(7-23) REFLECTIONS OF THE LAST EDITOR ON THE MORAL CAUSES OF THE CATASTROPHE.
(7) For so it was. — Literally, and it came to pass.
Sinned against the Lord... Egypt. — The claim of Jehovah to Israel’s exclusive fealty was from the outset based upon the fact that He had emancipated them from the Egyptian bondage — a fact which is significantly asserted as the preamble to Jehovah’s laws. (See Exodus 20:2; and comp. Hosea 11:1; Hosea 12:9.)
Had feared other gods. — Such as the Baals and Asheras of Canaan, which symbolised the productive powers of Nature, and, further, the heavenly bodies. Comp. Amos 5:25-26; Ezekiel 8:14; Ezekiel 8:16.)