Exodus 8:16-19

PLAGUE III

"And Jehovah 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. 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 many, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the Egyptians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: and there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as Jehovah had spoken."

This plague was preceded by no warning, and was therefore more easily related by Pharaoh to his welching on his promise to let the people go. In this quality of being without warning, this plague corresponds to Plagues VI (the boils) and IX (the darkness).

"All the dust of the earth ..." This expression, like many others in the Bible, is hyperbole for the sake of emphasis. No one who endured the plague could possibly have found any fault with this statement of the extent of it.

"And there were lice ..." The term rendered "lice" in our version is actually uncertain in meaning and has been rendered in various ways, as follows:

It is rendered as "gnats" in the RSV, the Catholic New American Bible, and the Berkley version.

It is given as "maggots" in the New English Bible.

It is translated "mosquitoes" in the Jerusalem Bible.

It appears in a word meaning "fleas" in the Septuagint (LXX).[16]

"Adam Clarke was certain that it means the tick, basing his conclusion on (1) their being said to be in man and beast (the tick buries its head in the victim), and (2) the meaning of the root word here, which is to make firm, fix or establish (which ticks most assuredly do).[17] It is interesting that some very recent scholars also favor this view. Ellison also understood the term to mean ticks."[18]

Apparently, one may take his choice as to the meaning of the word here given as lice. Whatever they were, the plague they caused was devastating. The Egyptians did not like it; the magicians could not duplicate it; and it could not possibly be attributed to anything in heaven or on earth except to "the finger of God."

"The finger of God ..." "This need not imply that the magicians recognized Jehovah as the God who wrought the marvel."[19] "This is confirmed by the fact that they speak of [~'ªlohiym], a god, not of Jehovah the God of Israel."[20] Of course, the use of a capital letter for God is misleading. The magicians were merely admitting that the plague was supernatural and beyond their power of imitation.

"Pharaoh's heart was hardened ..." For discussion of this, see under Exodus 4:21, above.