Exodus 9
By Exodus 9, the plagues are no longer just warnings - they are judgments that strike to the heart of Egyptian religion and power. Each plague dismantles a god the Egyptians worship: Hapi the Nile god, Heqet the frog goddess, Apis the sacred bull. Now come three more: a livestock plague, boils that attack the Egyptian priestly class (who are supposed to be pure), and a hail storm of apocalyptic scale that kills every living thing in the open field and strips the land bare.
But Exodus 9 introduces a shift. God begins to separate the fearful from the faithless. A handful of Egyptians - those who “feared the word of the LORD” (v.20) - bring their servants and animals inside and are spared. And Pharaoh breaks again, confessing sin, only to harden his heart once more. The plagues are teaching Egypt (and us) that judgment is not indiscriminate: those who align themselves with God are protected, while those who resist face the full weight of His power.
Tap any highlighted phrase to jump to the commentary that unpacks it.
Exodus 9:1-7The Cattle Plague
1Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4And the LORD shall sever the cattle of Israel from the cattle of the Egyptians: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children of Israel have.
The phrase “the hand of the LORD” echoes from verse 3 of this chapter and will become a refrain through the rest of Exodus. God's hand is not distant or impersonal - it is the instrument of His power touching Egypt directly, visibly2.
A murrain is a disease that strikes livestock. To Egypt, this is catastrophic. Cattle are not merely economic resources - the bull Apis is sacred, the symbol of fertility and resurrection. When Egypt's cattle die, a god dies with them1.
For the first time, God explicitly promises separation. The cattle of Israel will be untouched. This is not mercy distributed randomly - it is a marker drawn between the people of God and the people who resist Him. The line runs not only between nations but through Egypt itself, between those who fear God and those who do not.
5And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land of Egypt. 6And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of the Egyptians died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
Pharaoh sends spies to verify. The evidence is unmistakable - every Egyptian animal is dead, every Israelite animal lives. Yet even this proof of God's power and care for His people does not break Pharaoh's resistance. His heart hardens instead. The plagues are not really about Egypt's animals; they are about whether Pharaoh will yield to the God who controls all things.
Exodus 9:8-12The Boils Upon the Land
8And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. 12And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.
Notice the boils strike both man and beast. But this plague is unique: the Egyptian magicians themselves are afflicted, their bodies covered in boils. These are the men who have been matching Moses' signs - turning water to blood, bringing up frogs. Now their own bodies betray them. They cannot even stand before Pharaoh to counsel him. The priests, who are supposed to be ritually pure to approach the gods, are made ceremonially unclean by disease.
Here, for the first time, the text says God Himself hardened Pharaoh's heart. Earlier, Pharaoh hardened his own heart (8:15, 8:32). Now the divine hardening begins. This is not manipulation - it is response. Pharaoh has had nine plagues to change his mind. He has had opportunities to release the people. Each refusal strengthens his resistance. God's hardening seals what Pharaoh has already chosen to become.
Exodus 9:13-21The Warning: A Hail Storm Approaches
13And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15For now I had stretched out my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shouldest have been cut off from the earth: 16But in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
God says He is now sending all His plagues at once - concentrated on Pharaoh's heart, his servants, and his people. The language escalates. This is no longer a sequence of escalating warnings; this is the full weight of divine judgment.
God asserts that there is none like Him in all the earth. The context makes clear He is speaking to Pharaoh's supposed divine authority. Pharaoh claims to be god, the son of Ra. But there is only one God, and He alone holds power over nature, life, death, and the fate of nations.
This statement is profound and controversial. God says He raised up Pharaoh for this very purpose - to display His power and that His name may be declared throughout all the earth. Paul will later cite this exact verse (Romans 9:17) to argue that God's freedom supersedes human will. Pharaoh's resistance is not random; it is part of God's design to demonstrate His sovereignty to all peoples.
17As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go? 18Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. 19Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die. 20He that feared the word of the LORD of the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field.
The Hebrew word barad (בָּרָד, “hail”) describes not ordinary hail but an apocalyptic storm. This will be the worst storm in Egypt's recorded history - large, violent, destroying everything in its path. The fact that it is promised a full day in advance underscores God's sovereignty: the storm is not a natural disaster; it is a word God speaks beforehand and then executes exactly as promised.
A crucial line. Some of Pharaoh's own servants - Egyptians - fear the word of the LORD. They bring their animals inside. They escape the judgment. This is the first sign that the line between saved and judged runs not only between nations but through individual hearts. Those who align themselves with God and His word are protected, even if they live in the house of the enemy.
Others regard not the word of the LORD and leave their cattle in the field. They will die. The judgment is never indiscriminate; it always divides between those who hear God's word and those who harden themselves against it.
Exodus 9:22-26The Hail: God's Power Displayed
22And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 23And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
The hail strikes man and beast alike - everything in the field. But notice what is not mentioned: the livestock brought inside by those who feared the word of the LORD in verse 20. They are safe.
The land of Goshen, where Israel dwells, is completely spared. Not a single hailstone falls there. This is the ultimate visual proof of separation: two lands, side by side, one devastated, one untouched. God's people are not merely living in the same region; they are living under a different reality altogether - protected by a boundary God has drawn.
Exodus 9:27-35Confession Without Conversion
27And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. 28Intreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer. 29And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's. 30But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.
Pharaoh confesses: “I have sinned.” But he adds a damning qualifier: “this time.” He does not say he has always been wrong. He confesses only because the judgment is unbearable. The moment relief comes, his repentance will evaporate.
Pharaoh even grants that God is righteous and that he and his people are wicked. It is a true confession, theologically precise. And it changes nothing. Confession without conversion is hollow. Pharaoh speaks the words but does not become the man.
31(And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. 32But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up.) 33And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. 34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
As soon as the hail stops, Pharaoh reverts. He sins yet more and hardens his heart. His confession meant nothing. The god he served - his own will, his own pride - has reasserted itself. The pattern will continue: judgment, confession, relief, hardening. Seven more plagues will follow.
Further study
- The Apis BullBritish MuseumThe sacred bull cult of Egypt challenged.
- The Hebrew text of Exodus 9 alongside Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and other classical commentators.