Exodus 10:7 Commentary: The Snare That Ruins Egypt

By Exodus 10, Egypt has suffered seven plagues: water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, and hail. The hail destroyed flax and barley, the agricultural base, and the locusts announced in verse 4 will finish what remains. The servants are Pharaoh's inner circle, his courtiers and counsellors. They have likely lost property, livestock, and crops themselves. Their intervention is unprecedented; Egyptian kings were considered divine, and subjects did not rebuke them.

The term 'snare' (moqesh) appears elsewhere in the Old Testament for entrapment. In Joshua 23:13, foreign nations will become 'a snare and a trap' to Israel if they turn from God; in 1 Samuel 18:21, Saul hopes David will be a snare. The word pictures a spring‑loaded trap, something that catches and destroys unexpectedly. The servants view Moses in the same way: he is the trigger that brings ruin on Egypt.

Their question 'how long?' repeats the opening of Moses' own speech in verse 3: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?' The echo is deliberate. Moses had asked the king; now the court asks the same thing. The word 'destroyed' (avad) can mean perished, vanished, or been abolished. It is the same root used for 'perish' in Psalm 107:34. The servants are not exaggerating; the cumulative effect of the plagues has brought Egypt to the edge of collapse.

Literarily, this verse creates a hinge. Moses and Aaron have just left Pharaoh after announcing locusts (verse 6). The servants' plea leads to Pharaoh recalling the brothers (verse 8), but when he hears they want the entire nation to leave, children, elderly, flocks, he refuses and offers only the men. This partial concession shows his continued hardness, yet the advisers' words have exposed the royal isolation. The king stands alone against God.

The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Exodus 10:7. The Hebrew text is stable across traditions. The main variance is in translation: the KJV and ASV read 'this man' where later versions (BSB, WEB) also read 'this man'. The Vulgate renders ‘scandalum’ (offense/stumbling block), which Calvin notes as a possible interpretation. The word ha’anashim (the people) is sometimes rendered 'the men' to align with Pharaoh's later concession, but the Hebrew itself is gender‑inclusive.

This verse has been read across church history as a dramatic example of worldly counsel confronting spiritual authority. In Reformation commentaries (Calvin, Geneva Bible), the servants are seen as men who see the truth but have no heart to embrace it, an image of the unregenerate who acknowledge God’s power without submitting to it. Matthew Henry’s devotional reading highlights the irony that Pharaoh’s own court must teach him what the whole land already knows. In some Eastern Christian traditions, the verse is sung before the feast of the Holy Cross, connecting the 'snare' of Moses to the Cross as a stumbling block that brings salvation. The phrase 'how long' has been paired with Psalm 13:1 in prayers of lament, reminding the church that even impatient questions can be the beginning of surrender.

Three‑point outline

1. The snare that exposes. The servants call Moses a 'snare' not because he is malicious, but because he has become the instrument of God's judgment. When God sends a messenger, that presence itself can be a trap for those who resist. The plague was the trigger; Moses was the bait. For Egypt, the man they wanted to dismiss was the one whose words brought ruin.
2. The voice that speaks too late. The servants plead with Pharaoh only after calamity has nearly destroyed the land. Their fear is real, their warning true, but their hearts remain unchanged. They want the plagues to stop, not to serve Yahweh. This is the tragedy of a wisdom that sees the consequences of sin but refuses the cure.
3. The king who listens to everyone but God. Pharaoh finally responds, but on his own terms. He will let the men go, not the people. He will bend, but not break. The servants' intervention moves the king to act, yet his partial obedience is rebellion dressed in negotiation. Mercy offered is refused because it cannot be controlled.

Five‑point outline

1. How long? The urgent question of the court mirrors God's own question to Pharaoh. Patience has limits, even divine patience. The word 'how long' is a call to account.
2. This man. The contempt in the phrase reveals that the advisers want to distance themselves from Moses while still using his threat. They seek the benefit of his departure without acknowledging his authority.
3. Let the men go. The Hebrew word ha’anashim means 'the people', not just males. Keil and Delitzsch note the servants likely intended the entire nation, a more generous request than Pharaoh later grants.
4. Serve Yahweh your God. The very phrase 'serve' echoes the core demand from Exodus 4:23. The Egyptians are now quoting God's own command, yet they do not mean it as an act of worship.
5. Egypt is destroyed. The perfect tense of avad can describe a situation that has already arrived or is certain to come. The servants speak proleptically: the nation's ruin is so close that it is already a fact.

Illustration hooks

• A business owner whose employees warn him the company is failing because of his decisions, yet he refuses to change the strategy until bankruptcy looms.
• A family member who constantly points out the consequences of a loved one's addiction, but whose warnings are brushed aside until the addict hits bottom.
• A political advisor who tells a leader the truth everyone else is afraid to say, only to be ignored because the leader trusts his own judgment more.

Questions your congregation is asking

• Why would God send locusts when the country was already suffering from hail? Wasn't the first judgment enough?
• Did the servants actually believe in Yahweh, or were they just trying to save their own skin?
• How can we know when a leader's stubbornness has crossed from conviction into rebellion against God?

This verse is a turning point: Pharaoh's own court turns against him. They see what he refuses to see, that Moses is not the problem but the proof that God is at work. Their question 'how long?' is one every believer asks in suffering. Their solution is to let go. This passage invites us to notice when we are clinging to something that is already destroying us, and whether we will listen to voices God sends before the ruin is complete.

Discussion questions

1. What does it mean that the servants call Moses a 'snare'? How does their choice of word reveal their view of God's judgment?
2. Why do you think the servants speak up only now, after seven plagues? What changed?
3. Compare the servants' plea in verse 7 with Moses' question in verse 3. How are they similar? How are they different?
4. The servants use the word 'destroyed' (avad) in the perfect tense. What does that suggest about the state of Egypt, is it a past, present, or certain future fact?
5. Do you think the servants genuinely wanted the people to serve Yahweh, or were they simply afraid of more loss? How would you tell the difference in your own motives?
6. When Pharaoh responds (verses 8, 11), he offers a compromise. Why do people often try to negotiate with God instead of obeying fully?
7. Where in your own life do you need to hear the question 'how long?' and respond by letting go?