1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:
4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.
11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.
12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.
13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.
14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
1 And the LORD H3068 spake H559 unto Moses, H4872 Go H935 unto Pharaoh, H6547 and say H559 unto him, Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Let my people H5971 go, H7971 that they may serve H5647 me.
2 And if thou refuse H3986 to let them go, H7971 behold, I will smite H5062 all thy borders H1366 with frogs: H6854
3 And the river H2975 shall bring forth H8317 frogs H6854 abundantly, H8317 which shall go up H5927 and come H935 into thine house, H1004 and into thy bedchamber, H2315 H4904 and upon thy bed, H4296 and into the house H1004 of thy servants, H5650 and upon thy people, H5971 and into thine ovens, H8574 and into thy kneadingtroughs: H4863
4 And the frogs H6854 shall come up H5927 both on thee, and upon thy people, H5971 and upon all thy servants. H5650
5 And the LORD H3068 spake H559 unto Moses, H4872 Say H559 unto Aaron, H175 Stretch forth H5186 thine hand H3027 with thy rod H4294 over the streams, H5104 over the rivers, H2975 and over the ponds, H98 and cause frogs H6854 to come up H5927 upon the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
6 And Aaron H175 stretched out H5186 his hand H3027 over the waters H4325 of Egypt; H4714 and the frogs H6854 came up, H5927 and covered H3680 the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
7 And the magicians H2748 did H6213 so with their enchantments, H3909 and brought up H5927 frogs H6854 upon the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
8 Then Pharaoh H6547 called H7121 for Moses H4872 and Aaron, H175 and said, H559 Intreat H6279 the LORD, H3068 that he may take away H5493 the frogs H6854 from me, and from my people; H5971 and I will let the people H5971 go, H7971 that they may do sacrifice H2076 unto the LORD. H3068
9 And Moses H4872 said H559 unto Pharaoh, H6547 Glory H6286 over me: when H4970 shall I intreat H6279 for thee, and for thy servants, H5650 and for thy people, H5971 to destroy H3772 the frogs H6854 from thee and thy houses, H1004 that they may remain H7604 in the river H2975 only?
10 And he said, H559 To morrow. H4279 And he said, H559 Be it according to thy word: H1697 that thou mayest know H3045 that there is none like unto the LORD H3068 our God. H430
11 And the frogs H6854 shall depart H5493 from thee, and from thy houses, H1004 and from thy servants, H5650 and from thy people; H5971 they shall remain H7604 in the river H2975 only.
12 And Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 went out H3318 from Pharaoh: H6547 and Moses H4872 cried H6817 unto the LORD H3068 because of H1697 the frogs H6854 which he had brought H7760 against Pharaoh. H6547
13 And the LORD H3068 did H6213 according to the word H1697 of Moses; H4872 and the frogs H6854 died H4191 out of the houses, H1004 out of the villages, H2691 and out of the fields. H7704
14 And they gathered them together H6651 upon heaps: H2563 and the land H776 stank. H887
15 But when Pharaoh H6547 saw H7200 that there was respite, H7309 he hardened H3513 his heart, H3820 and hearkened H8085 not unto them; as the LORD H3068 had said. H1696
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
3 and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs:
4 and the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.
5 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.
6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat Jehovah, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto Jehovah.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this glory over me: against what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?
10 And he said, Against to-morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like unto Jehovah our God.
11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.
12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto Jehovah concerning the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh.
13 And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.
14 And they gathered them together in heaps; and the land stank.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken.
1 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Go in unto Pharaoh: and thou hast said unto him, Thus said Jehovah, Send My people away, and they serve Me;
2 and if thou art refusing to send away, lo, I am smiting all thy border with frogs;
3 and the River hath teemed `with' frogs, and they have gone up and gone into thy house, and into the inner-chamber of thy bed, and on thy couch, and into the house of thy servants, and among thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs;
4 yea, on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants do the frogs go up.'
5 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy hand, with thy rod, against the streams, against the rivers, and against the ponds, and cause the frogs to come up against the land of Egypt.'
6 And Aaron stretcheth out his hand against the waters of Egypt, and the frog cometh up, and covereth the land of Egypt;
7 and the scribes do so with their flashings, and cause the frogs to come up against the land of Egypt.
8 And Pharaoh calleth for Moses and for Aaron, and saith, `Make supplication unto Jehovah, that he turn aside the frogs from me, and from my people, and I send the people away, and they sacrifice to Jehovah.'
9 And Moses saith to Pharaoh, `Beautify thyself over me; when do I make supplication for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and from thy houses -- only in the River they do remain?'
10 and he saith, `To-morrow.' And he saith, According to thy word `it is', so that thou knowest that there is none like Jehovah our God,
11 and the frogs have turned aside from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; only in the River they do remain.'
12 And Moses -- Aaron also -- goeth out from Pharaoh, and Moses crieth unto Jehovah, concerning the matter of the frogs which He hath set on Pharaoh;
13 and Jehovah doth according to the word of Moses, and the frogs die out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields,
14 and they heap them up together, and the land stinketh.
15 And Pharaoh seeth that there hath been a respite, and he hath hardened his heart, and hath not hearkened unto them, as Jehovah hath spoken.
1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 And if thou refuse to let [them] go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.
3 And the river shall swarm with frogs, and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedroom, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.
4 And the frogs shall come up both upon thee and upon thy people, and upon all thy bondmen.
5 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy hand with thy staff over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the scribes did so with their sorceries, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
8 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat Jehovah, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Jehovah.
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me, for what time shall I intreat for thee, and for thy bondmen, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and from thy houses; [so that] they shall remain in the river only?
10 And he said, For to-morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like Jehovah our God.
11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy bondmen, and from thy people: they shall remain in the river only.
12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to Jehovah because of the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh.
13 And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.
14 And they gathered them in heaps; and the land stank.
15 And Pharaoh saw that there was respite; and he hardened his heart, and hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said.
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, "This is what Yahweh says, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs:
3 and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading-troughs:
4 and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.'"
5 Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.'"
6 Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
7 The magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Entreat Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh."
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only."
10 He said, "Tomorrow." He said, "Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God.
11 The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only."
12 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh.
13 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields.
14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn't listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
1 And this is what the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and say to him, The Lord says, Let my people go so that they may give me worship.
2 And if you will not let them go, see, I will send frogs into every part of your land:
3 The Nile will be full of frogs, and they will come up into your house and into your bedrooms and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and into your bread-basins.
4 The frogs will come up over you and your people and all your servants.
5 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Let the rod in your hand be stretched out over the streams and the waterways and the pools, causing frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
6 And when Aaron put out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and all the land of Egypt was covered with them.
7 And the wonder-workers did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up over the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Make prayer to the Lord that he will take away these frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go and make their offering to the Lord.
9 And Moses said, I will let you have the honour of saying when I am to make prayer for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be sent away from you and your houses, and be only in the Nile.
10 And he said, By tomorrow. And he said, Let it be as you say: so that you may see that there is no other like the Lord our God.
11 And the frogs will be gone from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people and will be only in the Nile.
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh.
13 And the Lord did as Moses said; and there was an end of all the frogs in the houses and in the open spaces and in the fields.
14 And they put them together in masses, and a bad smell went up from the land.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was peace for a time, he made his heart hard and did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 8
Commentary on Exodus 8 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. צפרדּע is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, called rana Mosaica or Nilotica by Seetzen , which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs ( הצּפרדּע in Exodus 8:6, used collectively) became a penal miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms (“bed-chamber”), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds ( מטּה ), the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the “dough” as Luther renders it), but even got upon the men themselves.
This miracle was also imitated by the Egyptian augurs with their secret arts, and frogs were brought upon the land by them. But if they were able to bring the plague, they could not take it away. The latter is not expressly stated, it is true; but it is evident from the fact that Pharaoh was obliged to send for Moses and Aaron to intercede with Jehovah to take them away. The king would never have applied to Moses and Aaron for help if his charmers could have charmed the plague away. Moreover the fact that Pharaoh entreated them to intercede with Jehovah to take away the frogs, and promised to let the people go, that they might sacrifice to Jehovah (Exodus 8:8), was a sign that he regarded the God of Israel as the author of the plague. To strengthen the impression made upon the king by this plague with reference to the might of Jehovah, Moses said to him (Exodus 8:9), “ Glorify thyself over me, when I shall entreat for thee, ” i.e., take the glory upon thyself of determining the time when I shall remove the plague through my intercession. The expression is elliptical, and לעמר (saying) is to be supplied, as in Judges 7:2. To give Jehovah the glory, Moses placed himself below Pharaoh, and left him to fix the time for the frogs to be removed through his intercession.
The king appointed the following day, probably because he hardly thought it possible for so great a work to be performed at once. Moses promised that it should be so: “ According to thy word (sc., let it be), that thou mayest know that there is not (a God) like Jehovah our God .” He then went out and cried, i.e., called aloud and earnestly, to Jehovah concerning the matter ( דּבר על ) of the frogs, which he had set, i.e., prepared, for Pharaoh ( שׂוּם as in Genesis 45:7). In consequence of his intercession God took the plague away. The frogs died off ( מן מוּת , to die away out of, from), out of the houses, and palaces, and fields, and were gathered together by bushels ( חמרים from חמר , the omer , the largest measure used by the Hebrews), so that the land stank with the odour of their putrefaction. Though Jehovah had thus manifested Himself as the Almighty God and Lord of the creation, Pharaoh did not keep his promise; but when he saw that there was breathing-time ( רוחה , ἀνάψυξις , relief from an overpowering pressure), literally, as soon as he “ got air, ” he hardened his heart, so that he did not hearken to Moses and Aaron ( והכבּד inf. abs. as in Genesis 41:43).
The Gnats, or the third plague. - The כּנּם , or כּנּים (also כּנּם , probably an old singular form, Ewald , §163 f ), were not “ lice, ” but σκνῖφες , sciniphes , a species of gnats, so small as to be hardly visible to the eye, but with a sting which, according to Philo and Origen , causes a most painful irritation of the skin. They even creep into the eyes and nose, and after the harvest they rise in great swarms from the inundated rice-fields. This plague was caused by the fact that Aaron smote the dust of the ground with his staff, and all the dust throughout the land of Egypt turned into gnats, which were upon man and beast (Exodus 8:17). “Just as the fertilizing water of Egypt had twice become a plague, so through the power of Jehovah the soil so richly blessed became a plague to the king and his people.”
“ The magicians did so with their enchantments (i.e., smote the dust with rods), to bring forth gnats, but could not .” The cause of this inability is hardly to be sought for, as Knobel supposes, in the fact that “the thing to be done in this instance, was to call creatures into existence, and not merely to call forth and change creatures and things in existence already, as in the case of the staff, the water, and the frogs.” For after this, they could neither call out the dog-flies, nor protect their own bodies from the boils; to say nothing of the fact, that as gnats proceed from the eggs laid in the dust or earth by the previous generation, their production is not to be regarded as a direct act of creation any more than that of the frogs. The miracle in both plagues was just the same, and consisted not in a direct creation, but simply in a sudden creative generation and supernatural multiplication, not of the gnats only, but also of the frogs, in accordance with a previous prediction. The reason why the arts of the Egyptians magicians were put to shame in this case, we have to seek in the omnipotence of God, restraining the demoniacal powers which the magicians had made subservient to their purposes before, in order that their inability to bring out these, the smallest of all creatures, which seemed to arise as it were from the dust itself, might display in the sight of every one the impotence of their secret arts by the side of the almighty creative power of the true God. This omnipotence the magicians were compelled to admit: they were compelled to acknowledge, “ This is the finger of God .” “But they did not make this acknowledgment for the purpose of giving glory to God Himself, but simply to protect their own honour, that Moses and Aaron might not be thought to be superior to them in virtue or knowledge. It was equivalent to saying, it is not by Moses and Aaron that we are restrained, but by a divine power, which is greater than either ” ( Bochart ). The word Elohim is decisive in support of this view. If they had meant to refer to the God of Israel, they would have used the name Jehovah . The “finger of God” denotes creative omnipotence (Psalms 8:3; Luke 11:20, cf. Exodus 31:18). Consequently this miracle also made no impression upon Pharaoh.
As the Egyptian magicians saw nothing more than the finger of God in the miracle which they could not imitate, that is to say, the work of some deity, possibly one of the gods of the Egyptians, and not the hand of Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, who had demanded the release of Israel, a distinction was made in the plagues which followed between the Israelites and the Egyptians, and the former were exempted from the plagues: a fact which was sufficient to prove to any one that they came from the God of Israel. To make this the more obvious, the fourth and fifth plagues were merely announced by Moses to the king. They were not brought on through the mediation of either himself or Aaron, but were sent by Jehovah at the appointed time; no doubt for the simple purpose of precluding the king and his wise men from the excuse which unbelief might still suggest, viz., that they were produced by the powerful incantations of Moses and Aaron.
Exodus 8:20-22
The fourth plague, the coming of which Moses foretold to Pharaoh, like the first, in the morning, and by the water (on the bank of the Nile), consisted in the sending of “ heavy vermin, ” probably Dog-Flies. ערב , literally a mixture, is rendered κυνόμυια (dog-fly) by the lxx, πάμμυια (all-fly), a mixture of all kinds of flies, by Symmachus . These insects are described by Philo and many travellers as a very severe scourge (vid., Hengstenberg ut sup. p. 113). They are much more numerous and annoying than the gnats; and when enraged, they fasten themselves upon the human body, especially upon the edges of the eyelids, and become a dreadful plague. כּבד : a heavy multitude, as in Exodus 10:14; Genesis 50:9, etc. These swarms were to fill “ the houses of the Egyptians, and even the land upon which they (the Egyptians) were ,” i.e., that part of the land which was not occupied by houses; whilst the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, would be entirely spared. הפלה (to separate, to distinguish in a miraculous way) is conjugated with an accusative, as in Psalms 4:4. It is generally followed by בּין (Exodus 4:4; Exodus 11:7), to distinguish between. עמד : to stand upon a land, i.e., to inhabit, possess it; not to exist, or live (Exodus 21:21).
Exodus 8:23
“ And I will put a deliverance between My people and thy people .” פּדוּת does not mean διαστολή , divisio (lxx, Vulg .), but redemption, deliverance. Exemption from this plague was essentially a deliverance for Israel, which manifested the distinction conferred upon Israel above the Egyptians. By this plague, in which a separation and deliverance was established between the people of God and the Egyptians, Pharaoh was to be taught that the God who sent this plague was not some deity of Egypt, but “ Jehovah in the midst of the land ” (of Egypt); i.e., as Knobel correctly interprets it, ( a ) that Israel's God was the author of the plague; ( b ) that He had also authority over Egypt; and ( c ) that He possessed supreme authority: or, to express it still more concisely, that Israel's God was the Absolute God, who ruled both in and over Egypt with free and boundless omnipotence.
Exodus 8:24-27
This plague, by which the land was destroyed ( תּשּׁחת ), or desolated, inasmuch as the flies not only tortured, “devoured” (Psalms 78:45) the men, and disfigured them by the swellings produced by their sting, but also killed the plants in which they deposited their eggs, so alarmed Pharaoh that he sent for Moses and Aaron, and gave them permission to sacrifice to their God “ in the land .” But Moses could not consent to this restriction. “ It is not appointed so to do ” ( נכון does not mean aptum, conveniens , but statutum, rectum ), for two reasons: (1) because sacrificing in the land would be an abomination to the Egyptians, and would provoke them most bitterly (Exodus 8:26); and (2) because they could only sacrifice to Jehovah their God as He had directed them (Exodus 8:27). The abomination referred to did not consist in their sacrificing animals which the Egyptians regarded as holy. For the word תּועבה ( abomination ) would not be applicable to the sacred animals. Moreover, the cow was the only animal offered in sacrifice by the Israelites, which the Egyptians regarded as sacred. The abomination would rather be this, that the Iran would not carry out the rigid regulations observed by the Egyptians with regard to the cleanness of the sacrificial animals (vid., Hengstenberg, p. 114), and in fact would not observe the sacrificial rites of the Egyptians at all. The Egyptians would be very likely to look upon this as an insult to their religion and their gods; “the violation of the recognised mode of sacrificing would be regarded as a manifestation of contempt for themselves and their gods” ( Calvin ), and this would so enrage them that they would stone the Israelites. The הן before נזבּח in Exodus 8:26 is the interjection lo! but it stands before a conditional clause, introduced without a conditional particle, in the sense of if, which it has retained in the Chaldee, and in which it is used here and there in the Hebrew (e.g., Leviticus 25:20).
Exodus 8:28-32
These reasons commended themselves to the heathen king from his own religious standpoint. He promised, therefore, to let the people go into the wilderness and sacrifice, provided they did not go far away, if Moses and Aaron would release him and his people from this plague through their intercession. Moses promised that the swarms should be removed the following day, but told the king not to deceive them again as he had done before (Exodus 8:8). But Pharaoh hardened his heart as soon as the plague was taken away, just as he had done after the second plague (Exodus 8:15), to which the word “ also ” refers (Exodus 8:32).