture], that is, why miracles are also done by magical arts, for the magicians of Pharaoh also made serpents and other similar things. But what is a much greater cause of wonder is how the power of the magicians, who could make serpents, utterly failed when it came to very small gnats. For the sciniphs, by which the proud people of Egypt were afflicted, are very small flies. And there certainly the magicians who failed, exclaimed, "This is the finger of God." We are thereby given to understand that not even the angels and the spirits of the air, who transgressed and were cast from that home of sublime and ethereal beauty into this most profound darkness, as into a prison peculiar to them, could do anything that they could by means of their magical arts, if the power had not been given to them from above.
— Augustine of Hippo, THE TRINITY 3.7.12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Magic, Magicians — Magic is “the science or practice of evoking spirits, or educing the occult powers of nature to produce effects apparently supernatural.” It formed an essential element in many ancient religions,…
Nadab — Liberal, generous. (1.) The eldest of Aaron’s four sons (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2). He with his brothers and their father were consecrated as priests of Jehovah (Ex. 28:1). He afterwards perished with…
Plague — A “stroke” of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement (Num. 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Sam. 24:21). Painful afflictions or diseases, (Lev. 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity…
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Disobedience To God · .Of Pharaoh, in refusing to let the people of Israel go — .Of Pharaoh, in refusing to let the people of Israel go
Lice · Plague of — Plague of
Miracles · Were performed: By the power of God — Were performed: By the power of God
Plague · .Lice — .Lice
Power Of God, The · Expressed by the: Finger of God — Expressed by the: Finger of God

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 8:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 8:16-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:16

Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 8:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 8:16-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:16

Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 8:19

John Calvin on Exodus 8:16-19

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 8:18-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 8:19

Rashi on Exodus 8:19