g Gen 469

"Gen 4610

8 Gen 4611 Num 317

t Num 318

u Num 319 2659 v Num 320

w Num 2659†

a Cp D99

d Ct 416

c Cp JE114

d 611

e Ps 958 Prov

2814 ct Ex 1315

ƒ Cp DIOгa

g Cp Ezek 614 &c (7)

children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out
of the land of Egypt.

8

u

77

V 182

W 93

14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben the firstborn q 188 of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these are the families of Reuben. I 66 15 And the "sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and 65 Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi taccording to their "generations; "Gershon, and Kohath, t 18 and Merari: and the 'years of the life of Levi were an "hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of 'Gershon; Libni and Shimei, taccording to their families. 18 And the sons of "Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel and the years of the life of Kohath were an whundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of "Merari; Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their "generations. 20 And Amram took him "Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses and the 'years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of x Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bare him 'Nadab and y Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25 And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him "Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the Levites according to their families. 26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

:

28 And it came to pass on the day when Yahweh spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that Yahweh "spake unto Moses, saying, I am Yahweh: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak unto thee. 30 And Moses said before Yahweh, Behold, I am "of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

14

12

Z 188c

71 And Yahweh said unto Moses, "See, I have made thee a 'god to Pharaoh :
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that
I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that
he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3 And I will harden a 94
Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of
Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, and I will lay my hand
upon Egypt, and bring forth my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out b 92
of the land of Egypt by great judgements. And the Egyptians shall know
d 179b
that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring
out the children of Israel from among them. 6 And Moses and Aaron did
so; as Yahweh commanded them, so did they. 7 And Moses was fourscore e 189a
years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto f 119
Pharaoh.

99

8 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9 When g 1851

tradition of her foreign origin incompatible with the stricter ideas of his time?

78 The narrative of the wonders 78-1110 is plainly composite. Various reasons unite to enforce this conclusion; the following analysis is founded on two broad classes of evidence, (a) material differences of representation, and (B) accompanying peculiarities of phraseology. (1) Scattered through the record occur short sections of which 78-13 is the type. They are based on the idea of showing a wonder' 79. Moses receives the divine command, and transmits it to Aaron, who executes it with his rod the magicians of Egypt then attempt to produce the same marvel, at first with success, but afterwards impotently: the heart of Pharaoh is strong, and he will not listen. These common marks unite the following passages 7-13 19-20a 22 85-7 15b 16-19 98-12. They are unconnected by any marks of time; they constitute a succession of displays of power increasing in force until the editorial close in 1110. Their recurring phrases (see the margins), the peculiar relation of Moses and Aaron cp 71., the prominence assigned to Aaron as the agent of the wonder with his rod cp Num 178, while elsewhere the wonder is wrought by Moses with his rod, justify the ascription of these passages to P. Some points of linguistic affinity with JE are of course inevitable, in travelling over so much common ground. (2) The materials left after the elimination of P, again exhibit differences both of conception and language. Thus (i) J has already located the Israelites in the land of Goshen Gen 4510 and they are accordingly represented as

residing there in 822 926; they are consequently unaffected by
the flies or the hail. On the other hand in 1021-23 they are
living in the midst of the people in Egypt itself, and their
immunity from the oppression of the darkness is secured by
the appearance of light in their dwellings. This latter view of
their intermingling with the Egyptians lies at the basis of the
instructions in 321. and their sequel 112, and the passages
founded on it must be assigned to E. Again (ii) the agency by
which the plagues are successively induced, varies on different
occasions. In one series Moses simply announces to Pharaoh
the divine intention, but in another he is directed to stretch
out his hand that the visitation may follow 922 1012 21 (et 929 33).
The hand of Moses wields the rod 923 1013 cp 22 720b, apparently
the rod of 417 expressly given to him for the purpose. The
coincidence of (i) and (ii) in 1021-23 secures all the rod-passages
to E. It will be noticed that these contain no mention of
Aaron; Moses throughout appears alone; moreover he does
not predict, he performs; no word is said to Pharaoh; act after
act follows without recorded speech.
(3) The residue
exhibits numerous indications of the handiwork of J.
Israelites inhabit the land of Goshen, and are occupied with
flocks and herds 822 926 109 24 cp Gen 4632 34 473 6. The reiterated
demands addressed to Pharaoh for permission to depart that
Israel may serve Yahweh 716 81 20 91 13 103, carry out the
instruction of 318, the interviews taking place in the palace
('go in' H 318 81 91 101, 'stand before' 820 913 ct 715). The
incidents of the several narratiyes may be tabulated thus:—

The

Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a wonder for you: then thou
shalt say unto "Aaron, Take thy 'rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that
it become a "serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and
they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod h 189b
before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a 'serpent.
11 Then
Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the 'sorcerers: and they also, the
"magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their "enchantments.
12 For
they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's
'rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh's heart "was hardened, and
he "hearkened not unto them; "as Yahweh had spoken.

14 And Yahweh said unto Moses,
Pharaoh's heart is stubborn, he
'refuseth to let the people go. . . .

The river smitten,

death of the fish.

15 PGet thee unto Pharaoh in the 'morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand

E

Waters of the river turned to blood.

P

Aaron's rod changed
to a serpent.
Waters of Egypt
turned to blood.

Frogs.
Lice.

Boils.

Death of the firstborn.

The narrative of P has probably been preserved intact; portions of J and E have no doubt been curtailed or omitted in the process of amalgamation. The following differences of phrase may be noted:

i 68

j 236

k 215

14a The miracle of the water is the only 'sign' which seems to have been narrated by all three writers JE P prior to the death of the first born, and the compiler has attempted to weld the accounts together. But the narratives are not founded on the same conception, and the result is obviously not homogeneous. In 17b it is predicted that the waters in the River (yor), when struck with the rod of Moses, shall be turned into blood, the term y'or being regularly applied to the Nile. But in 19 a fresh command is given to Moses to instruct Aaron to stretch out his rod over the waters of Egypt, which include not only the Yor but every drop from the 'streams' (yʻorim) down to the liquid already standing in the household stores. Plainly 19 20 21 22 belong to the series inaugurated by 78-13 cp 78. The remaining narrative is still composite. The criteria already enumerated in 78N show that 16-17a belongs to J. In the formula 'Thus saith Yahweh... Behold I will smite,' Yahweh is obviously the subject of the verb cp 81. 20. 913 18 103., and it is plain from 25 that the writer conceived of Yahweh as himself smiting the river, with the result that the fish died 18 21, and the Egyptians could not drink the water. But if 17 belongs to J, the continuation must be drawn from another source, for Yahweh did not himself wield the rod. This can be no other than E cp 78N. This rod Moses has already been directed to take in his hand 15; with this he smote the waters in the River 20b, and they were turned to blood (ct 19 'become '). In combining the two narratives R has altered the pronoun 'thine' cp 922 1012 21 to mine,' as the verb (now assigned to Moses as subject) required the first person. The nature of the change in the river produced by Yahweh, according to J, is not stated. But there is nothing to imply that it consisted in conversion into blood. Nothing, indeed, need have happened to the water at all. Yahweh's power is sufficiently shown in the mysterious death of the fish, which would suffice to pollute the sacred stream, and render it undrinkable. Why, then, should R have united this story of J with the very different incident of E? Because J's reference to the transformation of the Nile waters belonged to another part of the cycle, and could not be utilized here. In 49 Moses is directed to convince his countrymen by taking water out of the river, and pouring Whether it out on the dry soil, when it would become blood. heart

'Say unto Aaron' 79
19 85 16.
The magicians 711 22
87 18 911.

Aaron stretches out
his hand with his rod
79 1985. 16..

Land of Egypt 719 21b 85-7 16. 99ab 121 12. 17 41. 51.

Pharaoh's

'strong' (Qal and Hiph)
713 22 819 (912 Pi).

And he hearkened not
as Yahweh had spoken
718 22 815 19 912.

Other items of linguistic usage will be found noted in the margins. The narrative of J shows occasional signs of expansion in the hortatory manner already noticed in Genesis cp glob 22b 914-16 20b 10lb 2.. It is also probable that the part here played by Aaron is due to later remodelling rather than to the original story cp 4138.

79 M tannin, any large reptile; and so in 10 12.-Cp Gen 121, and ct 15.

11a M See Gen 418.-Cp 22 87 18 911.

11b M Or, secret arts.

13 M was strong.-Cp 22 819 912,

this was actually wrought among the signs which he did before them according to 480, is not stated. But it creates a presumption that J's view of the transaction was limited to a display of the power of Moses before Israel, when the water affected was not the whole river (E), still less every particle in the entire country (P), but only the contents of a vessel which could be emptied on the ground. In the process of compilation, however, these elements were no longer discriminated, and J's account of the death of the fish found its natural explanation in amalgamation with E's independent account of the change of the Nile-stream into blood before Pharaoh and his court. A final harmonistic effort 15 identified the 'rod of God' which was expressly given to Moses for the purpose of working the signs (E) 417 20b, with his own shepherd's staff (J) which had been turned into a snake 42...

14b M heavy.

1 183

J E

JE

J

E P

81 And Yahweh 'said unto Moses, "Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, "Thus saith Yahweh, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy "borders with frogs: 3 and the "river shall "swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy 'kneadingtroughs: 4 and the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

5 And Yahweh said unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand
with thy rod over the rivers, over the "streams, and over the pools, and cause
frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6 And Aaron stretched out his
hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the
"land of Egypt. 7 And the "magicians did in like manner with their
enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

And

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Intreat
Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people;
and I will let the people go, that they may "sacrifice unto Yahweh.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this glory over me: against
"what time shall I dintreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy
people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and
remain in the 'river only? 10 And he said, Against 'to-morrow.
he said, Be it 'according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is
none like unto Yahweh our God. 11 And the frogs shall 'depart from thee,
and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they
shall remain in the river only. 12 And Moses and Aaron went out from
Pharaoh and Moses cried unto Yahweh "concerning the frogs "which
he had brought upon Pharaoh. 13 And Yahweh did 'according to the

word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts,
and out of the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in "heaps:
and the land *stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was "respite,
hardened his heart.

he

N

15b And Pharaoh's heart was hardened] and [he] "hearkened not unto them;
as Yahweh had spoken.

16 And Yahweh said unto Moses, "Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become "lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon 'man, and i 108"> upon 'beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 And the "magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon 'man, and upon beast. 19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God:

81 T spake. Has in 714 820 91 101 &c.

4 This announcement was no doubt followed in J by the description of the arrival of the frogs. But R has set this aside in favour of the corresponding extract from P. For 5-7 cp 78N.

5 M Or, canals.

10 This passage is one of a small group of parallel declarations 717b 810 226 914-16 29b 10lb 2. which are probably to be regarded as hortatory expansions designed to emphasize the religious lesson of the great conflict. The grounds for this view are in no single case decisive, but they acquire strength by mutual support. In each passage there is a more or less definite disturbance of the context, most clearly visible, perhaps, in Iolb 2. In 810 has a slightly different form of words, 'that thou mayest know that there is no other save Yahweh' cp Is 4514 21 &c; similarly 22 that thou mayest know that I am Yahweh the Lord [& God] of all the earth.' The relation of

these affirmations of the unqualified sovereignty of Yahweh
to the history of Hebrew monotheism would involve inquiries
which cannot be undertaken here: but it may be pointed out
that the formula 'know that I am Yahweh' 717 102b coincides
with the frequent phrase of P, eg 75 cp P179b. Extremely rare
elsewhere Deut 296 1 Kings 2013 28, unrepresented in the earlier
prophetic literature it suddenly becomes one of the catchwords
of Ezekiel who employs it more than sixty times. Its occurrence
in 717 is rendered more suspicious by the contrast of the pro-
noun directly following (as for "N). But cp Driver, Deut 321.
12 M Or, as he had appointed unto Pharaoh.
15a M made heavy.-Cp 714.

15b The natural close of 5-7 (cp 713 22) would be 'And Pharaoh's heart was strong (T hardened) and he hearkened not unto them' &c. R has removed the first words to join the second clause to the conclusion of J.

16 M Or, sand flies. Or, fleas.

a' 913

b' 21-31 Ps 7845

d' 94 117 3316* *' 926 Gen 4510 f' Cp 10b

g' 342 cp Gen 4132

and Pharaoh's heart "was hardened, and he "hearkened not unto them; as
Yahweh had spoken.

20 a' And Yahweh said unto Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning, and *stand before Pharaoh"; "lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, "Thus saith Yahweh, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send 'swarms c Cp 9 311 29 31 of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22 And I will "sever 'in that day "the land of "Goshen, in which my people dwell, that "no swarms of flies shall be there; 'to the end thou mayest know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will "put a division between my people and thy people: by to-morrow shall this sign be. 24 And Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was "corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. 25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, "sacrifice to your God in the land. 26 And Moses said, It is not "meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the "'abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not "stone us? 27 We will go "three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us. 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very 'far dintreat for me. away: 2) And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will "intreat Yahweh that the swarms of flies may 'depart from "Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, "tomorrow: only let not Pharaoh deal "deceitfully Pany more in "not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh. 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and dintreated Yahweh. 31 And Yahweh did 'according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from "'Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there "'remained not one. 32 And Pharaoh "hardened his heart "this time also, and he did not let the people go.

h' Cp Gen 4332

¿' 1913 cp 216 j' 318

k' Cp Gen 2116

l' Gen 317*

v Cp 11 69

n g14 cp 62

a 81

b 17 Gen 182%
cp 91
c Gen 4717

d 15 53

e 822

ƒ 810

g Cp Lev 1612*

Ezek 102 7

h 10 Ht

91 Then Yahweh said unto Moses, "Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, "Thus saith Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou 'refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, 3 behold, the hand of Yahweh is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the "camels, upon the herds, and upon the flocks: there shall be a very 'grievous murrain. 4 And Yahweh shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that belongeth to the children of Israel. 5 And Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, To-morrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land. 6 And Yahweh did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was "stubborn, and he did not let the people go.

8 And Yahweh said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you "handfuls of hashes of the furnace, and let Moses "sprinkle it toward the heaven in the 148 sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it shall become small dust over all the 'land of 4€