God’s Word Translation
Exodus 9:15
15By now I could have used my power to kill you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.
Exodus 9:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
- New International Version (NIV)For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.
Context of Exodus 9:15
13Then the Lord said to Moses, “Early in the morning, go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go to worship me. 14Now I will send plagues that will affect you personally as well as your officials and people. This is how you will know that there is no one like me anywhere on earth. By now I could have used my power to kill you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16But I have spared you for this reason. I want to show you my power and make my name famous throughout the earth. 17You are still blocking my people from leaving.
Read all of Exodus 9Exodus 9:15 word by word
כִּ֤י עַתָּה֙ שָׁלַ֣חְתִּי אֶת־יָדִ֔י וָאַ֥ךְ אוֹתְךָ֛ וְאֶֽת־עַמְּךָ֖ בַּדָּ֑בֶר וַתִּכָּחֵ֖ד מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For now I will stretch outשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: reachH7971
- my handיָדyâd · hand: powerH3027
- that I may smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- thee and thy peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- with pestilenceדֶּ֫בֶרdeber · pestilenceH1698
- and thou shalt be cut offכָּחַדkâchad · to hideH3582
- from the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
Cross-references for Exodus 9:15
- Exodus 9:3the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock, including your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats.
- Exodus 3:20So I will use my power to strike Egypt. After all the miracles that I will do there, he will let you go.
- Exodus 11:4Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go out among the Egyptians.
- Exodus 12:29At midnight the Lord killed every firstborn male in Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who ruled the land to the firstborn son of the prisoner in jail, and also every firstborn animal.
- Exodus 14:28The water flowed back and covered Pharaoh’s entire army, as well as the chariots and the cavalry that had followed Israel into the sea. Not one of them survived.
- 1 Kings 13:34Appointing illegal priests became the sin of Jeroboam’s family so that it had to be destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth.
- Proverbs 2:22But wicked people will be cut off from the land and treacherous people will be torn from it.
Commentaries on Exodus 9:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15For now I will stretch out my hand - In the Hebrew the verbs are in the past tense, and not in the future, as our translation improperly expresses them, by which means a contradiction appears in the text: for neither Pharaoh nor his people were smitten by a pestilence, nor was he by any kind of mortality cut off from the earth. It is true the first-born were slain by a destroying angel, and Pharaoh himself was drowned in the Red Sea; but these judgments…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13-34Verses 13-34 With the plague of hail begins the last series of plagues, which differ from the former both in their severity and their effects. Each produced a temporary, but real, change in Pharaoh‘s feelings. Exodus 9:14 All my plagues - This applies to all the plagues which follow; the effect of each was foreseen and foretold. The words “at this time” point to a rapid and continuous succession of blows. The plagues which precede appear to have been…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-21Verses 13-21 Moses is here ordered to deliver a dreadful message to Pharaoh. Providence ordered it, that Moses should have a man of such a fierce and stubborn spirit as this Pharaoh to deal with; and every thing made it a most signal instance of the power of God has to humble and bring down the proudest of his enemies. When God's justice threatens ruin, his mercy at the same time shows a way of escape from it. God not only distinguished between Egyptians…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-17God explained the purpose of the plagues to Pharaoh. They were meant to show that no one is like God in the entire world (9:14; see also Isaiah 46:9; Jeremiah 10:6–7). God did not destroy Pharaoh and Egypt in one strike, even though he could have. Instead, he spared them (Exodus 9:16). God gave them a chance to recognize his power. But Pharaoh refused to humble himself and continued to oppress the Lord's people (9:17).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-178. Take to you handfuls of ashes, &c.--The next plague assailed the persons of the Egyptians, and it appeared in the form of ulcerous eruptions upon the skin and flesh (Le 13:20; 2Ki 20:7; Job 2:7). That this epidemic did not arise from natural causes was evident from its taking effect from the particular action of Moses done in the sight of Pharaoh. The attitude he assumed was similar to that of Eastern magicians, who, "when they pronounce an imprecation…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 9:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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