Exodus 9:16

And in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up,.... Or but truly or verily (c); instead of smiting thee with the pestilence, and cutting thee off out of the land of the living, "I have raised

And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. No JFB commentary on these verses.

Raised thee up; so the Hebrew word is translated, . I have raised thee up out of thy first nothing, into thy being, and life, and kingdom; and upheld thy being and reign even in the midst of thy tyranny. Heb. I have made thee to stand, i.e. to remain alive and untouched, when thy magicians could not stand, . I have preserved thee in life, not for want of power to destroy thee, as thou mayst fancy, nor for want of provocation from thee, but for my own glory. To show in thee my power, in those mighty works which have been occasioned by thy rebellion and obstinacy. My name; my being and providence, and my manifold perfections; my patience in bearing thee so long, my justice in punishing thee, my power in conquering thee, my wisdom in overruling thy pride, and tyranny, and cruelty, to thy own destruction, and the redemption of my oppressed people, and my faithfulness in making good my promises to them, and my threatenings to thee.

Exodus 9:16 And in very deed for this [cause] have I raised thee up, for to shew [in] thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.Ver. 16. Have I raised thee up.] Heb., I have constituted and set thee up as a butt mark: that I may let fly at thee and follow thee close with plague upon plague, till I’ have beaten the very breath out of thy body. See Proverbs 16:4 Romans 9:17.

(16) And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up.—Rather, but truly on this account have I made thee stand—i.e., kept thee alive, not for thy deserts, not even in pity, but only “for to show in thee My power.” Thou hast provoked Me so that long since thou wouldst have been “cut off from the earth,” only that My glory will be the more shown forth by thy continuance in life, and by the further plagues and punishments whereto thou wilt be subjected. That my name may be declared.—Comp. Exodus 14:17; Exodus 15:14-16, &c.

Verse 16. But truly, on this very account, have I caused thee to SUBSIST, (העמדחיך heemadticha), that I MIGHT cause thee to see my power, (הראתך את כחי harotheca eth cochi), and that my name MIGHT be declared throughout all the earth, (or, בכל הארץ becol haarets, in all THIS LAND). See Ainsworth and Houbigant. Thus God gave this impious king to know that it was in consequence of his especial providence that both he and his people had not been already destroyed by means of the past plagues; but God had preserved him for this very purpose, that he might have a farther opportunity of manifesting that he, Jehovah, was the only true God for the full conviction both of the Hebrews and Egyptians, that the former might follow and the latter fear before him. Judicious critics of almost all creeds have agreed to translate the original as above, a translation which it not only can bear but requires, and which is in strict conformity to both the Septuagint and Targum. Neither the Hebrew heemadticha, I have caused thee to stand; nor the apostle's translation of it, Romans 9:17, εξηγειρασε, I have raised thee; nor that of the Septuagint, ενεκεντουτουδιετηρηθης, on this account art thou preserved, viz., in the past plagues; can countenance that most exceptionable meaning put on the words by certain commentators, viz., "That God ordained or appointed Pharaoh from all eternity, by certain means, to this end; that he made him to exist in time; that he raised him to the throne; promoted him to that high honour and dignity; that he preserved him, and did not cut him off as yet; that he strengthened and hardened his heart; irritated, provoked, and stirred him up against his people Israel, and suffered him to go all the lengths he did go in his obstinacy and rebellion; all which was done to show in him his power in destroying him in the Red Sea. The sum of which is, that this man was raised up by God in every sense for God to show his power in his destruction." So man speaks; thus GOD hath not spoken. See Henry on the place.

16. made thee to stand] i.e. maintained thee alive, the causative of to ‘stand’ in the sense of to continue, ch. Exodus 21:21, Psalms 102:28 [Heb. 27]. The same sense is expressed by the paraphrase of LXX. thou wast preserved (διετηρήθης). St Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, in his argument to prove the absolute sovereignty of God. He there (disregarding the LXX.) expresses the verb by ἐξήγειράσε, raised thee up, i.e. brought thee on to the stage of history (cf. ἐξεγείρω in LXX., Habakkuk 1:6, Zechariah 11:16, and ἐγείρω, Judges 2:16; Judges 2:18; Judges 3:9 al.),—a sense which δςξιγ might have had in post-exilic Hebrew, but hardly at the date when this passage of Ex. was written1[126]. The difference between raised up and kept alive does not, however, affect the Apostle’s argument. He is arguing against the Jews (who strongly maintained that their national privileges were inalienable), that God, in rejecting Israel, is not arbitrary or unjust; and he quotes two passages from the OT. to shew the absolute character of the Divine sovereignty, Exodus 33:19 b as proof that God can choose Himself the recipients of His mercy, and the present passage as proof that He may, if it pleases Him, be severe, in order to carry out His Divine purpose. See further p. 54. [126] In post-exilic Heb. ςξγ and δςξιγ acquire meanings which in early Heb. are expressed by χεν and δχιν: see examples in the writer’s Introduction, pp. 475, 503 (ed. 6 or 7, pp. 507, 535), Nos. 16 and 4. In early Heb. ἐξεγείρω would have been expressed by δχιν (as in Habakkuk 1:6, &c., quoted above).to shew thee,—lit. to make thee see, i.e. experience,—my power] which might have had the effect of softening Pharaoh’s heart, and did in fact lead him more than once to give God the glory (v. 27, Exodus 10:16 f.). and that my name, &c.] Pharaoh is a signal type of the power of the world, as opposed to God; and God’s victory over him will cause His name to be declared (Psalms 102:21) and known far and wide in the world.

16. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up — Literally, made thee stand, kept thee standing, or preserved thee alive, after thy life was forfeited. So, substantially, the Septuagint, Targ.