The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. The note that the Lord had made them favorably disposed returns to what was promised in Exodus 3:21 and 11:3. The favor is divine arrangement working through human generosity. The Egyptians who give their silver and gold are not acting under compulsion; they are responding with compassion and fear to a request from people they know and live beside. The plundering language — vayenatzlu — means to rescue or deliver, the same root used for God rescuing Israel from Egypt. Israel plundered Egypt, and in so doing was plundered from Egypt — the same word covers both movements. The wealth transfer is God's final act of justice before the departure: the oppressor pays the oppressed, and the settlement is gracious on both sides.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse