Exodus 10:5

10:5 They will cover ¹  the surface ²  of the earth, so that you ³  will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped ⁴  – what is left over ⁵  for you – from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field.

Exodus 10:15

10:15 They covered ⁶  the surface ⁷  of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, ⁸  and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

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¹ tn The verbs describing the locusts are singular because it is a swarm or plague of locusts. This verb (וְכִסָּה, vÿkhissah, “cover”) is a Piel perfect with a vav consecutive; it carries the same future nuance as the participle before it.

² tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 15; Num 22:5, 11).

³ tn The text has לִרְאֹת וְלֹא יוּכַל (vÿlo’ yukhal lir’ot, “and he will not be able to see”). The verb has no expressed subjects. The clause might, therefore, be given a passive translation: “so that [it] cannot be seen.” The whole clause is the result of the previous statement.

⁴ sn As the next phrase explains “what escaped” refers to what the previous plague did not destroy. The locusts will devour everything, because there will not be much left from the other plagues for them to eat.

⁵ tn הַנִּשְׁאֶרֶת (hannish’eret) parallels (by apposition) and adds further emphasis to the preceding two words; it is the Niphal participle, meaning “that which is left over.”

⁶ tn Heb “and they covered.”

⁷ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 5; Num 22:5, 11).

⁸ tn The verb is וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ (vattekhshakh, “and it became dark”). The idea is that the ground had the color of the swarms of locusts that covered it.