Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD commands Moses to perform a specific gesture during the seventh plague, immediately following the narrative distinction between those who heeded and those who ignored the warning in Exodus 9:21. Moses serves as the designated agent while Yahweh prepares to execute the judgment.
The words — The Hebrew verb נְטֵה (ne.Teh) translates literally as "stretch out," instructing Moses to extend his hand toward the sky. This physical directive functions as the precise mechanism for initiating the divine hail.
The thread — The pattern of stretching out a hand or staff to trigger a plague appears in Exodus 7:19 and Exodus 8:5, while the hail judgment itself parallels the final plague described in Revelation 16:21. These passages track a consistent prophetic sequence where human gesture precedes divine action.
Why it lands — The text requires obedience to a commanded physical act that releases judgment upon people, livestock, and crops. Readers must acknowledge that the plague explicitly targets every living and growing entity within Egyptian territory.
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 forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.
Cross-references
- Revelation 16:21 And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
- Exodus 7:19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”
- Exodus 8:5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’”
- Exodus 8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”