9:18 a very grievous hail. A tremendous thunderstorm, with great rains and hail stones smote Egypt as the seventh plague, with frightening electrical phenomena in the sky and along the ground, even destroying all the crops of flax and barley that were about ready to harvest. The latter would indicate that this plague occurred possibly in early February. Again the Israelites were spared (Exodus 9:26), certainly serving as a testimony to the Egyptians that, if the fury of their gods was causing the storm, the God of Israel was able to prevent it from reaching His own people.