Bible Strands
Exodus 10:21
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD commands Moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven to bring darkness over Egypt. This instruction follows the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release the Israelites.
The words — נְטֵה (ne.Teh) literally means "stretch out," directing Moses to extend his hand upward. The text specifies this physical gesture as the mechanism for spreading palpable darkness.
The thread — The motif of divinely sent darkness appears in Luke 23:44 during the crucifixion and in 2 Peter 2:4 and 2 Peter 2:17 as a symbol of judgment and reserved condemnation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of God’s sovereign control over creation as a direct response to human defiance. It requires the reader to acknowledge that obedience to divine command precedes the manifestation of judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Cross-references
- Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.
- 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- 2 Peter 2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
- Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
- Exodus 9:22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”
- Deuteronomy 28:29 and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you.
- Psalms 105:28 He sent darkness, and it became dark—yet they defied His words.
- Proverbs 4:19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
- Isaiah 8:21 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.