A verse by verse commentary on Exodus 8 dealing with the plague of frogs, the plague of gnats, and the plague of flies.

1. EXODUS 8 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1 [a]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh
and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let
my people go, so that they may worship me.
CLARKE, "Let my people go - God, in great mercy to Pharaoh and the Egyptians,
gives them notice of the evils he intended to bring upon them if they continued in their
obstinacy. Having had therefore such warning, the evil might have been prevented by a
timely humiliation and return to God.
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Either whilst the plague upon the
waters continued, or immediately upon the removal of it:
go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, let my people go,
that they may serve me; mentioning neither time nor place, where, when, and how
long they should serve him, for which their dismission was required, but insist on it in
general.
HE RY 1-6, "Pharaoh is here first threatened and then plagued with frogs, as
afterwards, in this chapter, with lice and flies, little despicable inconsiderable animals,
and yet by their vast numbers rendered sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have
plagued them with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with vultures or other birds of prey; but
he chose to do it by these contemptible instruments. 1. That he might magnify his own
power. He is Lord of the hosts of the whole creation, has them all at his beck, and makes
what use he pleases of them. Some have thought that the power of God is shown as
much in the making of an ant as in the making of an elephant; so is his providence in
serving his own purposes by the least creatures as effectually as by the strongest, that the
excellency of the power, in judgment as well as mercy, may be of God, and not of the
creature. See what reason we have to stand in awe of this God, who, when he pleases, can
arm the smallest parts of the creation against us. If God be our enemy, all the creatures
are at war with us. 2. That he might humble Pharaoh's pride, and chastise his insolence.
What a mortification must it needs be to this haughty monarch to see himself brought to
his knees, and forced to submit, by such despicable means! Every child is, ordinarily,
able to deal with those invaders, and can triumph over them; yet now so numerous were
their troops, and so vigorous their assaults, that Pharaoh, with all his chariots and
horsemen, could make no head against them. Thus he poureth contempt upon princes

2. that offer contempt to him and his sovereignty, and makes those who will not own him
above them to know that, when he pleases, he can make the meanest creature to insult
them and trample upon them. As to the plague of frogs we may observe,
I. How it was threatened. Moses, no doubt, attended the divine Majesty daily for fresh
instructions, and (perhaps while the river was yet blood) he is here directed to give
notice to Pharaoh of another judgment coming upon him, in case he continue obstinate:
If thou refuse to let them go, it is at thy peril, Exo_8:1, Exo_8:2. Note, God does not
punish men for sin unless they persist in it. If he turn not, he will whet his sword (Psa_
7:12), which implies favour if he turn. So here, If thou refuse, I will smite thy borders,
intimating that if Pharaoh complied the controversy should immediately be dropped.
The plague threatened, in case of refusal, was formidably extensive. Frogs were to make
such an inroad upon them as should make them uneasy in their houses, in their beds,
and at their tables; they should not be able to eat, nor drink, nor sleep in quietness, but,
wherever they were, should be infested by them, Exo_8:3, Exo_8:4. Note, 1. God's curse
upon a man will pursue him wherever he goes, and lie heavily upon him whatever he
does. See Deu_28:16, etc. 2. There is no avoiding divine judgments when they invade
with commission.
II. How it was inflicted. Pharaoh not regarding the alarm, nor being at all inclined to
yield to the summons, Aaron is ordered to draw out the forces, and with his outstretched
arm and rod to give the signal of battle. Dictum factum - No sooner said then done; the
host is mustered, and, under the direction and command of an invisible power, shoals of
frogs invade the land, and the Egyptians, with all their art and all their might, cannot
check their progress, nor so much as give them a diversion. Compare this with that
prophecy of an army of locusts and caterpillars, Joe_2:2, etc.; and see Isa_34:16, Isa_
34:17. Frogs came up, at the divine call, and covered the land. Note, God has many ways
of disquieting those that live at ease.
JAMISO , "Exo_8:1-15. Plague of frogs.
the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh — The duration of the first
plague for a whole week must have satisfied all that it was produced not by any
accidental causes, but by the agency of omnipotent power. As a judgment of God,
however, it produced no good effect, and Moses was commanded to wait on the king and
threaten him, in the event of his continued obstinacy, with the infliction of a new and
different plague. As Pharaoh’s answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been
unfavorable, for the rod was again raised.
K&D 1-6, "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. ַ‫ע‬ ֵ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫פ‬ ְ‫צ‬ 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 ( ַ‫ע‬ ֵ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫פ‬ ְ ַ‫ה‬ in Exo_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 (‫ה‬ ָ ִ‫,)מ‬ the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the “dough” as Luther renders

3. it), but even got upon the men themselves.
CALVI , "1.And the Lord spake. Again, as if the matter were only now begun, God
demands of Pharaoh His own peculiar right, viz., that His people should serve Him,
but out of the land of Egypt, that His worship might be separate and pure from all
defilement, for He desired (as was before said) by this separation of His people to
condemn the superstitions of the Egyptians. Meanwhile there was no excuse for the
tyrant, when, with sacrilegious boldness, he presumed to deprive God of His just
honor. Therefore, in refusing to let them go, he was declared not only to be cruel,
but also a despiser of God. Threatening is also added, that at least he may, however
unwillingly, be driven to obey; for thus must the stubborn be dealt with, who never
are brought to duty except when forced by fear or punishment. Indeed, God
sometimes also threatens His own servants, in order to stimulate their laziness; but
especially is He more severe towards the perverse and disobedient. Thus is it said,
(Psalms 18:26,)
“With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew
thyself froward.”
This is the reason why He sanctions His command with threats (92) when He
addresses Pharaoh. In this second plague there are, besides, two things to be
remarked by us; for, first, God shews that the Egyptians had hitherto held their
lives by a precarious tenure, as it were, because He had protected them from the
incursion of frogs by His special mercy. We know that Egypt, on account of its many
marshes, and the sluggish and almost stagnant ile, was full of frogs and venomous
animals; now, when great multitudes of them come forth suddenly, cover the surface
of the fields, penetrate even to the houses and bed-chambers, and finally ascend
even into the royal palace, it plainly appears that they were before only restrained
by God’s hand, and thus that the God of the Hebrews was the guardian and keeper
of that kingdom. Secondly, God chose not only to inflict a punishment upon the
Egyptians, but to expose them to mockery by its ignominious nature; nor can we
doubt but that their pain must have been much embittered by this contumely, when
they saw that they were thus evil-entreated not by some victorious army, but by
filthy reptiles; and besides this, that their calamity had its origin in the ile, which
enriched their country with so many advantages. But let us learn from this history
that there are many deaths mixed up with our life, and that it is not otherwise
lengthened out to us, except as God restrains the dangers which everywhere beset
us; and again, although He may not openly strike us with lightning from heaven,
nor arm his angels for the destruction of men, still, at His slightest nod, all creatures
are ready to execute this judgments; and, therefore, we must ascribe it to His
kindness and long-suffering, if the wicked do not perish at each moment. Finally, if
we areever galled by ignominy or disgrace, let us remember that this happens
designedly, that the shame itself may mortify our pride.
COFFMA , "Verse 1
"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith

4. Jehovah, Let my people go, that they may serve me."
Bishop Usher who developed the well-known chronology dated all of the Ten
Plagues within the space of a month, and, although that appears to be inaccurate,
nevertheless, the impression prevails that they did occur in quick succession. "With
Pharaoh scorning the first demonstration, Moses and Aaron bring, in swift
succession, a series of disasters upon Egypt."[1] The contest in these overwhelming
demonstrations was clearly a war between the true God Jehovah and Pharaoh
himself a pagan deity and acknowledged head of the complex paganism of ancient
Egypt. God's people had been serving Pharaoh, but now God demanded that His
people serve Jehovah! "Let my people go, that they may serve me."
COKE, "Exodus 8:1. The Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh— To render
Pharaoh wholly inexcusable, sufficient warning was always given him of every
approaching punishment. This plague of frogs, as well as the former, was excellently
adapted to subvert the superstitions of Egypt, and to demonstrate the over-ruling
power of Jehovah; for as the bank of the river ile was the grand scene of the
magical operations of the Egyptians, in which blood and frogs made a principal part
of the apparatus; so, by commanding that river to produce such an infinite
multitude of these creatures to annoy them, Jehovah, with wonderful propriety,
suited their chastisement to the nature of their crimes: for frogs were not only the
instruments of their abominations, but likewise the emblems of those impure
demons, whom they invoked by their incantations. Revelation 16:13-14. See Owen
on the Old Testament Miracles.
CO STABLE, "Frogs (the second plague) 8:1-15
Before the second plague, Moses gave Pharaoh a warning, for the first time, and for
the first time the plague touched Pharaoh"s person.
"The god Hapi controlled the alluvial deposits and the waters that made the land
fertile and guaranteed the harvest of the coming season. These associations caused
the Egyptians to deify the frog and make the theophany of the goddess Heqt a frog.
Heqt was the wife of the great god Khnum. She was the symbol of resurrection and
the emblem of fertility. It was also believed that Heqt assisted women in childbirth.
... The frog was one of a number of sacred animals that might not be intentionally
killed, and even their involuntary slaughter was often punished with death." [ ote:
Davis, p100.]
The goddess Heqt ". . . who is depicted in the form of a woman with a frog"s head,
was held to blow the breath of life into the nostrils of the bodies that her husband
fashioned on the potter"s wheel from the dust of the earth ...." [ ote: Cassuto,
p101.]
"This second plague was not completely unrelated to the first, for the ile and the
appearance of the frogs were very much associated. The presence of the frogs
normally would have been something pleasant and desirable, but on this occasion

5. quite the opposite was true. The frogs came out of the rivers in great abundance and
moved across the land into the houses, the bedchambers, the beds, and even moved
upon the people themselves ( Exodus 8:3). One can only imagine the frustration
brought by such a multiplication of these creatures. They were probably everywhere
underfoot bringing distress to the housewives who attempted to clear the house of
them only to find that they made their way into the kneading troughs and even into
the beds. It must have been a unique experience indeed to come home from a long
day"s work, slip into bed only to find that it has already been occupied by slimy,
cold frogs! Whatever popularity the goddess Heqt must have enjoyed prior to this
time would have been greatly diminished with the multiplication of these creatures
who at this point must have tormented her devotees to no end." [ ote: Davis, pp100-
101.]
"Since the frog or toad was deified as the Egyptian goddess Heqt, who was believed
to assist women in childbirth, there may be a touch of irony in the statement that
large numbers of frogs would invade the Pharaoh"s bedroom and even jump on his
bed ( Exodus 8:3)." [ ote: Youngblood, p54.]
The Egyptian magicians were able to bring up frogs, too ( Exodus 8:7), but they
seem to have lacked the ability to make them go away since Pharaoh asked Moses to
get rid of them ( Exodus 8:8). Satanic power does not generally work for the welfare
of humanity but is basically destructive.
To impress upon Pharaoh that a personal God was performing these miracles (
Exodus 8:10) Moses asked the king to set the time when the frogs should depart (
Exodus 8:9). Yahweh was in charge of the very territory over which Pharaoh
regarded himself as sovereign.
ELLICOTT, "THE SECO D PLAGUE.
(1-4) It is generally allowed that the second plague was one of frogs. All the ancient
versions agree in the interpretation; and the only rival rendering—“crocodiles”—is
too absurd to be argued against. We may take it, therefore, as certain that the
second infliction upon Egypt was an innumerable multitude of frogs, which came up
out of the river, and infested the cities, the houses, the sleeping apartments, the beds,
the ovens, and the kneading troughs. There was no escaping them. They entered the
royal palace no less than the peasant’s cottage; they penetrated to the inner
chambers; they leaped upon the couches and beds; they polluted the baking utensils,
and defiled the water and the food. Here, again, the infliction was double. (1) Frogs
were sacred animals to the Egyptians, who regarded them as symbols of procreative
power, and associated them especially with the goddess Heka (a wife of Kneph, or
up), whom they represented as frog-headed. Sacred animals might not be
intentionally killed; and even their involuntary slaughter was not unfrequently
punished with death. To be plagued with a multitude of reptiles which might not be
put to death, yet on which it was scarcely possible not to tread, and which, whenever
a door was opened were crushed, was a severe trial to the religious feelings of the
people, and tended to bring the religion itself into contempt. (2) The visitation was

6. horrible to the senses—nauseous, disgusting. The frogs were hideous to the eye,
grating to the ear, repulsive to the touch. Their constant presence everywhere
rendered them a continual torment. If other later plagues were more injurious, the
plague of frogs was perhaps of all the most loathsome. We read without surprise in
Eustathius (Comment. in Hom. II., p. 35) that the people of Pseonia and Dardania
on one occasion, were so plagued by a multitude of frogs, which filled the houses
and the streets, infected the water, invaded the cooking utensils, and made all the
food uneatable, that after a time, being unable to bear the pest any longer, they “fled
from that region altogether.”
(1) Let my people go.—The usual demand, which it was determined to reiterate until
Pharaoh yielded. (See Exodus 5:1; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 8:20; Exodus 9:1-13;
Exodus 10:3.)
(2) With frogs.—The particular species intended is thought to be the modern dofka
(Rana Mosaica), which i is a large kind, resembling our toad, which crawls more;
than it leaps, and croaks perpetually.
(3) The river shall bring forth frogs.—The frogs do not now come up directly out of
the river, but rather out of the ponds and marshes which are left by the inundation.
(See Exodus 8:5.) These, however, may be viewed as detached portions of the river.
Frogs in Egypt are, even at the present day, an occasional annoyance and
inconvenience.
Thy bedchamber . . . thy bed.— o nation of antiquity set such a value on cleanliness
as the Egyptians. Priests were required to dress entirely in linen, and to wash their
entire bodies in cold water twice every day and twice every night (Herod. ii. 37).
With other classes ablutions were frequent, and the utmost care was taken to avoid
contact with whatever was uncleanly. It is difficult to conceive a greater annoyance
to an Egyptian than frogs in the bedchamber and on the bed.
Ovens.—Or, balking-pans—earthenware vessels commonly heated by having a fire
lighted inside them, and the dough attached by pressure after the fire had been
withdrawn.
Kneading troughs.—Comp. below, Exodus 12:34, which fixes the sense; and for
representations of both kneading-troughs and ovens, see Rosellini, Monumenti
Civili, pls. 84, 85.
EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "Exodus 8:1
And so the world went its way, controlled by no dread of retribution; and on the
tomb frescoes you can see legions of slaves under the lash dragging from the
quarries the blocks of granite which were to form the eternal monuments of the
Pharaoh"s tyranny; and you read in the earliest authentic history that when there
was a fear that the slave-races should multiply so fast as to be dangerous their
babies were flung to the crocodiles.

7. One of these slave-races rose at last in revolt. oticeably it did not rise against
oppression as such, or directly in consequence of oppression. We hear of no
massacre of slave-drivers, no burning of towns or villages, none of the usual
accompaniments of peasant insurrections. If Egypt was plagued, it was not by
mutinous mobs or incendiaries. Half a million men simply rose up and declared that
they could endure no longer the mendacity, the hypocrisy, the vile and incredible
rubbish which was offered to them in the sacred name of religion. "Let us go," they
said, "into the wilderness, go out of these soft water-meadows and cornfields,
forsake our leeks and our flesh-pots, and take in exchange a life of hardship and
wandering, that we may worship the God of our fathers." Their leader had been
trained in the wisdom of the Egyptians, and among the rocks of Sinai had learnt
that it was wind and vanity. The half-obscured traditions of his ancestors awoke to
life again, and were rekindled by him in his people. They would bear with lies no
longer. They shook the dust of Egypt from their feet, and the prate and falsehood of
it from their souls, and they withdrew with all belonging to them, into the Arabian
desert, that they might no longer serve cats and dogs and bulls and beetles, but the
Eternal Spirit Who had been pleased to make His existence known to them. They
sung no paeans of liberty. They were delivered from the house of bondage, but it
was the bondage of mendacity, and they left it only to assume another service. The
Eternal had taken pity on them. In revealing His true nature to them, He had taken
them for His children. They were not their own, but His, and they laid their lives
under commandments which were as close a copy as, with the knowledge which they
possessed, they could make, to the moral laws of the Maker of the Universe.
—Froude, Short Studies, vol11.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "THE SECO D PLAGUE.
Exodus 8:1-15.
Although Pharaoh had warning of the first plague, no appeal was made to him to
avert it by submission. But before the plague of frogs he was distinctly commanded,
"Let My people go." It is an advancing lesson. He has felt the power of Jehovah:
now he is to connect, even more closely, his suffering with his disobedience; and
when this is accomplished, the third plague will break upon him unannounced--a
loud challenge to his conscience to become itself his judge.
The plague of frogs was far greater than our experience helps us to imagine. At least
two cases are on record of a people being driven to abandon their settlements
because they had become intolerable; "as even the vessels were full of them, the
water infested and the food uneatable, as they could scarcely set their feet on the
ground without treading on heaps of them, and as they were vexed by the smell of
the great multitude that died, they fled from that region."
The Egyptian species known to science as the Rana Mosaica, and still called by the
uncommon epithet here employed, is peculiarly repulsive, and peculiarly noisy too.

8. The superstition which adored a frog as the "Queen of the two Worlds," and placed
it upon the sacred lotus-leaf, would make it impossible for an Egyptian to adopt
even such forlorn measures of self-defence as might suggest themselves. It was an
unclean pest against which he was entirely helpless, and it extended the power of his
enemy from the river to the land. The range of the grievance is dwelt upon in the
warning: "they shall come up and enter into thine house, and into thy bedchamber,
and upon thy bed ... and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs" (Exodus
8:3). The most sequestered and the dryest spots alike would swarm with them,
thrust forward into the most unsuitable places by the multitude behind.
Thus Pharaoh himself had to share, far more than in the first plague, the misery of
his humblest subjects; and, although again his magicians imitated Aaron upon some
small prepared plot, and amid circumstances which made it easier to exhibit frogs
than to exclude them, yet there was no comfort in such puerile emulation, and they
offered no hope of relieving him. From the gods that were only vanities, he turned to
Jehovah, and abased himself to ask the intercession of Moses: "Intreat Jehovah that
He take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go."
The assurance would have been a hopeful one, if only the sense of inconvenience
were the same as the sense of sin. But when we wonder at the relapses of men who
were penitent upon sick-beds or in adversity, as soon as their trouble is at an end,
we are blind to this distinction. Pain is sometimes obviously due to ourselves, and it
is natural to blame the conduct which led to it. But if we blame it only for being
disastrous, we cannot hope that the fruits of the Spirit will result from a sensation of
the flesh. It was so with Pharaoh, as doubtless Moses expected, since God had not
yet exhausted His predicted works of retribution. This anticipated fraud is much the
simplest explanation of the difficult phrase, "Have thou this glory over me."
It is sometimes explained as an expression of courtesy--"I obey thee as a superior";
which does not occur elsewhere, because it is not Hebrew but Egyptian. But this
suavity is quite alien to the spirit of the narrative, in which Moses, however
courteous, represents an offended God. It is more natural to take it as an open
declaration that he was being imposed upon, yet would grant to the king whatever
advantage the fraud implied. And to make the coming relief more clearly the action
of the Lord, to shut out every possibility that magician or priest should claim the
honour, he bade the king name an hour at which the plague should cease.
If the frogs passed away at once, the relief might chance to be a natural one; and
Pharaoh doubtless conceived that elaborate and long protracted intercessions were
necessary for his deliverance. Accordingly he fixed a future period, yet as near as he
perhaps thought possible; and Moses, without any express authority, promised him
that it should be so. Therefore he "cried unto the Lord," and the frogs did not
retreat into the river, but suddenly died where they were, and filled the unhappy
land with a new horror in their decay.
But "when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he made his heart heavy and
hearkened not unto them." It is a graphic sentence: it implies rather than affirms

9. their indignant remonstrances, and the sullen, dull, spiritless obstinacy with which
he held his base and unkingly purpose.
ISBET, "LET MY PEOPLE GO!
‘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.’
Exodus 8:1
I. Perfect freedom is not the thing demanded of Pharaoh, nor is this the prize of
their high calling held out before the eyes of the Israelites. To serve God is the
perfect freedom held out: to change masters, to be rid of him who had no claim to
their allegiance, and to be permitted without hindrance to serve Him who was
indeed their Lord and their God. This was the boon offered to the children of Israel,
and demanded on their account by Moses as the ambassador of God.
II. This feature in the deliverance of the Israelites is worthy of special notice, when
we regard it as typical of the deliverance from sin and the bondage of the devil,
which our heavenly Father is willing to effect for each one of us. ‘Let My people
go,’—not that they may be free from a master, but that they may serve; let them go,
because they have been redeemed by Christ, and are not their own, but His. The
deliverance from sin which God works for His people is, in fact, a change from one
service to another: a change from service to sin, which is perfect bondage, to service
to God, which is perfect freedom.
III. The blessedness of the service of God is not estimated as it ought to be; men in
these days are too like the children of Israel, who seemed to think that they had
conferred a favour on Moses by following his guidance, and that the least reverse
would be a sufficient excuse to justify them in going back again to Egypt. There is
nothing in their conduct more strange or more blameable than in the conduct of
men calling themselves Christians, who do not perceive that in the earnest discharge
of God’s service is their highest happiness as well as their principal duty and most
blessed privilege.
—Bishop Harvey Goodwin.
Illustration
(1) ‘Once more did the object of worship prove their curse. Is there not a great law
here? Our idols ever tend to grow into tyrants and cruel despots. We have only to
give to the creature, no matter how fair and good, that trust, and service, and love
that belong to God, and it will become a bane, perhaps the bane of life.’
(2) ‘This plague of frogs was a natural and ordinary occurrence intensified. Every
year high ile brings them in vast numbers. “The supernaturalness lay in their
extraordinary number and troublesomeness, and in their appearance and
disappearance at the bidding of Moses.” This reminds us that God deals with us,
teaching and correcting, guiding and protecting, as far as possible through the
natural. He hides Himself in the natural; to see Him we need purged eyes. (“Glory
over me,” etc. is equal to “Thine be the honour to appoint the time when I shall

10. entreat for thee and thy servants.”)’
PETT, "Introduction
Yahweh’s Battle With Pharaoh - The Ten Plagues (Exodus 7:14 to Exodus 12:51)
In the first seven chapters we have seen how God raised up Moses to deliver His
people, and how when he approached Pharaoh with a simple request that they
might go into the wilderness and worship Him because He had revealed Himself in a
theophany there, Pharaoh had reacted savagely and had increased Israel’s burdens.
Then Yahweh had promised to Moses that He would reveal His name in mighty
action and deliver them, but had initially provided Pharaoh with a further
opportunity to consider by three signs which Pharaoh had rejected. ow He would
begin in earnest.
The first nine plagues that follow were the intensification of natural occurrences
that struck Egypt from time to time. Yet they came in such a way and with such
effect and were so intense that they could not be described as ‘natural’, for they
came when called on, ceased when Yahweh commanded, and affected only what
Yahweh wanted affecting. They were thus supernaturally controlled natural
phenomenon.
Because these plagues were common to natural occurrences that took place in Egypt
they were connected with the gods of Egypt, for the Egyptians had gods which were
connected with every part of life. Thus the very plagues meant that Yahweh was, in
Egyptian eyes, in conflict with the gods of Egypt. However, it is important to
recognise that the writer only mentions the gods of Egypt once (Exodus 12:12), and
there only in relation to the slaying of the firstborn because at least one of the
firstborn who would die would be connected with a god (Pharaoh). Thus he is
drawing attention to Yahweh’s dealings with Pharaoh and the Egyptians rather
than with their gods. This indicates that while the gods may have had the Egyptians
as their servants, they did not have any control of the land or of nature. The writer
is clearly monotheistic. To him the gods of Egypt are an irrelevance.
The Overall Pattern of the arrative.
The first nine plagues can be divided into three sets of three as follows;
· The first three - water turned to blood (Exodus 7:14-25), plague of frogs
(Exodus 8:1-15), plague of ticks and similar insects (Exodus 8:16-19).
· The second three - plague of swarms of flying insects (Exodus 8:20-32), cattle
disease (Exodus 9:1-7), boils (Exodus 9:8-12).
· The third three - great hail (Exodus 9:13-35), plague of locusts (Exodus 10:1-
20), thick darkness (Exodus 10:21-27).
As we have seen in Part 1 the previous section of Exodus has been mainly based on a
series of chiastic and similar patterns which demonstrate the unity of the narrative.
Here the overall pattern changes to a more complicated one in view of the combined

11. subject matter, but the underlying pattern is the same nevertheless.
For we should note that there is a definite pattern in these series of threes. The first
and second of each of the judgments in each series is announced to the Pharaoh
before it takes place, while in each case the third is unannounced. The first incident
of each series of three is to take place early in the morning, and in the first and
second of these ‘first incidents of three’ the place where Moses meets Pharaoh is by
the ile, in the third it is before Pharaoh. The second judgment in each series is
announced in the king's palace. The third judgment in each series comes without the
Pharaoh or the Egyptians being warned. As these judgments from God continue,
their severity increases until the last three bring the Egyptian people to a place
where life itself becomes almost impossible, and their economy is almost totally
destroyed. The huge hailstones kept them in their homes and wrecked their
environment, the locusts ate up what the hail had left and made life unbearable, and
the thick darkness kept them in solitude even from each other. They must have
wondered what was coming next.
Furthermore in the first two judgments the magicians pit themselves against Moses
as they imitate the judgments of blood and frogs, but in the third judgment of the
first series, that of ticks, they are forced to yield and acknowledge, "This is the
finger of God" (Exodus 8:19) and from then on they withdraw from the contest. In
the sixth they cannot even stand before Moses, presumably because of the effect of
the boils which they could do nothing about.
It is noteworthy in this regard that while blood and frogs can easily be manipulated
by conjurors, ticks are a different proposition, for they cannot be so easily
controlled.
In the second series an important distinction is drawn between the Israelites and the
Egyptians, for from then on only the Egyptians are affected, and not the whole land
of Egypt as previously. Several times the specific protection of Israel is mentioned.
As the intensity of the plagues increases, so does the intensity of the Pharaoh's desire
to secure the intervention of Moses and Aaron for deliverance from the plague
(consider Exodus 8:8; Exodus 8:25; Exodus 8:28; Exodus 9:27-28; Exodus 10:16-17;
Exodus 10:24), and Moses becomes more outspoken.
In the first series of three judgments the staff of Aaron is used, in the second series
of three no staff is mentioned and in the third series either the hand or staff of
Moses is prominent. ote also that in two cases in the second series neither Moses
nor Aaron do anything. Thus an instrument is used seven times. These overall
patterns clearly demonstrate the unity of the narrative.
Another division can be made in that the first four plagues are personal in effect
producing annoyance and distress while the next four inflict serious damage on
property and person, the ninth is the extreme of the first four and the tenth the
extreme of the second four. This further confirms the impression of unity.

12. The same is true of the wording and ideas used throughout. We have noted above
the three sets of three plagues, and that in the first plague of each set Moses goes to
Pharaoh in the early morning, either to the river or ‘before Pharaoh’, while in the
second in each set Moses goes to the palace, and in the third plague in each set the
plague occurs without warning. ow we should note the intricate pattern of phrases
and ideas which are regularly repeated.
We should, for example, note that God says ‘let my people go’ seven times, the
divinely perfect number (although only six times before specific plagues - Exodus
5:1; Exodus 7:16; Exodus 8:1; Exodus 8:20; Exodus 9:1; Exodus 9:13; Exodus 10:3).
This is significant in the light of what follows below.
We should also note that there is a central core around which each plague is
described, although the details vary. This central core is:
· A description in detail of what will happen (Plague one - Exodus 7:17-18;
plague two - Exodus 8:2-4; plague three - no separate description; plague four -
Exodus 8:21; plague five - Exodus 9:3-4; plague six - Exodus 9:9; plague seven -
Exodus 9:15; plague eight - Exodus 10:4-6; plague nine - no separate description).
· The call to Moses either to instruct Aaron (three times - Exodus 7:19; Exodus
8:5; Exodus 8:16) or to act himself (three times - Exodus 9:22; Exodus 10:12;
Exodus 10:21) or for them both to act (once - Exodus 9:8).
· The action taken (Exodus 7:20; Exodus 8:6; Exodus 8:17; no action; no
action; Exodus 9:10; Exodus 9:23; Exodus 10:13; Exodus 10:22).
· And an inevitable description of the consequences, which parallels the
previous description where given (Exodus 7:21; Exodus 8:6; Exodus 8:17; Exodus
8:24; Exodus 9:6-7; Exodus 9:10-11; Exodus 9:23-26; Exodus 10:13-15; Exodus
10:22-23).
It may be argued that this core was largely inevitable, and to a certain extent that is
true, but we should note that while there are nine plagues, there are only seven
separate prior descriptions, and as previously noted seven calls to act followed by
that action, but the sevens are not in each case for the same plagues. Thus the
narrative is carefully built around sevens. This can be exemplified further.
For example, Pharaoh’s initial response to their approach is mentioned three times,
in that Pharaoh reacts against the people (Exodus 5:5-6); calls for his magicians
(Exodus 7:11); and makes a compromise offer and then drives Moses and Aaron
from his presence (Exodus 10:11). It indicates his complete action but denies to him
the number seven. That is retained for Yahweh and His actions as we shall see, or
for Pharaoh’s negativity overall caused by Yahweh.
One significant feature is that Pharaoh’s final response grows in intensity.
1). Yahweh hardened his heart so that he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said
(Exodus 7:13) (Yahweh hardening him, and that he would not let the people go had
been forecast in Exodus 4:21). This was prior to the plagues.

13. 2). His heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said, and
he turned and went into his house, ‘nor did he set his heart to this also’ (Exodus
7:22-23).
3). He entreated Yahweh to take away the plague and said that he would let the
people go to worship Yahweh (Exodus 8:8), and later hardened his heart and did
not listen to them as Yahweh had said (8:15).
4). Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said
(Exodus 8:19).
5). He told Moses and Aaron that they may sacrifice in the land (Exodus 8:25), and
then, on Moses’ refusing his offer, said that they may sacrifice in the wilderness but
not go far away (8:28) which Moses accepts, but later Pharaoh hardened his heart
and would not let the people go (Exodus 8:32).
6). He sent to find out what had happened and then his heart was hardened and he
would not let the people go (Exodus 9:7).
7). Yahweh hardened his heart and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had spoken
to Moses (Exodus 9:12).
8). Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned, asked them to entreat for him, and said ‘I
will let you go and you will stay no longer’ (Exodus 9:27-28). Then he sinned yet
more and hardened his heart, he and his servants (9:34), and his heart was
hardened nor would he let the children of Israel go as Yahweh had spoken to Moses
(Exodus 9:35).
9). Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned, and asked them to entreat Yahweh for him
(Exodus 10:17), but later Yahweh hardened his heart so that he would not let the
children of Israel go (Exodus 10:20).
10). Pharaoh said that they might go apart from their cattle (Exodus 10:24), and on
Moses refusing ‘Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go’
(Exodus 10:27), and he commanded that they leave his presence and not return on
pain of death (Exodus 10:28).
11). In the summary ‘Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the
children of Israel go out of his land’ (Exodus 11:10).
We note from the above that ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you’ occurs twice (Exodus
7:4; Exodus 11:9), ‘did not listen to them as Yahweh had said’ occurs four times
(Exodus 7:13; Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:15; Exodus 19); and ‘did not listen to them as
Yahweh had spoken to Moses’ occurs once (Exodus 9:12), thus his not being willing
to listen occurs seven times in all (the phrase ‘as Yahweh had spoken to Moses’
occurs twice (Exodus 9:12; Exodus 9:35), but not as connected with not listening).
In contrast he entreats that Yahweh will show mercy four times (Exodus 8:8;
Exodus 8:28; Exodus 9:27; Exodus 10:17), and parleys with Moses three times (8:8;
8:25;10:24), making seven in all. Yahweh hardened his heart five times (Exodus
7:13; Exodus 9:12; Exodus 10:20; Exodus 10:27; Exodus 11:10), which with Exodus
4:21 and Exodus 10:1 makes seven times. (Yahweh also hardened his heart in
Exodus 14:8, but that was over the matter of pursuing the fleeing people. See also
Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:17. He said that He would do it in Exodus 7:3).
His heart was hardened (by himself?) four times (Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:19;
Exodus 9:7; Exodus 9:35), and he hardened his own heart three times (Exodus 8:15;

14. Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:34), again making seven times. It is said that he would not let
the people go five times (Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:7; Exodus 9:35; Exodus 10:20;
Exodus 11:10). With Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:14 that makes not letting the people go
seven times. Yahweh told Pharaoh to let His people go seven times (Exodus 5:1;
Exodus 7:16; Exodus 8:1; Exodus 8:20; Exodus 9:1; Exodus 9:13; Exodus 10:3).
Thus the writer would clearly seem to have been deliberately aiming at sevenfold
repetition, and this sevenfoldness is spread throughout the narrative in different
ways, stressing the total unity of the passage. One or two sevens might be seen as
accidental but not so many.
Taking with this the fact that each narrative forms a definite pattern any suggestion
of fragmented sources of any size that can be identified is clearly not permissible.
Thus apart from an occasional added comment, and in view of the way that
covenants were always recorded in writing, there seems little reason to doubt that
Exodus was written under the supervision of Moses or from material received from
him as was constantly believed thereafter. Other Old Testament books certainly
assert the essential Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch (‘the Law’) demonstrating
the strong tradition supporting the claim (see 1 Kings 2:3; 1 Kings 8:53; 2 Kings
14:6; 2 Kings 18:6; 2 Kings 18:12). More importantly Jesus Christ Himself saw the
Pentateuch as the writings of Moses (John 5:46-47), and as without error (Matthew
5:17-18), and indicated Moses’ connection with Deuteronomy (Matthew 19:7-8;
Mark 10:3-5). See also Peter (Acts 3:22), Stephen (Acts 7:37-38), Paul (Romans
10:19; 1 Corinthians 9:9), and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews
10:28).
One fact that brings out Pharaoh’s total selfishness and disregard for his people is
that he only asks Moses to entreat Yahweh to remove a plague four times, in the
case of the frogs, the flying insects, the hail and the locusts. These were the ones that
would personally affect him the most. The narrative is totally consistent.
The Plagues In The Light Of atural Phenomena.
We will now try to see the plagues in the light of natural phenomena, recognising
that God used natural phenomena, enhancing it where necessary, to accomplish His
purpose. While the land waited totally unaware of the forces that were gathering He
knew exactly what was coming and what He would do with it and directed Moses
accordingly.
The first nine plagues form a logical and connected sequence if we work on the basis
that in that year there was an abnormally high inundation of the ile occurring in
July and August. In Egypt too high an inundation of the ile could be as bad as too
low an inundation, and this was clearly beyond anything known. This would be
caused by abnormal weather conditions in lands to the south of Egypt of a kind
rarely experienced which may well have also caused the effects not produced
directly by the inundation.
The higher the ile-flood was, the more earth it carried within it, especially of the

15. red earth from the basins of the Blue ile and Atbara. And the more earth it carried
the redder it became. The flood would further bring down with it flood microcosms
known as flagellates and associated bacteria. These would heighten the blood-red
colour of the water and create conditions in which the fish would die in large
numbers (Exodus 7:21). Their decomposition would then foul the water further and
cause a stench (Exodus 7:21). The water would be undrinkable and the only hope of
obtaining fresh water would be to dig for it (Exodus 7:24). The whole of Egypt
would of course be affected. This is the background to the first plague.
The result of these conditions would be that the decomposing fish would be washed
along the banks and backwaters of the ile polluting the haunts of the frogs, who
would thus swarm out in huge numbers seeking refuge elsewhere (Exodus 8:3).
Their sudden death would suggest internal anthrax which would explain their rapid
putrefaction (Exodus 8:13-14). This is the background to the second plague.
The high level of the ile-flood would provide especially favourable conditions for
mosquitoes, which may partly explain either the ‘ken’ (ticks/lice/fleas) (Exodus 8:16)
or the ‘arob (swarms) (Exodus 8:21), while the rotting carcasses of the fish and frogs
would encourage other forms of insect life to develop, as would excessive deposits of
the red earth which may have brought insect eggs with them. Insects would
proliferate throughout the land (Exodus 8:16). These might include lice and also the
tick, an eight-legged arthropod and blood-sucking parasite and carrier of disease, as
well as fleas. This is the background to the third plague.
As well as mosquitoes from the ile flood, flies would also develop among the
rotting fish, the dead frogs and the decaying vegetation, including the carrier-fly,
the stomoxys calcitrans (which might well be responsible for the later boils), and
become carriers of disease from these sources. The ‘swarms’ may well have included
both (Exodus 8:21). This is the background to the fourth plague.
The dying frogs might well have passed on anthrax, and the proliferating insects
would pass on other diseases, to the cattle and flocks who were out in the open
(Exodus 9:3) and therefore more vulnerable. This is the background to the fifth
plague.
The dead cattle would add to the sources of disease carried by these insects, and the
insect bites, combined with the bites of the other insects, may well have caused the
boils (Exodus 9:9). This would occur around December/January. It may well be the
background to the sixth plague.
Thus the first six plagues in a sense follow naturally from one another given the
right conditions, but it is their timing, extremeness and Moses’ knowledge of them
that prove the hand of God at work.
The excessively heavy hail (Exodus 9:22), with thunder, lightning and rain, may well
have resulted from the previously mentioned extreme weather conditions, but it
went beyond anything known and was exceptional, resulting in death and

16. destruction, and the ruination of the barley and flax, but not the wheat and spelt
which was not yet grown (Exodus 8:31-32). (This indicates a good knowledge of
Egyptian agriculture). This would probably be in early February.
The excessively heavy rains in Ethiopia and the Sudan which led to the
extraordinarily high ile would cause the conditions favourable to an unusually
large plague of locusts (Exodus 10:4; Exodus 10:13), which would eventually be
blown down into orthern Egypt and then along the ile valley by the east wind
(Exodus 10:13).
The thick darkness (Exodus 10:21) that could be felt was probably an unusually
heavy khamsin dust storm resulting from the large amounts of red earth which the
ile had deposited which would have dried out as a fine dust, together with the
usual sand of the desert. The khamsin wind would stir all this up making the air
unusually thick and dark, blotting out the light of the sun. Three days is the known
length of a khamsin (Exodus 10:23). This, coming on top of all that had come before,
and seeming to affect the sun god himself, would have a devastating effect.
These unusual and freak events demonstrate an extremely good knowledge of
Egyptian weather conditions with their particular accompanying problems, which
could only have been written in the right order by someone with a good knowledge
of the peculiar conditions in Egypt which could produce such catastrophes,
confirming the Egyptian provenance of the record and the unity of the account.
In all this the gods of Egypt would be prominent to the Egyptians as the people were
made aware that the God of the Hebrews was doing this, and that their gods could
seemingly do nothing about it. Prominent among these would be Ha‘pi, the ile god
of inundation, Heqit the goddess of fruitfulness, whose symbol was the frog, Hathor
the goddess of love, often symbolised by the cow, along with Apis the bull god, Osiris
for whom the ile was his life-blood, now out of control, the goddess Hatmehyt
whose symbol was a fish, and of whom models were worn as charms, ut the sky
goddess, Reshpu and Ketesh who were supposed to control all the elements of
nature except light, and Re the sun god. All these would be seen to be unable to
prevent Yahweh doing His work and thus to have been at least temporarily
defeated.
But it should be noted that that is the Egyptian viewpoint. Moses only mentions the
gods of Egypt once, and that is probably sarcastically (Exodus 12:12). As far as he is
concerned they are nothing. They are irrelevant.
Verses 1-15
The Second Plague - The Plague of Frogs (Exodus 8:1-15).
This can be analysed as follows:
a Yahweh tells Moses to say, ‘let my people go and serve me’ or there will be a
plague of frogs (Exodus 8:1-2).

17. b Full description of the plague of frogs that will come (Exodus 8:3-4).
c Aaron to be commanded to stretch out his staff over the waters of Egypt to
cause the frogs to come up (Exodus 8:5).
d Aaron does so and the plague of frogs come out and spread over Egypt
(Exodus 8:6).
e The magicians imitate the plague and bring up frogs on the land of Egypt
(Exodus 8:7)
e Pharaoh entreats that the frogs might be taken away and he will let the
people go (Exodus 8:8).
d Moses says that the plague will be dealt with whenever Pharaoh wants, and
Pharaoh says tomorrow (Exodus 8:9).
c Moses promises that the disappearance of the frogs will happen and that
frogs will be in their usual place only (Exodus 8:10-11).
b At Moses’ intercession the frogs die out and are gathered in heaps (Exodus
8:12-14).
a Pharaoh saw that there was respite and hardened his heart and did not listen
to them, just as Yahweh had said (Exodus 8:15).
ote the parallels. In ‘a’ Moses is to say, ‘let my people go’, in the parallel Pharaoh
hardened his heart and did not listen to them. In ‘b’ a description is given of the
coming of the frogs, in the parallel the frogs die out and are gathered into heaps. In
‘c’ Aaron is commanded to stretch out his staff and the frogs come, in the parallel
Moses promises that the frogs will go. In ‘d’ Aaron is obedient and the frogs come,
and in the parallel Moses says that he will remove the frogs whenever Pharaoh
wishes. It will be noted that all these are the actions of the terrible two. In ‘d’ we
have Egypt’s reaction. The magicians manage to turn some water deep red, and
Pharaoh entreats that the frogs might be taken away and he will then let the people
go.
Exodus 8:1-4
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says
Yahweh, Let my people go that they may serve me, and if you refuse to let them go,
behold I will smite all your borders with frogs. And the ile will swarm with frogs
which will go up into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into
the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your
kneadingtroughs. And the frogs will come up both on you, and on your people, and
on all your servants.’ ”
The next approach was in Pharaoh’s palace. (Moses ‘goes in’ to him). The request
was still to be able to worship Yahweh in the wilderness. The threat that follows is a
plague of frogs. The ile and its offshoots and the pools around were no longer
habitable, even for frogs. And the microcosms, and dead and decaying fish added to
the problem. So the frogs would seek other refuges, as Yahweh well knew. They had
proliferated beyond the norm and now at Yahweh’s word they would invade the
land of Egypt, getting everywhere, into bedrooms, beds, ovens, kitchens and
domestic appliances. Even Pharaoh in his palace would not be able to hide from
these.

18. The Egyptians, who had a particular regard for cleanliness, would be horrified.
Even their food was being contaminated.
“Go in to Pharaoh.” Moses now had ready access, and probably privileged access, to
Pharaoh as a prophet, or more than a prophet. This may have had to do with his
princely status but was more likely simply due to the fact that Pharaoh recognised
his status as ‘a god’ under Yahweh, and knew that he could not afford not to see
him. He viewed Moses with a superstitious awe that gave Moses extreme authority
and conflicted with his own view of himself as a god.
“Your servants -- your people.” The distinction is constantly made between the
king’s high officials (his servants) and his people.
“Ovens.” Probably portable earthenware stoves.
“Kneading troughs.” Containers where the dough was kneaded, probably shallow
wooden bowls (see Exodus 12:34).
PULPIT, "THE SECO D PLAGUE. After an interval which there are no means of
estimating, the second plague followed the first. Again, while the main purpose of
the plague was to punish the nation by which Israel had been so long oppressed, the
secondary object of throwing contempt upon their, religion was main-rained. Frogs
were among the Egyptian sacred animals. One of their deities, Heka, was a frog-
headed goddess; and they seem to have regarded the frog as a sacred emblem of
creative power. The great multiplication of frogs, whereby they became an
annoyance and a curse, was a trial and strain to the entire Egyptian religious
system. The Egyptians might not kill them; yet they destroyed all their comfort, all
their happiness. Their animal-worship was thus proved absurd and ridiculous. They
were obliged to respect the creatures which they hated—to preserve the animals
they would fain have swept from the face of the earth. It is perhaps somewhat
difficult for modern Europeans to imagine the plague that frogs might be. The
peculiar kind, which has the scientific name of Rana Mosaica, resembles our toad,
and is a disgusting object, which crawls rather than leaps, and croaks perpetually.
To have the whole country filled with these disgusting reptiles, to be unable to walk
in the streets without treading on them, to find them not only occupying one's
doorstep but in possession of one's house, in one's bed-chamber, and upon one's
bed, to hear their dismal croak perpetually, to see nothing but their loathsome forms
whithersoever one looked, to be in perpetual contact with them and feel the
repulsion of their cold, rough, clammy skin, would be perhaps as severe a
punishment as can well be conceived. ations are known to have deserted their
homes, and fled to a foreign land to escape from it. "In Paeonia and Dardania,"says
Phoenias, a disciple of Aristotle, "there appeared once suddenly such a number of
frogs, that they filled the houses and the streets. Therefore—as killing them, or
shutting the doors, was of no avail; as even the vessels were full of them, the water
infected, and all food uneatable; as they could scarcely set their foot upon the
ground without treading on heaps of them, and as they were vexed by the smell of
the great numbers which died—they fled from that region altogether". In Egypt, the

19. young frogs come out of the waters in the month of September, when the inundation
is beginning to subside. Even now they sometimes amount to a severe visitation.
Exodus 8:1
Go unto Pharaoh. The second plague is given simply as a plague, not as a sign. It is
first threatened (Exodus 8:2), and then accomplished (Exodus 8:6), an interval being
allowed, that Pharaoh might change his mind, and escape the plague, if he chose.
2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague
of frogs on your whole country.
BAR ES, "With frogs - Some months appear to have elapsed between this and the
former plague, if the frogs made their appearance at the usual time, that is in September.
The special species mentioned here is of Egyptian origin. This plague was, like the
preceding, in general accordance with natural phenomena, but marvelous both for its
extent and intensity, and for its direct connection with the words and acts of God’s
messengers. It had also apparently, like the other plagues, a direct bearing upon
Egyptian superstitions. There was a female deity with a frog’s head, and the frog was
connected with the most ancient forms of nature-worship in Egypt.
CLARKE, "If thou refuse - Nothing can be plainer than that Pharaoh had it still in
his power to have dismissed the people, and that his refusal was the mere effect of his
own wilful obstinacy.
With frogs - ‫צפרדעים‬ tsepardeim. This word is of doubtful etymology: almost all
interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree to render it as we do, though some
mentioned by Aben Ezra think the crocodile is meant; but these can never weigh against
the conjoint testimony of the ancient versions. Parkhurst derives the word from ‫צפר‬
tsaphar, denoting the brisk action, or motion of the light, and ‫ידע‬ yada, to feel, as they
seem to feel or rejoice in the light, croaking all the summer months, yet hiding
themselves in the winter. The Arabic name for this animal is very nearly the same with
the Hebrew zafda, where the letters are the same, the ‫ר‬ resch being omitted. It is used as
a quadriliteral root in the Arabic language, to signify froggy, or containing frogs: see
Golius. But the true etymology seems to be given by Bochart, who says the word is

20. compounded of zifa, a bank, and rada, mud, because the frog delights in muddy or
marshy places; and that from these two words the noun zafda is formed, the re being
dropped. In the Batrocho myomachia of Homer, the frog has many of its epithets from
this very circumstance. Hence Λιµνοχαρις, delighting in the lake; Βορβοροκοιτης, lying or
engendering in the mud; Πηλευς, and Πηλβατης, belonging to the mud, walking in the
mud, etc., etc.
A frog is in itself a very harmless animal; but to most people who use it not as an
article of food, exceedingly loathsome. God, with equal ease, could have brought
crocodiles, bears, lions, or tigers to have punished these people and their impious king,
instead of frogs, lice, flies, etc. But had he used any of those formidable animals, the
effect would have appeared so commensurate to the cause, that the hand of God might
have been forgotten in the punishment; and the people would have been exasperated
without being humbled. In the present instance he shows the greatness of his power by
making an animal, devoid of every evil quality, the means of a terrible affliction to his
enemies. How easy is it, both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy or save by
means of the most despicable and insignificant of instruments! Though he is the Lord of
hosts he has no need of powerful armies, the ministry of angels, or the thunderbolts of
justice, to punish a sinner or a sinful nation; the frog or the fly in his hands is a sufficient
instrument of vengeance.
GILL, "And if thou refuse to let them go,.... Will not obey the orders:
I will smite all thy borders with frogs; he gives him warning of the blow before he
strikes, which shows his clemency and goodness, his patience and longsuffering; and
this he did, not only that he might have time and space for repentance, and thereby
avoid the blow; but that when it came, he might be sensible it was not by chance, or
owing to second causes, but was from the Lord himself.
I will smite all thy borders with frogs: fill the whole land of Egypt with them, to the
utmost borders thereof on every side. Some (q) say the word signifies a large Egyptian
fish, which in the Arabic tongue is called Altamsach, that is, a crocodile, with which the
Nile abounded; but such a creature could not invade and attack them in the manner as is
after related.
JAMISO , "I will smite all thy borders with frogs — Those animals, though the
natural spawn of the river, and therefore objects familiar to the people, were on this
occasion miraculously multiplied to an amazing extent, and it is probable that the ova of
the frogs, which had been previously deposited in the mire and marshes, were
miraculously brought to perfection at once.
BE SO , "Exodus 8:2-3. All thy borders — All the land that is within thy borders.
And the river — ile, under which are comprehended all other rivers, streams, and
ponds, as appears from Exodus 8:5. But the ile is particularly mentioned, because
God would make that an instrument of their punishment and misery, in which they
most gloried, (Ezekiel 29:3,) to which they gave divine honours, and which was the
instrument of their cruelty against the Israelites, Exodus 1:22. Frogs shall go into

21. thy bed-chamber — This plague was worse than the former, because it was more
constant and more general: for the former in the waters did only molest them when
they went to drink or use the water; but this troubled them in all places, and at all
times, and annoyed all their senses with their filthy substance, shape, and noise,
mingling themselves with their meats and drinks, and crawling into their beds, so
that they could rest or be free from them nowhere. Into thine ovens — They shall
come up in such swarms as even to enter the driest places, which they naturally
shun.
COFFMA , "Verses 2-7
PLAGUE II
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
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: and the frogs
shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 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. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the
frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did in like manner
with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt."
"Frogs shall go up ... shall come up ... cause frogs to come up ... and brought up
frogs ..." These expressions indicate that it was not the mere existence of frogs which
constituted the wonder here, but it was what the frogs did. Their numbers also
exceeded anything that might have been referred to natural causes. Also, this
judgment followed immediately upon its being threatened and the stretching out of
the rod of God.
"Let my people go ...!" This is the second occurrence in a sequence of these
dramatic demands. See under Exodus 7:16.
"Frogs ..." Why frogs? As many of the older commentators discerned, "How easy is
it, both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy or to save by the most despicable
and insignificant of instruments."[2] God did not call forth lions, tigers, deadly
serpents, or any of the creatures that men fear. He did not even need a quaternion of
soldiers! He did it with frogs, common, harmless, despicable frogs! Furthermore, the
frog was the symbol of the goddess of fertility in Egypt; "She was called Hekt,"[3]
represented in statues as "a female deity with a frog's head,"[4] and supposed to
symbolize, "the renewal of life."[5] That such a respected element of Egyptian
paganism should suddenly become a curse instead of a blessing was evidently
incorporated into the basic design of this miracle. We must agree with Fields that,
"The popularity of the goddess Hekt must have dropped to near zero after this
plague!"[6] ot only was the frog a symbol of the goddess, but, "The frog itself was
often worshipped as a symbol of Hekt, a form of the goddess Hathor."[7]

22. "And the Egyptians did in like manner ..." Of what earthly help was this action of
Pharaoh's servants? The last thing they needed was more frogs! It shows that even
the efforts of God's enemies aid God's purpose. If those magicians had been able to
remove the frogs, that would have helped. Their enchantments to produce more
frogs was a self-defeating act. It also raises a question of how they did it. One cannot
resist the conclusion that their act was nothing but a pretense, for it certainly would
have been no miracle to produce a few frogs anywhere from the abundance of frogs
everywhere! "The king would never have applied to Moses and Aaron for help if his
charmers could have charmed the plague away."[8]
3 The ile will teem with frogs. They will come up
into your palace and your bedroom and onto your
bed, into the houses of your officials and on your
people, and into your ovens and kneading
troughs.
BAR ES, "Into thine house - This appears to have been special to the plague, as
such. It was especially the visitation which would be felt by the scrupulously-clean
Egyptians.
Kneadingtroughs - Not dough, as in the margin. See Exo_12:34.
CLARKE, "The river shall bring forth frogs abundantly - The river Nile,
which was an object of their adoration, was here one of the instruments of their
punishment. The expression, bring forth abundantly, not only shows the vast numbers
of those animals, which should now infest the land, but it seems also to imply that all the
spawn or ova of those animals which were already in the river and marshes, should be
brought miraculously to a state of perfection. We may suppose that the animals were
already in an embryo existence, but multitudes of them would not have come to a state
of perfection had it not been for this miraculous interference. This supposition will
appear the more natural when it is considered that the Nile was remarkable for breeding
frogs, and such other animals as are principally engendered in such marshy places as
must be left in the vicinity of the Nile after its annual inundations.

23. Into thine ovens - In various parts of the east, instead of what we call ovens they dig
a hole in the ground, in which they insert a kind of earthen pot, which having sufficiently
heated, they stick their cakes to the inside, and when baked remove them and supply
their places with others, and so on. To find such places full of frogs when they came to
heat them, in order to make their bread, must be both disgusting and distressing in the
extreme.
GILL, "And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly,.... The river Nile; and
though water, and watery places, naturally produce these creatures, yet not in such vast
quantities as to cover a whole country, and so large an one as Egypt, and this done at
once, immediately; for they were all produced instantaneously, and in one day were
spread all over the nation, and removed the next: and besides what follows is equally
miraculous:
which shall go up and come into thine house; which though they may come up
out of rivers, and be upon the banks and the meadows adjacent, yet are never known to
come into houses, and especially into bedchambers and other places after mentioned,
being not a bold but timorous creature, and shuns the sight and company of men; but
these came even into the royal palace, nor could his guards keep them out:
and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed; and by their leaping upon him, and
croaking in his ears, disturb his rest:
and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people both nobles and
common people, and not only get into their houses, but upon their persons, on their
hands when about their business, on their laps, and into their bosoms, as they sat; which
must be very offensive and troublesome to them, what with their ugly shape, croaking
noise and filthy smell, and the disagreeable touch of them, leaping on them, and even
upon their food, and all vessels used for the same, which must make it very nauseous
and distasteful to them:
and into thy ovens; where they baked their bread, and would be now hindered from
the use of them:
and into thy kneadingtroughs; where they kneaded their dough, and made it into
loaves, and prepared it for the oven; or the "dough" (r) itself, which they leaped upon
and licked, and made it loathsome for use.
JAMISO , "bedchamber ... bed — mats strewed on the floor as well as more
sumptuous divans of the rich.
ovens — holes made in the ground and the sides of which are plastered with mortar.
kneading-troughs — Those used in Egypt were bowls of wicker or rush work. What
must have been the state of the people when they could find no means of escape from the
cold, damp touch and unsightly presence of the frogs, as they alighted on every article
and vessel of food!
COKE,"Exodus 8:3. And the river shall bring forth— That is, the river ile, with
all its streams, ponds, lakes, and, in a word, the whole body of waters which
proceeded from, and were formed by it alone in Egypt. The ile was remarkably

24. fruitful of frogs; but a quantity so immense as was produced instantaneously on this
occasion, undoubtedly indicated a miraculous power. The expressions, into thy
house, thy bed, thine ovens, &c. declare, that the swarm should be so great as to
throng, contrary to the nature of the reptile, into the most frequented and the dryest
places. And the fourth verse, limiting this plague to Pharoah and his people, shews
again how graciously God preserved the Israelites from it. A distinction which, one
would have thought, should have caused the blindest to see, and the hardest to feel.
PARKER, ""If thou refuse... I will smite."— Exodus 8:3.
Thus the parts of life are linked together.—Disobedience is not a self-contained
act—Man must not imagine that he has no correspondence in heaven.—what man
does is important as bearing moral consequences.—Man has undoubtedly the
liberty to refuse, but he has no liberty in the region of law. Law follows in its own
consequences whatever man may do.—This is not to be regarded as an arbitrary
infliction. The law tells equally in both ways: obedience is blessed as certainly as
disobedience is punished.—Man must not therefore excuse himself on account of the
supposed arbitrariness of the Divine law. It is not arbitrary: it is rational in its
foundations and equal in its operations.—This is no mere threatening: it is simply
the announcement of a settled ordinance of nature. It belongs as much to the
physical world in degree as to the spiritual world.—If a man refuse to sow seed he
will reap no harvest; if a man refuse to open his windows he will receive no sunlight
into his house; if a man refuse to take proper food and exercise his health will be
smitten.—All this is not severe: it is really the active and protective side of
beneficence.
PULPIT, "The river shall bring forth frogs. The frogs do not often come directly out
of the river. They are bred in the pools and marshes which the ile leaves as it is
retiring. These, however, may be viewed as detached fragments of the river. Thine
house … thy bed-chamber … thy bed. The extreme cleanliness of the Egyptians
(Herod. 2:37) rendered this visitation peculiarly disagreeable to them. The frogs
under ordinary circumstances do not think of entering houses. Ovens in Egypt were
probably baking-pans. These were heated from within by a fire of wood, which was
withdrawn after a time and the dough attached by pressure to the interior of the
vessels. Kneading-troughs were vessels in which the dough was prepared. Both these
and ovens are represented in the Egyptian tombs. (See Rosellini,' Mon. Civ.' pl: 84,
85.)
4 The frogs will come up on you and your people
and all your officials.’”

25. GILL, "And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and
upon thy servants. No doubt by the interposition of divine power and providence, and
it may be by the ministry of angels; so that let them use what care, caution, and diligence
they would, there was no keeping them out; but they came upon all the people of the
land, high and low, rich and poor, and upon the king's ministers, courtiers, and nobles,
and the king himself not excepted; though by this particular enumeration of him, his
people, and servants, the children of Israel may be thought to be exempted from this
plague, as R. Japhez observes; though Aben Ezra dislikes his remark, but it seems to be
just.
BE SO , "Exodus 8:4. The frogs shall come up on thee — They did not only
invade their houses, but their persons, armed as they were with a divine commission
and power. And upon thy people — ot upon the Israelites, whom God here
exempts from the number of Pharaoh’s people and subjects, and owns for his
peculiar people.
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron,
‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the
streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs
come up on the land of Egypt.’”
CLARKE, "Stretch forth thine hand - over the streams, over the rivers -
The streams and rivers here may refer to the grand divisions of the Nile in the Lower
Egypt, which were at least seven, and to the canals by which these were connected; as
there were no other streams, etc., but what proceeded from this great river.
GILL, "And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... By a secret impulse upon his mind, for
he was now in the presence of Pharaoh, who had refused to let Israel go:
say unto Aaron, stretch forth thy hand with thy rod; for Aaron carried the rod,
and he was the minister of Moses, who was appointed a god to him; and be was to speak

26. and to do whatever he ordered him from the Lord:
over the streams, over the rivers and over the ponds; the seven streams of the
river of Nile, and over the canals cut out of it, and over all places where there was a
collection of water for any use for man or beast:
and cause frogs to come up upon
JAMISO , "Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, etc.
The miracle consisted in the reptiles leaving their marshes at the very time he
commanded them.
K&D, "
CALVI , "5.And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron. It is questionable
whether God thus enjoined Moses in a continuous address, or whether He waited
until Pharaoh contumaciously despised His command. It is probable, indeed, that
after Pharaoh had paid no attention to the threats, the execution of the punishment
was commanded. Meantime, we must recollect what I before said, that Moses moved
not even a finger; but, as he had been commanded, transferred the active measures
to his inferior minister, that thus Pharaoh might be treated more contemptuously. It
was thus that he overwhelmed the whole land, as it were, by a breath. But although
in this way God cast down the fierce tyrant in his swelling pride to be trampled
beneath their feet, still the wickedness of the magicians did not rest. Thus was it
requisite that the servants of God should be exercised by constant contests one after
another.
PETT, "Exodus 8:5-6
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, stretch out your hand with your staff
over the rivers, over the canals, and over the pools and cause frogs to come up on
the land of Egypt.” And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and
the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.’
The assumption is now that Pharaoh has again refused to listen. So the word goes
out that the next stage is to follow. Aaron stretches out his hand containing the staff
of God as Yahweh had commanded, and the frogs pour out of the waters to infest
the land. There is nowhere in Egypt where the waters of the ile do not reach, for
where the ile with its offshoots does not go there is no life. So the frogs were
everywhere.
“Stretch out your hand with your staff.” Aaron is again to act on behalf of Yahweh
and Moses. This is the second time that he stretches out his staff.

27. 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters
of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the
land.
CLARKE, "The frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt - In some
ancient writers we have examples of a similar plague. The Abderites, according to
Orosius, and the inhabitants of Paeonia and Dardania, according to Athenaeus, were
obliged to abandon their country on account of the great numbers of frogs by which their
land was infested.
GILL, "And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt,.... That is,
towards the waters of the Nile, and towards all places where any water was; for it was
not possible he could stretch out his hand over all the waters that were in every place:
and the frogs came and covered the land of Egypt: they came up at once, and in
such multitudes everywhere, that the whole land was full of them; this was done on the
twenty fifth of Adar, or February, the same day the former plague ceased; so Artapanus
(s), the Heathen historian says, that Moses by his rod produced frogs, locusts, and lice.
And the story which Heraclides Lembus (t) tells seems to be hammered out of this
account of Moses, that in Paeonia and Dardania such a number of frogs fell from heaven,
as filled the public roads and private houses; at first the inhabitants killed them, and
keeping their houses shut, bore it patiently some time; but when it signified nothing, and
their household goods were covered with them, and they found them boiled and roasted
with their food, and lay in such heaps that they could not tread for them, and were so
distressed with the smell of the dead ones, they forsook their country.
7 But the magicians did the same things by their
secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the
land of Egypt.

28. BAR ES, "The magicians would seem to have been able to increase the plague, but
not to remove it; hence, Pharaoh’s application to Moses, the first symptoms of yielding.
CLARKE, "The magicians did so - A little juggling or dexterity of hand might
have been quite sufficient for the imitation of this miracle, because frogs in abundance
had already been produced; and some of these kept in readiness might have been
brought forward by the magicians, as proofs of their pretended power and equality in
influence to Moses and Aaron.
GILL, "And the magicians did so with their enchantments, &c. By their secret
wiles and juggling tricks:
and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt, that is, some few, as a proof of their
art and skill, and to show that Moses and Aaron did but what they could do; but what
they did either were only in appearance, deceiving the sight of Pharaoh and his people,
or real frogs were brought to them by the help of devils, but not in such numbers: and
besides, this was adding to the plague, and not diminishing it; had they done anything to
the purpose, they should have removed it at once, or destroyed the frogs; but that they
could not do, of which Pharaoh being sensible, he therefore entreated for the removal of
them by Moses and Aaron. To this plague
HE RY, " How the magicians were permitted to imitate it, Exo_8:7. They also
brought up frogs, but could not remove those that God sent. The unclean spirits which
came out of the mouth of the dragon are said to be like frogs, which go forth to the kings
of the earth, to deceive them (Rev_16:13), which probably alludes to these frogs, for it
follows the account of the turning of the waters into blood. The dragon, like the
magicians, intended by them to deceive, but God intended by them to destroy those that
would be deceived.
JAMISO , "the magicians did so with their enchantments — required no
great art to make the offensive reptiles appear on any small spot of ground. What they
undertook to do already existed in abundance all around. They would better have shown
their power by removing the frogs.
K&D 7-9, "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 (Exo_8:8), was a sign that he

29. 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 (Exo_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 ‫ּר‬‫מ‬‫ע‬ ֵ‫ל‬ (saying) is to be supplied, as in Jdg_
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.
ELLICOTT, "(7) The magicians did so.—It cannot be concluded from this that the
magicians had the power of creating frogs. All that the writer means to express is,
that they seemed to Pharaoh and to the Court to do on a small scale what Moses and
Aaron had done on the largest possible scale. The means which they employed was
probably sleight-of-hand. It has been well observed that they would have shown
their own power and the power of their gods far more satisfactorily had they
succeeded in taking the frogs away.
PETT, "Exodus 8:7
‘And the magicians did the same with their enchantments and brought up frogs on
the land of Egypt.’
It was not difficult for the magicians to imitate this (although they did not really do
so. They did not produce a multitude of frogs throughout Egypt). In a land
saturated with frogs, it was easy for clever conjurers to give the impression that they
too could produce frogs at will. But as with the crimson ile the plague had already
taken place, and thus their efforts were simply marginal. What they could do was
lessen the idea that it was all miraculous and beyond the gods of Egypt. What they
could not do, however, was restore the ile and remove the frogs.
The plague of frogs would bring to every Egyptian’s mind Heqit, the goddess of
fruitfulness, whose symbol was a frog. Here she was clearly powerless to do
anything, or was even perhaps on Moses’ side!
8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said,
“Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me
and my people, and I will let your people go to
offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

30. GILL, "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron,.... He sent for them:
and said, entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me and
from my people; he begins now to know the Lord, whom he knew not before, by the
judgments he executed on him, to acknowledge his hand in those judgments, and tacitly
to own that none else could remove them; and his proud heart was so far humbled, as to
beg the favour of Moses and Aaron to intercede with the Lord to cause this plague to
cease, which was intolerable: and it may be observed from other instances in history,
somewhat similar to this, that whole cities and countries have been deserted by their
inhabitants on a like occasion, as those of Paeonia and Dardania, in the account above
given; and Justin reports (u) of the Abderites, a people of Thrace, that because of the
multitude of frogs and mice, were obliged to leave their native country, and seek new
habitations; and Diodorus Siculus (w) and Aelianus (x) relate much the same of a people
called Autariatae; and Varro (y) affirms, that in a city in France, the inhabitants of it
were drove away by frogs; which instances, as they show how very distressing such a
calamity is, so they serve to illustrate and confirm the truth of the divine history, cavilled
at by infidels, when anything is related in it exceeding the common and ordinary course
of things:
and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord; as had
been frequently required of him, Exo_5:1.
HE RY, "How Pharaoh relented under this plague: it was the first time he did so, Exo_
8:8. He begs of Moses to intercede for the removal of the frogs, and promises fair that he
will let the people go. He that a little while ago had spoken with the utmost disdain both
of God and Moses is now glad to be beholden to the mercy of God and the prayers of
Moses. Note, Those that bid defiance to God and prayer in a day of extremity will, first or
last, be made to see their need of both, and will cry, Lord, Lord, Mat_7:22. Those that
have bantered prayer have been brought to beg it, as the rich man that had scorned
Lazarus courted him for a drop of water.
JAMISO 8-15, "Pharaoh called, ... Intreat the Lord, that he may take
away the frogs from me — The frog, which was now used as an instrument of
affliction, whether from reverence or abhorrence, was an object of national superstition
with the Egyptians, the god Ptha being represented with a frog’s head. But the vast
numbers, together with their stench, made them an intolerable nuisance so that the king
was so far humbled as to promise that, if Moses would intercede for their removal, he
would consent to the departure of Israel, and in compliance with this appeal, they were
withdrawn at the very hour named by the monarch himself. But many, while suffering
the consequences of their sins, make promises of amendment and obedience which they
afterwards forget; and so Pharaoh, when he saw there was a respite, was again hardened
[Exo_8:15].
CALVI , "8.Then Pharaoh called for Moses. Pharaoh at last appears to be

31. softened, and to lay aside some of his fierceness; but it will soon appear that he was
not really tamed. It may indeed have been that, seized with terror, he seriously took
refuge in cries for pardon; but that he lied to God, and to himself, is plain from his
very inconstancy; because, as soon as a reprieve was granted, he returned to his
natural disposition, nay, he effectively manifested that his malice was only repressed
by fear, since it presently began to vent itself again. Thus do hypocrites, when they
are beneath God’s afflicting hand, or tremble under the apprehension of His
chastenings, humbly and submissively implore His mercy; but when the evil has
been withdrawn for a little while, this short truce puffs up their hearts, as if they
had attained an eternal peace. The Prophet complains in the psalm, that thus also it
happened with the Jews,
“When he slew them, then they sought him; and they returned and inquired early
after God; and they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their
redeemer; nevertheless, they did but flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto
him with their tongues; for their heart was not right with him, neither were they
steadfast in his covenant.” (Psalms 78:34.)
In fine, this is a disease common to all hypocrites, that, having found by experience
their frowardness to be destructive to them, they feign penitence for the sake of
obtaining pardon, because they cannot escape the judgments of God; but, when they
fancy themselves escaped, they hasten back to the same pride, they kick against
God, and even wantonly insult him; in a word, it is only their trouble that humbles
them and that only for a short time. But although Pharaoh’s fear extorted this from
him, that he sought for Moses to entreat for him, and was anxious to appease God,
yet was it a token of his deceitful and double mind, that he made it, as it were, a
bargain, that the frogs should be taken away before he let the people go. His
impiety, therefore, lay concealed in his heart, so long as he thought that he could not
defy God with impunity; but, relying confidently on impunity, he manifested his
deceit and perfidy. Although it was not with any sincere feeling of repentance that
he now humbly speaks of Jehovah by name, yet it shews that the stoutness of his
spirit was broken, of which mention was made before, when he inquired in
mockery, “Who is the Lord?”
BE SO , "Exodus 8:8. Pharaoh said, Entreat the Lord — This is the man, who,
not long ago, proudly said, Who is the Lord? Who is Jehovah? He now begins to
know something of Jehovah’s power and justice at least, and is glad to procure
Moses and Aaron to become intercessors to Jehovah for him. It appears evident
from this, that Pharaoh’s magicians had no power to remove the frogs which Moses
had brought. So Aben Ezra observes: “He called for Moses, because he saw the
magicians had only added to the plague, but could not diminish it.”
COFFMA , "Verses 8-11
"Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat 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 unto Jehovah. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this

32. 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? And he said, Against tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to thy
word; that thou mayest know that there is none like unto Jehovah our God. 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."
"Entreat Jehovah ..." This is the first sign of surrender on Pharaoh's part. He, by
his actions, demonstrated that he considered his magicians powerless to cope with
the situation, that he acknowledged Moses and Aaron as the spokesman for
Jehovah, and that he would consent for the Israelites to sacrifice to Jehovah. This
indication by Pharaoh stopped short of promising permission for the Israelites to
leave the country, but it definitely showed signs of his cracking under the pressure
being applied.
"In asking Moses to entreat the Lord, Pharaoh recognizes him as the spokesman of
an actual deity. He no longer scorns Yahweh."[9]
"Have thou this glory over me ..." These words are considered difficult by some, but
the obvious meaning is that suggested by Harford:
"When Pharaoh prays for relief, Moses concedes him the "glory" or advantage of
naming the time when the pests should be removed, that the Divine control of the
visitation might be the more conspicuous."[10]
"Thy houses ..." The plural is used in Exodus 8:9,11, and, despite this being usually
interpreted as reference to the houses of both Pharaoh and his servants, there
remains the possibility that the houses (plural) of Pharaoh himself are meant, and
that the reference is to the twin capitals of Pharaoh, one in the south of Egypt, and
the other northward in the Delta. The plagues were visited upon the whole of Egypt.
"I will smite all thy borders" (Exodus 8:2). This would have prevented Pharaoh's
merely moving to his other residence to escape the plague. Rawlinson accepted this
view: "It would seem that the frogs had invaded more than one palace of Pharaoh.
He had perhaps quitted Tanis and gone to Memphis when the plague came, but the
frogs pursued him there."[11]
"That the frogs be destroyed ..." Pharaoh might have felt that he had out
maneuvered Moses and Aaron in the first confrontation, as some have alleged that
he did, but all that was wiped out completely by Pharaoh's being outmaneuvered
here. Moses said, in effect, "You have the honor of telling WHE the frogs will be
destroyed! Destroyed? Pharaoh might have thought that meant they would vanish.
But O, it meant they would all die! And is a dead frog any less a plague than a live
one! Pharaoh soon found out. "The removal of the plague in a manner intensified
it."[12]
ELLICOTT, "(8) Pharaoh called for Moses.—This was the first sign of yielding.
Pharaoh had borne the infliction of the water turned to blood without flinching,

33. probably because individually he had suffered but little from it. (See the comment
on Exodus 7:23.) But he suffered from the frogs as much as any one else (Exodus
8:3-4); and the personal inconvenience drove him to make a concession. As far as
words could go, the concession was complete. (1) He acknowledged the power of
Jehovah (“Intreat the Lord, that He may take away, &c.”’); (2) he acknowledged
the power of righteous men’s prayers; (3) he made an absolute unreserved promise
to “let the people go.”
PETT, "Exodus 8:8
‘The 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.”
Pharaoh was more moved by this plague. The frogs were in his palace, in his state
rooms, and in his bed. He was personally affected and wanted to be rid of the things
for they were seemingly everywhere. The more the servants disposed of them the
more there were. He promised that now he would let the people go into the
wilderness to sacrifice to Yahweh if only the frogs were removed. He had asked,
“Who is Yahweh?” and had said “I do not know Yahweh” (Exodus 5:2). ow he
‘entreats Yahweh’. He both knows who He is and knows Him by experience. He
‘knows His name’.
Pharaoh’s behaviour was unforgivable in the light of the times. Moses was the
mediator, the go-between. In men’s eyes he would be held liable by Yahweh if things
went wrong because Pharaoh broke his word. If any of Pharaoh’s officials had
behaved towards him like he was making Moses behave (making an agreement that
was not fulfilled) they would have been dismissed, if not worse.
PULPIT, "How long the plague of frogs endured, we are not told. Probably every
effort was made, short of intentionally killing them, to get rid of them. Snakes, and
chameleons, and ibises would destroy many—others would be crushed beneath
wheels, trampled on by animals, squeezed to death by the opening of doors,
unintentionally killed by men. But the vacancies made were constantly filled; and
there seemed no prospect of the infliction passing away. The influence of his
counsellors would under these circumstances be brought to bear upon the mind of
the Pharaoh—he would be warned that his subjects were attributing their sufferings
to his obstinacy—he would be recommended—perhaps pressed—to yield, and
would find in the annoyance which he individually endured a strong motive for
compliance. Accordingly, he after a while sent for the two Israelite chiefs, and made
the request recorded in the text.
Exodus 8:8
Intreat the Lord—i.e; "Intreat your God, Jehovah, who has sent this plague, and
can doubtless take it away." An acknowledgment of Jehovah's power is now for the
first time forced from the reluctant king, who has hitherto boasted that "he knew
not Jehovah" (Exodus 5:2). I will let the people go. The royal word is passed. A

34. positive promise is made. If the Pharaoh does not keep his word, he will outrage
even Egyptian morality—he will be without excuse.
TRAPP, "Exodus 8:8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat
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.
Ver. 8. Intreat the Lord.] In extremity a hypocrite will cry for help, as a pig under
the knife, as a prisoner at the bar, as a drowning man will catch at that twig which
erst standing on the bank he despised. Joab in distress runs to the horns of the altar.
"Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured forth a charm when thy
chastening was upon them," saith the prophet of those hypocrites that yet "brought
forth" no better than "wind." [Isaiah 26:16; Isaiah 26:18] But "will the hypocrite
pray always?." [Job 27:10] "Did they at all fast unto me, even to me?." [Zechariah
7:5]
I will let the people.] For the present, it may be, he purposed so to do. Good
thoughts make but a thoroughfare of carnal hearts: they cannot settle there. "Thy
goodness is as the morning dew," &c. [Hosea 6:4]
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor
of setting the time for me to pray for you and your
officials and your people that you and your houses
may be rid of the frogs, except for those that
remain in the ile.”
BAR ES, "Glory over me - See the margin, “have honor over me,” i. e. have the
honor, or advantage over me, directing me when I shall entreat God for thee and thy
servants.
When - Or by when; i. e. for what exact time. Pharaoh’s answer in Exo_5:10 refers to
this, by tomorrow. The shortness of the time would, of course, be a test of the
supernatural character of the transaction.

35. CLARKE, "Glory over me - ‫עלי‬ ‫התפאר‬ hithpaer alai. These words have greatly
puzzled commentators in general; and it is not easy to assign their true meaning. The
Septuagint render the words thus: Ταξαι προς µε ποτε, etc., Appoint unto me when I shall
pray, etc. The constitue mihi quando of the Vulgate is exactly the same; and in this sense
almost all the versions understood this place. This countenances the conjectural
emendation of Le Clerc, who, by the change of a single letter, reading ‫התבאר‬ hithbaer for
‫התפאר‬ hithpaer, gives the same sense as that in the ancient versions. Houbigant,
supposing a corruption in the original, amends the reading thus: ‫עלי‬ ‫באר‬ ‫אתה‬ attah baar
alai - Dic mihi quo tempore, etc., “Tell me when thou wishest me to pray for thee,” etc.,
which amounts to the same in sense with that proposed by Le Clerc. Several of our
English versions preserve the same meaning; so in the Saxon Heptateuch; so in Becke’s
Bible, 1549, “And Moses sayed unto Pharaoh, Appoint thou the time unto me.” This
appears to be the genuine import of the words, and the sense taken in this way is strong
and good. We may conceive Moses addressing Pharaoh in this way: “That thou mayest
be persuaded that Jehovah alone is the inflicter of these plagues, appoint the time when
thou wouldst have the present calamity removed, and I will pray unto God, and thou
shalt plainly see from his answer that this is no casual affliction, and that in continuing
to harden thy heart and resist thou art sinning against God.” Nothing could be a fuller
proof that this plague was supernatural than the circumstance of Pharaoh’s being
permitted to assign himself the time of its being removed, and its removal at the
intercession of Moses according to that appointment. And this is the very use made of it
by Moses himself, Exo_8:10, when he says, Be it according to thy word: that thou
mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God; and that, consequently, he
might no longer trust in his magicians, or in his false gods.
GILL, "And Moses said unto Pharaoh, glory over me,.... If thou canst; take every
advantage against me of lessening my glory, and increasing thine own; or vaunt or boast
thyself against me, as the phrase is rendered, Jdg_7:2 or take this honour and glory to
thyself over me, by commanding me, and fixing a time to pray for thee, and I will obey
thy orders; which agrees with the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate Latin versions, and the
paraphrase of Onkelos, "appoint", or "order for me"; that is, when I shall pray for thee;
or do me this honour, to believe me in the sight of the people, to declare before them
that thou dost believe that upon my prayer for thee this plague shall be removed:
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 this
river only? Moses agreed to entreat the Lord for him as he desired, but leaves it with
him to fix the time for doing it; and this he did, that it might appear that the removal of
the frogs, as well as the bringing of them, would not be owing to chance or to any natural
cause, but to the Lord himself; and though Moses had no direction from the Lord for
this, that is recorded, yet he might presume upon it, since he was made a god to
Pharaoh, and had power to do as he pleased; and also he knew the mind and will of God,
and might have now a secret impulse upon his spirit, signifying it to him: and besides, he
had the faith of miracles, and strongly believed that God would work this by him, and at
whatsoever time should be fixed.