Exodus 9: 18-21 apparent problem

[NathanBmajor7]

Greetings all

I have a question relating to the book of Exodus which is of interest to me as I am currently reading it in Bible study times.

What do you think of the apparent contradiction between Exodus 9:1-7 (all the livestock died), and Exodus 9:18-21 (all the livestock did not die, as there were some still remaining). Do they contradict or is there some kind of issue with the way these texts were translated?

I have included the scriptures themselves below (NASB).

(Exodus 9:1-7)--"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 "For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. 4 "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."’" 5 And the Lord set a definite time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land." 6 So the Lord did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

(Exodus 9:18-21)--"Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19"Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die."’" 20The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; 21but he who paid no regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field."

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Yours in Christ. NathanBmajor7

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[JingshenBianxi]

4 "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."’

In the first set of passages God is clearly saying that He will make a DISTINCTION between the livestock of Israel..and the livestock of Egypt. Egypt's LIVESTOCK was the TARGET.

Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19"Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety.

Then in verse 19, after that previous plague, obviously the LIVESTOCK He was referring to was Israel's LIVESTOCK..to once again..bring them to safety for the Lord was about to bring another plague that would indeed effect..Israel's livestock...Egypt's livestock is already gone...Let's read that whole passage a little more..

Exodus 9:13 reads...then the Lord said to MOSES...

This whole conversation is the LORD talking to MOSES...keep that in mind..

let's continue to read..

verse 13..." Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, " Thus says the LORD, the GOD of the Hebrews, " Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, (( he didn't say livestock, cause they're already dead )) so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

NOW WATCH THIS...cause be mindful of who God is talking to right now....MOSES...at this point He's simply telling Moses what he is to say to Pharaoh..this conversation did happen..but at THIS MOMENT..this is simply the LORD addressing MOSES as stated in verse 13...so watch how the conversation changes..in verse 19..

NOW THEREFORE SEND, get YOUR LIVESTOCK and ALL THAT YOU HAVE IN THE FIELD INTO SAFE SHELTER, for every man and beast that is in the field and is NOT BROUGHT HOME WILL DIE when the hail falls on them.

See that? God was telling Moses to tell the children of ISRAEL...to move THEIR LIVESTOCK...to safety. It was a WARNING. It's the same thing with the final plague with the death of the first born. God told Moses what was going to happen...and THEN TOLD Moses what His People were to do for SAFETY...which then became the glorious day called The Passover because for safety God told Moses to have the children of Israel to paint their door with lamb's blood.

Glory to GOD for His Spirit guides us in ALL TRUTH.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

The first refers to a disease that affected the Egyptian livestock and not those of Israel. And the second refers to a big hailstorm that killed all livestock that was not taken into shelter. So where's the contradiction?

 

[shakewell]

Greetings all

I have a question relating to the book of Exodus which is of interest to me as I am currently reading it in Bible study times.

What do you think of the apparent contradiction between Exodus 9:1-7 (all the livestock died), and Exodus 9:18-21 (all the livestock did not die, as there were some still remaining). Do they contradict or is there some kind of issue with the way these texts were translated?

I have included the scriptures themselves below (NASB).

(Exodus 9:1-7)--"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 "For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. 4 "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."’" 5 And the Lord set a definite time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land." 6 So the Lord did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

(Exodus 9:18-21)--"Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19"Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die."’" 20The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; 21but he who paid no regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field."

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Yours in Christ. NathanBmajor7

We're not told how much time elapsed between the plagues. Egypt may have imported new livestock from abroad after all the first livestock was killed. (They were the world power at the time).

 

[birdetto]

Greetings all

I have a question relating to the book of Exodus which is of interest to me as I am currently reading it in Bible study times.

What do you think of the apparent contradiction between Exodus 9:1-7 (all the livestock died), and Exodus 9:18-21 (all the livestock did not die, as there were some still remaining). Do they contradict or is there some kind of issue with the way these texts were translated?

I have included the scriptures themselves below (NASB).

(Exodus 9:1-7)--"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, "Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 "For if you refuse to let them go, and continue to hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe pestilence on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. 4 "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel."’" 5 And the Lord set a definite time, saying, "Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land." 6 So the Lord did this thing on the morrow, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died. 7And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not even one of the livestock of Israel dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

(Exodus 9:18-21)--"Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19"Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die."’" 20The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; 21but he who paid no regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field."

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Yours in Christ. NathanBmajor7

The Bible is written in parable form (Psalm 78:1-2, Mark 4:34) and animals in the Bible are really parable pictures of people. The physical story is intended to have a spiritual meaning relevant to the church age. For example, somewhere in the Bible we read that sheep are pictures of believers, and the Bible says that God knows his own sheep and calls them by name. Does this mean that he knows animal sheep? Rather, it means he knows his own people by name. Even though the Bible said 'sheep' it is really talking about people. In the same way, oxen in the Bible are said to be pictures of those people who labor in the gospel, sharing the word of God. So although the Bible used the word 'oxen', it really meant people. (Jesus himself is pictured with the face of an ox, an eagle, a lion, and a man, for parable interpretation.) We read about oxen: "For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?"
In this example, oxen provide a parable picture of people sharing the gospel whilst the corn is a picture of those persons who have the gospel preached to them. Even the corn has a parable meaning then. How can corn or animals be a picture of people? By parable inference. These stories in Exodus are not just history events to be read as physical stories. The Bible was inspired by God and he is telling a story about his people by way of the parable method. In the story you mention, of Exodus chapter 9, we seem to be getting a picture of those who are saved as the church age winds down and God makes a distinction in separating the true believers from the religious persons of the congregations who were unsaved (typified by Egypt). In my opinion, the cattle and livestock are pictures of people by way of interpretation. Israelites going into their houses is a parable way of saying that the true believers are secure in the household of God (which is not a physical house but simply the group of persons truly in Christ). Those who are in Egypt are those who are in the congregations but who do not appear to be in Christ any longer. However, there have been those in the congregations who are truly saved who have respect towards God, and these are those who obey God from Egypt and go into their houses (a picture of God's spiritual house).

 

[Mark51]

Good question! There does seem to be a contradiction. It seems to me that Exodus 9:20 may give some insight. Anyone under Pharaoh’s “household” who heeded Moses’ warning and brought their livestock under cover were spared. Perhaps this was the same arrangement-although not specified-at Exodus 9:6. This shows how merciful God is toward all those-regardless of nationality or race-who put their faith and trust in him.

 

[Evangelist Paul Dodson]

The Bible does not reveal how much time passed between the fifth plague and the seventh plague. Following the fifth plague, which wiped out the livestock of Egypt, the Egyptians may have taken some of the livestock belonging to Israel. Another possibility is that they bought (or took) livestock from surrounding areas (Libya, Ethiopia, Canaan, etc) to replace theirs. The first option would require very little time to complete while the second would probably require at least a few weeks. But since the Bible does not specify how much time passed, either is possible.

Perhaps simplest solution, would be to acknowledge the fact that “all” does not always mean exclusively “all.”2 We must use the context to determine its meaning. In the case of Exodus 9:6, it might be best translated that “all manner of livestock of the Egyptians died.” In other words, the plague included all kinds of animals, as clarified in the third verse: “on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence.” This is the approach taken in Coverdale’s translation, and the New English Translation includes a footnote with a similar explanation.

Remember, the Bible does not always record every single aspect of every single incident that happened. It records the vital information that we need to know in order to understand what God is telling us. Because of this, sometimes specific details are not mentioned. In any event, there are reasonable explanations to explain the two plagues and their corresponding results. If a person is trying to find a problem with the Bible to justify not believing or following it, they will find something. But, for those who trust God and His Words, we understand God could not possibly give us every single detail.

Hope this helps
God bless
Evangelist Paul
www.theclearword.org