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This hail broke down their boughs laden with fruit1. After this a tribe of locusts consumed the seed which was not hurt by the hail; so that to the Egyptians all hopes of the future fruits of the ground were entirely lost.2

 

 

 

 

5. One would think the forementioned calamities might have been sufficient for one that was only foolish, without wickedness, to make him wise, and to make him Sensible what was for his advantage. But Pharaoh, led not so much by his folly as by his wickedness3, even when he saw the cause of his miseries, he still contested with God, and willfully deserted the cause of virtue4; so he bid Moses take the Hebrews away, with their wives and children, to leave their cattle behind, since their own cattle were destroyed5. But when Moses said that what he desired was unjust6, since they were obliged to offer sacrifices to God of those cattle, and the time being prolonged on this account, a thick darkness, without the least light, spread itself over the Egyptians7, whereby their sight being obstructed, and their breathing hindered by the thickness of the air, they died miserably, and under a terror lest they should be swallowed up by the dark cloud8. Besides this, when the darkness, after three days and as many nights, was dissipated, and when Pharaoh did not still repent and let the Hebrews go, Moses came to him and said, "How long wilt thou be disobedient to the command of God? for he enjoins thee to let the Hebrews go; nor is there any other way of being freed from the calamities are under, unless you do so." But the king angry at what he said, and threatened to cut off his head if he came any more to trouble him these matters9. Hereupon Moses said he not speak to him any more about them, for he himself, together with the principal men among the Egyptians, should desire the Hebrews away. So when Moses had said this, he his way.

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1 Realizing that Pharaoh’s confessions of guilt after the plague of the hail (Exod. 9:27-30) and the plague of the locusts (Exod. 10:16) were insincere and would certainly not redound to his credit, Josephus omits this completely. Here, after the plagues of hail (Exod. 9:27) and locusts (Exod. 10:16), Pharaoh summons both Moses and Aaron, but in Josephus he does not do so. Josephus omits the biblical statement (Exod. 10:11) in which Pharaoh agrees to allow the men to go but not the children.

2 Josephus here omits the biblical detail (Exod. 10:13-14) that the plague of locusts was produced when God urged an east (south in the LXX) wind over the land all day and all night long, whereupon in the morning the east wind bore along the locusts. Josephus also omits the statement (Exod. 10:14) that after this plague there will never be any such.

3 The analysis that Pharaoh was motivated not by stupidity but by wickedness is Josephus’ addition.

4 It is only after many plagues that Pharaoh loses his sense of reason, as noted here, in an extra-biblical addition.

5 This explanation as to why Pharaoh ordered the Israelites to leave their herds behind is Josephus’ addition. Josephus omits the manner (Exod. 10:19) in which the locusts are removed, namely by causing a very strong west wind to carry them away into the Sea of Reeds.

6 The statement that Pharaoh had made unjust demands is Josephus’ addition.

7 Josephus here omits the biblical statement (Exod. 10:21) that the darkness was so thick that it was able to be felt.

8 The vivid details that because of the thick darkness people could not breathe and were afraid that they would be gulped down by the fog are Josephus’ addition. Josephus omits the biblical statement (Exod. 10:23) that for the Israelites there was light in their dwellings. Nevertheless, it is striking that in his description of the plague of darkness, Josephus does not resort to rationalization here, whereas Philo tries to offer a scientific explanation in his suggestion that the darkness was possibly caused by an eclipse of the sun or by a cutting off of the stream of rays through continuous clouds, compressed with great force into masses of unbroken density ( De Vita Mosis 1.21.123).

9 Josephus adds to the portrait of Moses’ courage by making Pharaoh’s threat after the plague of darkness more vivid. In Exod. 10:29 Pharaoh is quoted as saying to Moses merely that he should be gone and that the moment that he looks upon his face again Moses will die. Josephus, for his part, says here that Pharaoh was infuriated ( ὀργισθείς) by Moses’ speech and that he actually threatened to behead him if he should ever come again and pester ( ἐνοχλῶν, “annoy,” “trouble,” “be a nuisance”) him on this matter.

(26) As to this winter or spring hail near Egypt and Judea, see the like on thunder and lightning there, in the note on Antiq. B. VI. ch. 5. sect. 6.  Here is note on 6.5.6 "Mr. Reland observes here, and proves elsewhere in his note on Antiq. B. III. ch. 1. sect. 6, that although thunder and lightning with us usually happen in summer, yet in Palestine and Syria they are chiefly confined to winter. Josephus takes notice of the same thing again, War, B. IV. ch. 4. sect. 5."