Exo 12:31 | KD | STEP | The very same night Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and gave them permission to depart with their people, their children, and their cattle. The statement that Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron is not at variance with ; and there is no necessity to resort to Calvin's explanation, “Pharaoh himself is said to have sent for those whom he urged to depart through the medium of messengers from the palace.” The command never to appear in his sight again did not preclude his sending for them under totally different circumstances. The permission to depart was given unconditionally, i.e., without involving an obligation to return. This is evident from the words, “Get you forth from among my people,” compared with , , “Go ye, serve Jehovah,” and , “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” If in addition to this we bear in mind, that although at first, and even after the fourth plague ( ), Moses only asked for a three days’ journey to hold a festival, yet Pharaoh suspected that they would depart altogether, and even gave utterance to this suspicion, without being contradicted by Moses ( , and ); the words “Get you forth from among my people” cannot mean anything else than “depart altogether.” Moreover, in it was foretold to Moses that the result of the last blow would be, that Pharaoh would let them go, or rather drive them away; so that the effect of this blow, as here described, cannot be understood in any other way. And this is really implied in Pharaoh’s last words, “Go, and bless me also;” whereas on former occasions he had only asked them to intercede for the removal of the plagues ( , ; ; ). בּרך, to bless, indicates a final leave-taking, and was equivalent to a request that on their departure they would secure or leave behind the blessing of their God, in order that henceforth no such plague might ever befall him and his people. This view of the words of the king is not at variance either with the expression “as ye have said” in , which refers to the words “serve the Lord,” or with the same words in , for there they refer to the flock and herds, or lastly, with the circumstance that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites after they had gone, with the evident intention of bringing them back by force (Exo 14:5.), because this resolution is expressly described as a change of mind consequent upon renewed hardening ( ).

‏ Exodus 12:31

The very same night Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and gave them permission to depart with their people, their children, and their cattle. The statement that Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron is not at variance with Exo 10:28-29; and there is no necessity to resort to Calvin's explanation, “Pharaoh himself is said to have sent for those whom he urged to depart through the medium of messengers from the palace.” The command never to appear in his sight again did not preclude his sending for them under totally different circumstances. The permission to depart was given unconditionally, i.e., without involving an obligation to return. This is evident from the words, “Get you forth from among my people,” compared with Exo 10:8, Exo 10:24, “Go ye, serve Jehovah,” and Exo 8:25, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” If in addition to this we bear in mind, that although at first, and even after the fourth plague (Exo 8:27), Moses only asked for a three days’ journey to hold a festival, yet Pharaoh suspected that they would depart altogether, and even gave utterance to this suspicion, without being contradicted by Moses (Exo 8:28, and Exo 10:10); the words “Get you forth from among my people” cannot mean anything else than “depart altogether.” Moreover, in Exo 11:1 it was foretold to Moses that the result of the last blow would be, that Pharaoh would let them go, or rather drive them away; so that the effect of this blow, as here described, cannot be understood in any other way. And this is really implied in Pharaoh’s last words, “Go, and bless me also;” whereas on former occasions he had only asked them to intercede for the removal of the plagues (Exo 8:8, Exo 8:28; Exo 9:28; Exo 10:17). בּרך, to bless, indicates a final leave-taking, and was equivalent to a request that on their departure they would secure or leave behind the blessing of their God, in order that henceforth no such plague might ever befall him and his people. This view of the words of the king is not at variance either with the expression “as ye have said” in Exo 12:31, which refers to the words “serve the Lord,” or with the same words in Exo 12:32, for there they refer to the flock and herds, or lastly, with the circumstance that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites after they had gone, with the evident intention of bringing them back by force (Exo 14:5.), because this resolution is expressly described as a change of mind consequent upon renewed hardening (Exo 14:4-5).