And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Smite the dust of the land .... Aaron's rod, by the direction of Moses, who was commanded by God, was
again raised, and the land was filled with gnats, mosquitoes-that is the proper meaning of the original term. х lªkinim (H3654); Septuagint, sknifes, worms, bred in trees, which have often caused great devastation in Egypt (Macrizi, quoted by Hengstenberg, 'Egypt and Books of Moses,' p. 111).] In ordinary circumstances the gnats embitter life in Eastern countries. In Egypt they are an annual pest after the rice harvest, bursting from the eggs previously deposited and swarming on the moistened fields.
But the terrible nature of this infliction on Egypt may be judged of from the fact that no precautions could preserve from their painful sting. The very smallness and insignificance of these fierce and blood-sucking insects made them a dreadful scourge-creeping into the eves, nose, and covering the whole body like a cloud of dust.
The magicians never attempted any imitation; and what neither the blood of the river nor the nuisance of the frogs had done, the visitation of this tiny enemy constrained them to acknowledge, "This is the finger of God," properly 'gods,' for they spoke as pagans. It is entirely contrary to the spirit of antiquity in general and of Egyptian antiquity in particular to explain the phrase, "This is the finger of God," as meaning, 'this is accomplished by God;' so that the magicians say, that until now they have contended with Moses and Aaron upon earthly grounds with human means, and there they have overcome, but now God appears. It should rather be explained, 'by the power of God they have obtained the victory' (Hengstenberg, 'Egypt and Books of Moses,' p. 102). This view-namely, that it was not a pious acknowledgment of divine power, but a restriction of the magical powers of Moses and Aaron they meant by ascribing the plague to "the finger of God" - is confirmed by the fact, that they speak of 'Elohiym (H430), Gods or a god, not of Yahweh, the God of Israel.