Bible Strands
Exodus 9:33
Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses leaves Pharaoh and the city to intercede with the LORD, fulfilling his earlier promise before the hail and thunder plague concludes. This moment occurs immediately before Pharaoh observes the stopped rain and hardens his heart again.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַיֵּצֵא (va.ye.tze, “he went out”) and וַיִּפְרֹשׂ (va.yifros, “he spread out”) describe Moses physically departing Pharaoh’s presence and extending his hands toward the LORD. These actions mark the transition from the storm’s peak to its cessation.
The thread — Moses follows this exact pattern of leaving Pharaoh to pray for relief in Exodus 8:12 and 10:18, and he explicitly outlines this procedure in Exodus 9:29 before the hail strikes.
Why it lands — The text records a direct sequence: Moses departs and lifts his hands, and the LORD stops the thunder, hail, and rain. It requires the reader to note that the plague ends through prophetic intercession, not through Pharaoh’s negotiation.
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 Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
Cross-references
- Exodus 9:29 Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
- Exodus 8:12 After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help with the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh.
- Exodus 10:18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.
- James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.