New English Translation
Exodus 8:18
18When the magicians attempted to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals.
Exodus 8:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
- New International Version (NIV)But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere,
- English Standard Version (ESV)The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.
Context of Exodus 8:18
16The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’” 17They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. When the magicians attempted to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 19The magicians said to Pharaoh, “It is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. 20The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Release my people that they may serve me!
Read all of Exodus 8Exodus 8:18 word by word
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ־כֵ֨ן הַחַרְטֻמִּ֧ים בְּלָטֵיהֶ֛ם לְהוֹצִ֥יא אֶת־הַכִּנִּ֖ים וְלֹ֣א יָכֹ֑לוּ וַתְּהִי֙ הַכִּנָּ֔ם בָּאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the magiciansחַרְטֹםcharţôm · magicianH2748
- didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- so with their enchantmentsלָטlâţ · secrecyH3909
- to bring forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: issueH3318
- liceכֵּןkên · gnatH3654
- but they couldיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
- upon manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
- and upon beastבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
Cross-references for Exodus 8:18
- Exodus 7:11Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing.
- Exodus 9:11The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
- Genesis 41:8In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
- Isaiah 19:12But where, oh where, are your wise men? Let them tell you, let them find out what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
- Isaiah 47:12Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful – maybe you will scare away disaster.
- Daniel 2:10The wise men replied to the king, “There is no man on earth who is able to disclose the king’s secret, for no king, regardless of his position and power, has ever requested such a thing from any magician, astrologer, or wise man.
- Daniel 4:7When the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners entered, I recounted the dream for them. But they were unable to make known its interpretation to me.
- Daniel 5:8So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its interpretation to the king.
- Luke 10:18So he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
- 2 Timothy 3:8And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people – who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith – also oppose the truth.
Commentaries on Exodus 8:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18The magicians did so - That is, They tried the utmost of their skill, either to produce these insects or to remove this plague; but they could not, no juggling could avail here, because insects must be produced which would stick to and infix themselves in man and beast, which no kind of trick could possibly imitate; and to remove them, as some would translate the passage, was to their power equally impossible. If the magicians even acted by spiritual…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-19Verses 16-19 These lice were produced out of the dust of the earth; out of any part of the creation God can fetch a scourge, with which to correct those who rebel against him. Even the dust of the earth obeys him. These lice were very troublesome, as well as disgraceful to the Egyptians, whose priests were obliged to take much pains that no vermin ever should be found about them. All the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians, had reference to their national…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-19The third plague was the plague of gnats. The word translated gnats is very general. Technical Old Testament dictionaries often translate it as vermin. The English term bugs would come close. The whole land was infested with insects of one sort or another.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-1916. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 8:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 8
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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