The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

SECTION XIII.

The Plague of Lice. The speech of the Sorcerers, This is the finger of God, Exod. 8. 19. not a confession of the Lord, but an hideous and horrid blasphemy.

AT the Plague of Lice, the Sorcerers are put to a non-plus, and in the least crea∣ture can do nothing, for [besides that it was the will of God, to bring their de∣vices to nought, and to shew himself maximum in minimis] if they should have imita∣ted this miracle, they must have done two things: first, they must have produced dust, and then of the dust, Lice, for the Text saith, That all the dust of the Land became Lice, throughout all the Land of Egypt, vers. 17. Neither of which they can do, and therefore say, This is the finger of God. For the understanding of these their words, observe these things.

First, That in the two foregoing Plagues of blood and Frogs, Moses gave warning of them before they came, but of this he did not.

Secondly, That the Lice were also in the land where Israel dwelt, as well as in other parts of Egypt, for there is no severing betwixt Goshen and Egypt mentioned, till the next Plagues of Flies, In that day, I will sever the Land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, And I will put a division between my people, and thy people, vers. 22, 23. whereas none had been put before.

For when Moses turned the waters of Egypt into blood, the Sorcerers did so also with their inchantments, and turned the waters of Goshen into blood likewise. Here Pharaoh thinketh his Sorcerers have matched the Jehovah that Moses so talked of, and that they could do as much against his people, as he could do against theirs.

And so when Moses from Jehovah brought Frogs upon Egypt, the Magitians also by their inchantments bring Frogs likewise upon Goshen, and still they think their God is hard enough for Israels Jehovah.

Thus is blood and Frogs through all the Land of Goshen, but neither were these real Blood or Frogs, nor was this any punishment at all upon Israel, for it was not from the Lord, but only vain delusions permitted by the Lord, that at last he might catch the craf∣ty in their own net.

But when the Plague of Lice cometh, it cometh also upon Goshen from the Lord him∣self, and this is a Plague indeed upon his own people, laid upon them by him, as well as upon Egypt: For Israel that had partaken in so many of Egypts sins, must also think to partake in some of her punishments.

For this it is, why the man of God in Psal. 78. reckoning up the Plagues of Egypt, never mentioneth the Plague of Lice: because that was equally a Plague to Israel, as to the Egyptians, they had both Blood and Frogs as well as they, but not as really nor from God, and therefore no Plague to them.

Thirdly, The Egyptians acknowledged a supream great Deity, whom they thought they adored in their petty deities, whom they worshipped. For when they adored an Ox, a Dog, a Crocodile, &c. they adored not the carcass, but the good qualities that in these creatures conduced to their benefit and good, so saith Eusebius, that whatsoever was helpful, or furthered the good of humane life, that they accounted a Deity.

Fourthly, They accounted not of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, but as a petty, trivial god, such as every Nation had one or more of, that that god could do something, as they saw in the Blood and Frogs, but could do no more, if so much, as theirs, Chap. 5 2. Who is Jehovah that I should obey him? I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go. So that the Magicians words, This is the singer of God, come from them reasoning thus: When Blood and Frogs came, Moses gave warning of them before, from his Jehovah, but these Lice come and he never gave warning; Hence it is plain, this is none of Jeho∣vahs doing, otherwise would Moses have known it before, but now he did not. Again, when the Hebrews Jehovah brought Blood and Frogs upon our land, he brought none upon theirs, but spared his own people: but this Plague of Lice is also upon them, as soon as upon us, and without our doing: And therefore this cannot be Jehovah, for he would not plague his own people, but this is done by the finger of Elohim the great dei∣ty, and the Jehovah of the Hebrews is a God of no value.