| Exodus 12:12
| And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the Lord.
| First-born, often denotes the most beloved; or, when spoken of those under oppression, the most miserable. (Isaias 14:30; Psalm 87:27.) Moses observes, (ver. 30,) that every house had one dead, which would not probably be true of the first-born, taken in a literal sense; but where there was no child, there the most dear and honourable person was cut off, Habacuc 3:13, 14. --- Gods, idols, whose statues some assert were overthrown (St. Jerome, ep. ad Fabiol.; Eusebius, praep. IX. ult.[last]); or sacred animals, which were adored by the Egyptians; (Origen) or the word may imply that the princes and judges of the land would be mostly destroyed. (Calmet) --- Forbes observes, that by the destruction of the first-born, all the proper sacrifices, and priests of Egypt, were destroyed.
|