He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.
He sent darkness, and made it dark. The second last plague is only alluded to (Exodus 10:22-23). The "darkness" is mainly figurative. Hence, there follows, as the result the "darkness" which comprises the whole series of ten plagues,
And they rebelled not against his word - any longer, as heretofore. This result did not follow the "darkness" in the limited sense of the one plague; but it did follow the whole ten, including the last-the destruction of the first-born. Compare Psalms 105:36-38. So "I create darkness" is used figuratively, Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 50:3; Jeremiah 13:16; Amos 5:8. The darkness here stands at the beginning (not in the historical order that the particular plague of darkness stood), to mark how God's wrath hung over Egypt as a dark cloud during all the plagues. Upon God's sending each of the plagues, the Egyptians professed themselves ready to give up their rebellion against God's "word" ("Let my people Israel go, that they may serve me"); but not until the whole series was complete did they give up their rebellion. The other reading, plural, 'His words,' refers to His command, often repeated, to let Israel go.