Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Exodus 11:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The 11:6 wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
Read It With
- Exodus 11:1–10
Read Exodus 11:6 with 11:1–10. The 11:6 wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response. The whole unit shows: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The first nine plague encounters and failed negotiations narrow to one announced final blow; the firstborn judgment must be read as the climax of that escalating confrontation and its unresolved moral cost. Within the book's larger movement, this unit makes the following contribution: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction. At 11:6, the wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” makes this verse's contribution precise. The 11:6 wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
Read Exodus 11:4–8 together
Why these verses belong together: The final plague and Egypt's cry forms one grammatical or narrative sequence and should not be divided into independent slogans.
Verse 4. 4 And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Verse 5. 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
Verse 6. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
Verse 7. 7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
Verse 8. 8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
Follow the Context
- The unit opens at 11:1 with this development: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction.
- By 11:10, the narrated speech, instruction, action, or outcome has completed the movement named “The Death of the Firstborn Is Announced.”
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…”
In plain language: The 11:6 wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction. The phrase belongs to 11:1–10.
Why it matters: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Exodus 11:6 does not detach the verse's specific words—“And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…”—from their role in “The Death of the Firstborn Is Announced” or turn them into an independent command, promise, judgment, ritual, or authorization. Read Exodus 11:6 with 11:1–10. The death of the firstborn does not make children responsible for rulers, justify collective punishment, invite celebration of bereaved families, or authorize violence against Egyptians or any modern people. In context, The 11:6 wording “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” carries one distinct piece of the unit's speech, case, ritual, action, or response.
What Remains True
Because Exodus 11:6 contributes “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” to “The Death of the Firstborn Is Announced,” its proportionate enduring truth is: The text presents a dreadful final judgment that breaks imperial resistance and secures release, and responsible reading must keep Egyptian grief visible beside Israel's freedom.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Exodus 11:6, the line “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” serves this contextual meaning: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction. The bounded action is: A proportionate application of “The Death of the Firstborn Is Announced” is this: Reject policies that make children, prisoners, servants, or families pay for leaders; in every justice claim account explicitly for those with the least decision-making power.
Teach It Back
Explain why Exodus 11:6 says “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall…” inside 11:1–10. Name its actor and effect, one historical, Hebrew, compositional, legal, ritual, or ethical limit, one person or group bearing risk, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Exodus 11:1–10 — The Death of the Firstborn Is AnnouncedSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Exodus 11:6 remains inside this material limit: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: One final plague will compel departure; midnight death reaches from Pharaoh's heir to the enslaved woman's firstborn and animals, producing a great cry and a decisive distinction. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 11:1–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 11:1–10
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 11:1–10
Open source ↗open university course study guide
The Plagues Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Canonical plague sequence, composite details, Pharaoh negotiations, hardening, moral difficulty, Egyptian setting, and limits of naturalistic reconstruction.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'The Plagues,' complete study guide pp. 1–4, 'Two Sources,' 'Purpose of the Plagues,' and 'Natural Phenomena'; applied to Exodus 11:1–10
Open source ↗open university course study guide
Passover Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Household rite, festival traditions, firstborn practices, literary development, and Jewish memorial horizon.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Passover,' complete study guide pp. 1–5, sections on Exodus 12–13, Passover, unleavened bread, firstborn, and memorial practice; applied to Exodus 11:1–10
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly literary and ritual study
Laws of the Firstborn: How They Were Connected to the Tenth Plague
David Frankel
TheTorah.com, 2023
Supports: Relationship among firstborn judgment, protection, consecration, redemption, household ritual, and literary-development alternatives.
Exact location: Frankel, 'Laws of the Firstborn: How They Were Connected to the Tenth Plague,' complete article, especially sections on Exodus 11–13, Passover blood, firstborn humans and animals, memorialization, and alternative redaction history; applied to Exodus 11:1–10
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly source and redaction study
Taking Control of the Story: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart
David Frankel
TheTorah.com, 2016
Supports: Distinct Hebrew hardening terms, narrative sequence, source-critical alternatives, moral agency problem, and limits of a single retributive explanation.
Exact location: Frankel, 'Taking Control of the Story: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart,' complete article sections on the hardening roots, Priestly and non-Priestly sequences, editorial proposals, sea notices, and traditional ethical readings; applied to Exodus 11:1–10
Open source ↗