BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Exodus 10 — The Plague of Locusts and Darkness
Yahweh sends locusts and then palpable darkness over Egypt, hardening Pharaoh's heart each time so that despite partial concessions he refuses to release Israel.
Scripture
1And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs in the midst of them,
2and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought upon Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know that I am Jehovah.
3And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
4Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to-morrow will I bring locusts into thy border:
5and they shall cover the face of the earth, so that one shall not be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
6and thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither thy fathers nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
7And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve Jehovah their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
8And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve Jehovah your God; but who are they that shall go?
9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto Jehovah.
10And he said unto them, So be Jehovah with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve Jehovah; for that is what ye desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
12And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
13And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
15For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you.
17Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat Jehovah your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
18And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated Jehovah.
19And Jehovah turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea; there remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt.
20But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
21And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
22And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;
23they saw not one another, neither rose any one from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
25And Moses said, Thou must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah our God.
26Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve Jehovah our God; and we know not with what we must serve Jehovah, until we come thither.
27But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
28And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my face thou shalt die.
29And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more.
What this passage means
The chapter opens by stating God's purpose: He has hardened Pharaoh's heart so that His signs may be displayed and recounted to future generations, establishing that the confrontation with Egypt is both a present judgment and a generational testimony (verses 1–2). The refusal framed as 'How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?' (verse 3) presents humility before Yahweh as the issue at stake, not merely a labor dispute.
Plagues eight and nine escalate. The locusts (verses 12–15) finish what the hail left, covering the land so completely that 'there remained not any green thing'—a description echoed in the cross reference to Joel 1:3 about passing the memory down. The darkness (verses 21–23) is 'darkness which may be felt,' and uniquely, 'all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings,' separating the two peoples spatially.
Pharaoh's responses form a downward spiral. His officials call the situation a snare (verse 7); he offers a compromise (only men may go, verse 11); after the locusts he confesses 'I have sinned against Jehovah your God' (verse 16); after the darkness he allows families to leave but tries to keep the livestock (verse 24); finally he banishes Moses and threatens his life (verse 28). The repeated refrain 'Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart' (verses 20, 27) frames each concession as insufficient because the condition of full release was never met.
Context
Exodus 10 sits within the plague narrative of Exodus 7–12. The chapter explicitly references the preceding hail plague ('the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail,' verse 5) and prepares for the final plague of the firstborn in chapter 11. The phrase 'these my signs' (verse 1) ties this chapter to the broader cycle of wonders God said He would perform in Egypt (cf. Exodus 4:21 in the cross references).
The cross references cluster around three themes: parental transmission of God's acts (Joel 1:3; Deuteronomy 4:9), the theme of humbling oneself (1 Peter 5:6; James 4:10; 1 Kings 21:29), and the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, with Exodus 10:20 listed among the references to show that this hardening refrain is a literary marker throughout the plague narrative.
Key words in the original
- H3513 The Hebrew verb translated 'I have hardened' (verse 1) is from the root כָּבֵד (kāḇēḏ), meaning 'to be heavy.' The hiphil form 'I have caused his heart to be heavy' underlies the repeated refrain 'Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart' (verses 20, 27). The provided glossary defines this root as 'to be heavy,' in either a burdensome or an honorable sense.
- H3820 The Hebrew word לֵב (lēḇ), 'heart' (verse 1), appears repeatedly in this chapter. The provided definition emphasizes that לֵב is used 'very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect'—not merely emotion. When Pharaoh 'hardens his heart,' the whole orientation of his will is in view.
- H5608 The verb סָפַר (sāp̄ar), 'to tell/recount' (verse 2), is glossed 'to score with a mark as a tally or record, i.e. to inscribe, and also to enumerate; intensively, to recount, i.e. celebrate.' This connects the Egyptian signs to the instruction to transmit them to children and grandchildren, echoing the cross reference to Deuteronomy 4:9.
Related verses
- Joel 1:3 Exodus 10:2 instructs Moses to tell his son and grandson what God did in Egypt; Joel 1:3 commands the same generational chain after locust devastation. The two passages share a locust context and a theology of remembering God's acts across generations.
- Deuteronomy 4:9 Exodus 10:2 commands transmission of God's signs to children and grandchildren; Deuteronomy 4:9 warns Israel not to forget 'the things which thine eyes saw' and to make them known to children. Both anchor Israel's identity in rehearsing the Exodus event.
- Exodus 10:20 Listed as a cross reference to itself, this verse is the refrain 'Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart.' It appears also in verse 27 of the same chapter, marking Pharaoh's resistance after the locusts returned and after the darkness, structurally signaling that no partial confession led to full release.
Common questions
Why does God harden Pharaoh's heart instead of softening it?
According to the chapter itself, the hardening serves a stated purpose: so that God's signs may be shown 'in the midst of' Egypt and recounted to future generations (verses 1–2). The chapter does not resolve the tension between divine hardening and Pharaoh's earlier refusals; it simply presents both within the narrative. Cross references such as Exodus 4:21 show that the hardening theme begins before the plagues even start.
What is the significance of the darkness that 'may be felt'?
The text describes 'darkness which may be felt' lasting three days, during which 'they saw not one another, neither rose any one from his place' (verses 21–23). The verse adds that 'all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.' The chapter presents the darkness as a tangible, immobilizing judgment, and uniquely pairs it with light in Goshen—a spatial separation echoing earlier plagues like the flies (cf. Exodus 8:22).
Does Pharaoh's confession in verse 16 mean he repented?
Pharaoh says 'I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you' and asks Moses to 'forgive my sin only this once' (verses 16–17). Yet immediately after the locusts are removed, the chapter states 'Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go' (verse 20). The chapter itself frames the confession as partial—accompanied by a request for the plague's removal rather than a release of Israel—followed by renewed refusal. Cross references such as 1 Kings 21:29 and James 4:10 distinguish between surface-level humbling and lasting repentance.