THEOSISEphraem the Syrian
They did not attempt to increase the sknips as they had in the prior execution, but aimed to eradicate them, yet they were unable to succeed.
Exodus 8:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers
And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not: and there were sciniphs as well on men as on beasts.
וְהִפְלֵיתִי֩ בַיּ֨וֹם הַה֜וּא אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ גֹּ֗שֶׁן אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַמִּי֙ עֹמֵ֣ד עָלֶ֔יהָ לְבִלְתִּ֥י הֱיֽוֹת־שָׁ֖ם עָרֹ֑ב לְמַ֣עַן תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה בְּקֶ֥רֶב הָאָֽרֶץ׃
The Church Fathers on this verse
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Isidore of Seville
Following this, the gnats emerge. This small creature flies through the air, yet its diminutive size renders it almost invisible unless one focuses closely. When this tiny creature alights on a body, its painful bites become immediately felt, even by those who cannot see the gnat itself. Such creatures are akin to the cunning of heretical teachings, which torment souls with intricate and deceptive rhetoric, ensnaring them so skillfully that the misled do not realize the source of their deception. When confronted a third time, the wise men failed and proclaimed, This is the finger of God. These wise men resembled stubborn heretics. The Apostle writes, Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds, unacquainted with the faith.
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However, their efforts will not prevail for long, as their folly will become evident to all, just as it occurred with those men (2 Tim. 3:8-9). Those who, due to their corrupted thoughts, remain unsettled, find themselves incapable of performing the same deed when challenged a third time, admitting that the Holy Spirit which empowered Moses opposed them. The Holy Spirit, identified as the finger of God, plays a crucial role here. Thus, when the wise men could not succeed a third time, they acknowledged, This is the finger of God. Just as the Holy Spirit, when received and honored, brings peace to the meek and humble in spirit, so it instills turmoil in the wicked and arrogant, which is represented by these minute flies, as noted by Pharaoh's wise men when they declared, This is the finger of God.
Wlastow G.K.
The capabilities of the wise men come to an end here. Verses 18 and 22 of this chapter have led certain commentators to conclude that the actions of the wise men should not be interpreted as an attempt to mimic Moses by producing frogs and gnats. Rather, they sought to use magical incantations to halt the plague of frogs and eliminate the gnats. However, as indicated at the conclusion of verse 18, “the gnats remained on the people and on the cattle.” Egyptologists highlight the term hezev, meaning to drive away or halt, which is related to the Hebrew word for magicians. Instances of incantations aimed at repelling harmful creatures are documented in what is known as the funerary rituals.
Cross references
Passages read together with this verse.
- Ex 7:11And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner.
- Ex 9:11Neither could the magicians stand before Moses, for the boils that were upon them, and in all the land of Egypt.
- Dan 5:8Then came in all the king's wise men, but they could neither read the writing, nor declare the interpretation to the king.
- Dan 2:10Then the Chaldeans answered before the king, and said: There is no man upon earth, that can accomplish thy word, O king; neither doth any king, though great and mighty, ask such a thing of any diviner, or wise man, or Chaldean.
- Dan 2:11For the thing that thou asketh, O king, is difficult: nor can any one be found that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose conversation is not with men.
- Dan 4:7This was the vision of my head in my bed: I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was exceeding great.
- Luke 10:18And he said to them: I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven.
- 2 Tim 3:8Now as Jannes and Mambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith.