Exodus 10:15 kjv
For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10:15 nkjv
For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10:15 niv
They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail?everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10:15 esv
They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10:15 nlt
For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10 15 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exo 7:3-5 | "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs... that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." | Purpose of plagues: revealing God's power. |
| Exo 9:25 | "And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field." | Preceding plague; context of hail's devastation. |
| Exo 10:4-6 | "Else, if thou refuse... tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth..." | Moses' warning of the coming locusts. |
| Exo 10:14 | "And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such." | Magnitude and unprecedented nature of this plague. |
| Exo 10:21-23 | "And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days; they saw not one another..." | The subsequent plague of darkness, foreshadowed by the darkening from locusts. |
| Psa 78:46 | "He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust." | God sending locusts as judgment. |
| Psa 105:34-35 | "He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground." | God's command and control over the locusts, fulfilling His word. |
| Deut 28:38, 42 | "Thou shalt carry much seed out... but shalt gather little in... because the locust shall consume it. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume." | Locusts as a curse for disobedience, connecting to judgment. |
| Joel 1:4 | "That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten." | Similar comprehensive destruction by locusts, multiple stages. |
| Joel 1:6-7 | "For a nation is come up upon My land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid My vine waste, and barked My fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white." | Poetic description of locust destruction as an invading army. |
| Joel 2:10 | "The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:" | Locusts causing darkness, mirroring Exo 10:15. |
| Rev 9:3, 7 | "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth... and the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle..." | Apocalyptic locusts used as instruments of divine judgment. |
| Amos 4:9 | "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD." | God's repeated judgments, including insects, for not turning to Him. |
| Isa 24:1-6 | "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste... it is defiled under the inhabitants thereof... Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth." | Universal desolation and judgment on the earth. |
| Jer 4:27-28 | "For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate... For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it..." | God's judgment bringing desolation and darkness to a land. |
| Hab 3:17 | "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat..." | Depiction of complete agricultural ruin. |
| Exo 8:22-23 | "And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen... and that no swarms of flies shall be there... that ye may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth." | Distinction between Egypt and Israel; Goshen protected from plagues. |
| Exo 9:4 | "And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel." | God's protection over His people during judgment. |
| Ps 145:15-16 | "The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." | God's role as sustainer of all life, highlighting the severe judgment of food removal. |
| Hag 2:17 | "I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me, saith the LORD." | God's use of natural phenomena for judgment and calling to repentance. |
Exodus 10 verses
Exodus 10 15 Meaning
Exodus 10:15 describes the devastating impact of the eighth plague upon Egypt, where immense swarms of locusts covered the entire visible surface of the land, darkening it completely. These locusts consumed all remaining vegetation, including every plant and tree fruit that the previous plague of hail had spared. Consequently, not a single green plant was left anywhere throughout the whole land of Egypt.
Exodus 10 15 Context
Exodus 10:15 describes the outcome of the eighth plague against Egypt, a plague of locusts, which followed immediately after the devastating hail. Pharaoh had previously shown a momentary softening (Exo 10:9-10) but quickly reneged on releasing all the Israelites, particularly the children, as demanded by Moses. The locusts serve as God's answer to Pharaoh's stubbornness, systematically stripping Egypt of its remaining sustenance. Historically, locust plagues were a known phenomenon in the ancient Near East, but this one was supernaturally severe, unparalleled, and under divine control, demonstrating God's supreme power over nature and life itself. The plague was a direct polemic against various Egyptian deities associated with crops, fertility, and the sun, showing their impotence before the God of Israel.
Exodus 10 15 Word analysis
- For they covered (וַיְכַסּוּ֙ vayekhasu): The Hebrew verb kasah means "to cover, conceal, hide." Here, it vividly depicts the overwhelming multitude of locusts so vast they literally concealed the ground. It suggests complete obliteration of the visible landscape.
- the face of the whole earth (אֶת־פְּנֵ֤י כָל־הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ ’et-penê kol-hā’āreṣ): "Face" (פָּנִים panim) refers to the surface or visible aspect. "Whole earth" (kol-hā’āreṣ) here means "the entire land" of Egypt. This emphasizes the widespread nature of the plague, not localized but impacting every region. It challenged Egyptian gods of the earth like Geb.
- so that the land was darkened (וַתֶּחְשַׁ֣ךְ הָאָ֑רֶץ vatteḥšakh hā’āreṣ): The verb ḥashakh (חָשַׁךְ) means "to be dark, grow dark." This is a literal effect, as the dense swarms of locusts would obscure the sun, casting a deep shadow over the land. Symbolically, it foreshadows the ninth plague of literal darkness and challenges the supremacy of Ra, the Egyptian sun god, showing even the sun could be overshadowed by God's creatures.
- and they did eat every herb of the land (וַתֹּ֙אכַל֙ אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב הָאָ֔רֶץ vatto’khal ’et-kol-’ēsev hā’āreṣ): The verb ’akhal (אָכַל) means "to eat, consume." "Every herb" (kol-’ēsev) implies every plant or green vegetation. This signifies a complete and utter destruction of the agricultural basis of Egypt.
- and all the fruit of the trees (וְאֵת֙ כָּל־פְּרִ֣י הָעֵ֔ץ və’ēt kol-perî hā‘ēṣ): Refers to the yield of trees, indicating both cultivated crops and natural growth.
- which the hail had left (אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוֹתִ֣יר הַבָּרָ֑ד ’asher hôtîr habbārāḏ): This clause is crucial. It directly links the eighth plague to the seventh (hail), demonstrating God's systematic and comprehensive judgment. The locusts consumed what little the hail had spared, ensuring total agricultural devastation.
- and there remained not any green thing (וְלֹֽא־נוֹתַר֩ כָּל־יֶ֨רֶק מִכֹּ֜ל vəlō’-nôtar kol-yereq mikkōl): Lo’ nothar means "not remained." "Green thing" (yereq) signifies anything green or fresh vegetation. This confirms the thoroughness of the destruction, leaving Egypt utterly barren and its food supply annihilated.
- in the trees, or in the herbs of the field (בָּעֵ֔ץ וּבְעֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה bā‘ēṣ ūvə‘ēsev haśśāḏeh): Further specification that neither perennial nor annual plants were spared, whether cultivated or wild.
- through all the land of Egypt (בְּכָל־אֶ֖רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם bəkol-’ereṣ miṣrāyim): Reinforces the complete scope of the plague, underscoring the severity of God's judgment across the entire nation.
Exodus 10 15 Bonus section
The mention of the land being "darkened" (Exo 10:15) by the locusts serves as a powerful foreshadowing and precursor to the actual ninth plague of thick darkness that followed (Exo 10:21). It illustrates God's escalating use of "darkness" as an instrument of judgment against Egypt, symbolically targeting the sun god Ra, the preeminent deity in Egyptian cosmology. This particular plague also highlights the deep reliance of ancient societies on agriculture, making its complete destruction a national catastrophe far beyond mere inconvenience.
Exodus 10 15 Commentary
Exodus 10:15 succinctly encapsulates the profound impact of the locust plague, an unprecedented act of divine judgment. By covering the entire land and literally darkening it, the plague visibly manifested God's absolute sovereignty over creation, challenging Egypt's natural and agricultural gods. The deliberate consumption of "every herb" and "all the fruit... which the hail had left" signifies God's thoroughness in judgment; He systematically stripped Egypt of its sustenance. This also emphasizes Pharaoh's increasing culpability, as each subsequent plague targeted remaining resources or specific elements of Egyptian life. The outcome, "not any green thing," highlights total desolation, demonstrating to Pharaoh, and all Egypt, that resistance to God's will would result in complete ruin. This prepares the stage for the climactic plagues, as Egypt is left economically and agriculturally devastated, serving as a powerful display of God's might and a confirmation of His promised deliverance.