Welcome to my Hebrew reading & language series.
Exodus 8:16-19
We saw gnats spring into existence from and they came from the dust of the earth all over Mitsraim (Egypt) last week. The magicians were struck with fear, saying that the gnats were from the finger of God. This week, without any word about the gnats being taken away first, Moshe is commanded to get up early and go see Far'oh (Pharaoh) when he goes out to the banks of the river.
He was to tell Far'oh to let his people go and if he doesn't, then flies will fill the land wherever Mistraim (Egyptians) live. But this time, there will me no flies in the land where God's people lived, "that you may know that I am YHVH in the midst of the earth." I checked the Hebrew and it says "b'kerev ha arets" (in the midst of the earth) in this Hebrew text. Interesting.
The text goes on to emphasize that he will put fedut bayn amee (redemption between my people) and your people. Our reading then ends with "tomorrow this sign will happen."
So the actual plague does not occur within the reading contained in this post but there is the prediction of what will occur so that everyone will know who is performing the act. Very cool..
The numbers of the verse still don't match as we progress through these chapters. The original scrolls do not have any numbering on them, so this is a man-made anomaly. I was reading in the Hebrew when preparing these posts and then I had to look for the verses that match our context. They seem to be getting further apart as we keep reading. Verses 16-19 in Hebrew match the content in 20-23 in English.
Today's reading
English
20 Then YHVH said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am YHVH in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.'""
Hebrew
Next week, we define Derech Sheloshet Yameem...
Info on each letter starting at the beginning
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