Commentary for Exodus 10:12
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה נְטֵ֨ה יָדְךָ֜ עַל־אֶ֤רֶץ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ בָּֽאַרְבֶּ֔ה וְיַ֖עַל עַל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְיֹאכַל֙ אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב הָאָ֔רֶץ אֵ֛ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִשְׁאִ֖יר הַבָּרָֽד׃
And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.’
Rashi on Exodus
בארבה means on account of the plague of locusts (the prefix ב signifies “on account of”).
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Sforno on Exodus
על ארץ מצרים בארבה. A reference to the region from which the locusts generally came, i.e from the southern part of the continent. We have references of this kind in Isaiah 5,26 describing that these locusts traveled long distances before arriving in Egypt.
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Or HaChaim on Exodus
בארבה, with locusts. The word may either refer to a single locust which stuck to Moses' staff, or he may have articulated the word ארבה as he inclined his staff as a sign that the reason he inclined his staff was in order to initiate the plague of locusts.
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Rav Hirsch on Torah
V. 12. בארבה, wider die Heuschrecke. Sie ist jetzt in ihrer Ruhe und ihrem Behagen im fernen Osten und du sollst sie aufstöbern.
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Chizkuni
על ארץ מצרים, “on the land of Egypt.” According to what we would have expected, Moses should have extended his staff over the sea of reeds, in order call forth the locusts, as the locusts are found near the sea of reeds. However, since G-d intended for Moses to extend his staff over the sea of reeds at the time when the Israelites needed that sea to split in order to let them cross, G-d did not want the sea to depart from its routine for a second time.
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