Flies, and a Division Made
20 Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground they are on. 22 I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth. 23 I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.”’” 24 Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. 25 Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!” 26 Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won’t they stone us? 27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us.” 28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.” 29 Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” 30 Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. 31 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 32 Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.
From the fourth plague Israel is exempted, and Pharaoh begins offering compromises that would keep the substance while conceding the words.
I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth.
Until now the plagues have fallen on everyone, Israel included; from here they do not. The exemption is announced beforehand, which is what makes it evidence rather than coincidence, and the purpose is stated twice: to the end you may know that I am Yahweh on the earth. I will put a division between my people and your people Exodus 8:22–23.
The division is not a reward. Nothing in the narrative suggests that the Hebrew settlements had become more deserving between the third plague and the fourth; they had done nothing but make bricks. What the boundary demonstrates is discrimination in the older sense of the word, a distinction drawn by the one striking, in a country where the two populations lived close enough that no natural affliction could have observed the line. A God who can exempt a district can also be shown not to be striking blindly.
What follows is the beginning of a negotiation, and its four stages are worth watching as a set, because each offers Pharaoh's opponents most of what they asked for while retaining the one element that would make it useless.
Go, sacrifice to your God in the land! Exodus 8:25. Worship, by all means — but here, where it can be regulated. Moses refuses on grounds that are practical rather than theological: we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God... won't they stone us? Exodus 8:26. The animals Israel would offer were sacred in Egypt, and a public slaughter of them in the delta would end in a riot. The refusal is also a quiet statement about what worship costs when it takes place on terms set by people who find it offensive.
Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.”
The second offer concedes the wilderness and keeps a leash on the distance. Later he will concede the men and keep the children Exodus 10:11, and later still concede the people and keep the livestock Exodus 10:24. The shape is consistent: yield the visible part of the demand and hold something back that makes return inevitable. A departure with a limit on it is not a departure.
Pray for me, he adds Exodus 8:28, and Moses agrees while saying exactly what he expects: only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go Exodus 8:29. The warning is unusually direct, and it is ignored.
31 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 32 Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.
The completeness of the relief and the completeness of the reversal are set side by side. Answered prayer, precisely delivered, changed nothing in a man who had already decided.
settled What this mark means