He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.
Ver. 28. He sent darkness] Palpable darkness, by reason of most black and thick vapours of the earth mingling themselves with the air; such as Aben Ezra said that he once felt, sailing upon the ocean, the gross vapours there putting out the light of fire and candle, and not suffering them to be re-enkindled.
And they rebelled not against his word] They, that is, the plagues called for, came immediately, with an Ecce me. Or, they, that is, Moses and Aaron, refused not to denounce and inflict those plagues, though Pharaoh threatened to kill them; where a man would wonder at Pharaoh's hardness and hardiness, that being in the midst of that deep and dreadful darkness, he could rage against God, and threaten with death his servant Moses. The Arabic (reading לו for לא) rendereth it, Et irritarunt sermonem eius; and they (the Egyptians) provoked his word, or rebelled against it.