Exodus 9:23

Exodus 9:23

And 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.

a. ASV: And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: And Moses stretcheth out his rod towards the heavens, and Jehovah hath given voices and hail, and fire goeth towards the earth, and Jehovah raineth hail on the land of Egypt,  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire (lightning) ran down to and along the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and HASHEM sent thunder and hail, and fire went earthward, and HASHEM rained hail upon the land of Egypt. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. NLT: So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The LORD sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt.   [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

1. “And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven…”

a. [And] Moses [Strong: 4872 Môsheh, mo-sheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.]

b. stretched forth [Strong: 5186 nâṭâh, naw-taw'; a primitive root; to stretch or spread out; by implication, to bend away (including moral deflection); used in a great variety of application (as follows):— afternoon, apply, bow (down, -ing), carry aside, decline, deliver, extend, go down, be gone, incline, intend, lay, let down, offer, outstretched, overthrown, pervert, pitch, prolong, put away, shew, spread (out), stretch (forth, out), take (aside), turn (aside, away), wrest, cause to yield.]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [his] rod [Strong: 4294 maṭṭeh, mat-teh'; or (feminine) מַטָּה maṭṭâh; from H5186; a branch (as extending); figuratively, a tribe; also a rod, whether for chastising (figuratively, correction), ruling (a sceptre), throwing (a lance), or walking (a staff; figuratively, a support of life, e.g. bread):—rod, staff, tribe.]

e. toward [Strong: 5921 ʻal, al; properly, the same as H5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications:—above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.]

f. heaven [Strong: 8064 shâmayim, shaw-mah'-yim; dual of an unused singular שָׁמֶה shâmeh; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve):—air, × astrologer, heaven(-s).]

2. “...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.”

a. [and the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

b. sent [Strong: 5414 nâthan, naw-than'; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):—add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, × avenge, × be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, × doubtless, × without fail, fasten, frame, × get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), × have, × indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), lie, lift up, make, O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, × pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set (forth), shew, shoot forth (up), sing, slander, strike, (sub-) mit, suffer, × surely, × take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdraw, would (to) God, yield.]

c. thunder [Strong: 6963 qôwl, kole; or קֹל qôl; from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound:—+ aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (+ out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, + hold peace, (pro-) claim, proclamation, + sing, sound, + spark, thunder(-ing), voice, + yell.]

d. [and] hail [Strong: 1259 bârâd, baw-rawd'; from H1258; hail:—hail(stones).]

e. [the] fire [Strong: 784 ʼêsh, aysh; a primitive word; fire (literally or figuratively):—burning, fiery, fire, flaming, hot.]

f. ran along [Strong: 1980 hâlak, haw-lak'; akin to H3212; a primitive root; to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively):—(all) along, apace, behave (self), come, (on) continually, be conversant, depart, be eased, enter, exercise (self), follow, forth, forward, get, go (about, abroad, along, away, forward, on, out, up and down), greater, grow, be wont to haunt, lead, march, × more and more, move (self), needs, on, pass (away), be at the point, quite, run (along), send, speedily, spread, still, surely, tale-bearer, travel(-ler), walk (abroad, on, to and fro, up and down, to places), wander, wax, (way-) faring man, × be weak, whirl.]

g. [the] ground [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

h. [and the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

i. rained [Strong: 4305 mâṭar, maw-tar'; a primitive root; to rain:—(cause to) rain (upon).]

j. hail [Strong: 1259 bârâd, baw-rawd'; from H1258; hail:—hail(stones).]

k. upon [Strong: 5921 ʻal, al; properly, the same as H5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications:—above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.]

l. [the] land [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × nations, way, + wilderness, world.]

m. [of] Egypt [Strong: 4714 Mitsrayim, mits-rah'-yim; dual of H4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:—Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

1). These wonders were the working of the gift of miracles.

a). Gordon Lindsay, Old Testament Series: Strange as it may seem, during the entire period of the events of Genesis, no actual miracle had ever been performed by any human being. God of course did many supernatural acts, and there were certain healings, but no direct miracles was performed by any person. Consequently, the miracles of Moses were the first recorded in the Scriptures.

b). Concerning Spiritual Gifts, Kenneth Hagin:  The working of miracles, then, is a specific act such as dividing a stream by the sweep of a mantle…Elijah received his mantle and smote the Jordan River. Dividing the waters by a sweep of his mantle was actually working a miracle. That was in intervention in the ordinary course of nature. In the realm of healing, many times miracles are received, but they are not working of miracles, they are healing miracles. Everything that God does is miraculous in a sense, but it is not like turning common dust into insects just by a gesture. It is not like turning common water into wine just by speaking a word, that is the working of miracles. Water turned into wine by the process of nature is a natural miracle. But water turned into wine by speaking a word, as Jesus did in John 2:1-11, is the meaning of the spiritual gift of the working of miracles. A miracle, therefore, is a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature, a temporary suspension of the accustomed order, an interruption of the system of nature as we know it operated by the force of the Spirit. This gift was more prominent in the Old Testament than in the New testament. Although people were healed and gifts of healings were in operation in the Old Testament, gifts of healings were more in operation in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. The working of miracles was used for the miraculous deliverance of God’s people from Egyptian bondage. We see this gift used when God convinced Pharaoh to let Israel go. A number of miracles were wrought there (Exodus 7-14). When Aaron threw down his rod and it was turned into a serpent, that was the working of miracles. When the dust was turned into insects and all the other plagues followed, this was the gift of the working of miracles in operation. Coming out of Egypt, the Israelites faced the Red Sea with Pharaoh and his hosts close behind, ready to make them slaves again. Mountains loomed on one side, the wilderness on the other, the sea in front of them, and the enemy behind them, their situation seemed hopeless. But Moses  looked to the Lord and the Lord told him to stretch forth his rod. Moses obeyed and the sea divided. That was the working of a miracle. It was divine intervention in the ordinary course of nature.