Exodus 8:1

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,

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. The Lord spake ... Go unto Pharaoh.

Exodus 8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.Ver. 1. That they may serve me.] Eventus platarum est alius per accidens, ut simulata emendatio Pharaonis; alius per se, ut dimissio populi. Alsted.

VIII.THE SECOND 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 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.—No nation of antiquity set such a value on cleanliness as the Egyptians.

CHAPTER VIII The plague of frogs threatened, 1, 2. The extent of this plague, 3, 4. Aaron commanded to stretch out his hand, with the rod, over the river and waters of Egypt, in consequence of which the frogs came, 5, 6. The magicians imitate this miracle, 7. Pharaoh entreats Moses to remove the frogs, and promises to let the people go, 8. Moses promises that they shall be removed from every part of Egypt, the river excepted, 9-11. Moses prays to God, and the frogs die throughout the land of Egypt, 12-14. Pharaoh, finding himself respited, hardens his heart, 15. The plague of lice on man and beast, 16, 17. The magicians attempt to imitate this miracle, but in vain, 18. They confess it to be the finger of God, and yet Pharaoh continues obstinate, 19. Moses is sent again to him to command him to let the people go, and in case of disobedience he is threatened with swarms of flies, 20, 21. A promise made that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, should be exempted front this plague, 22, 23. The flies are sent, 24. Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and offers to permit them to sacrifice in the land, 25. They refuse, and desire to go three days' journey into the wilderness, 26, 27. Pharaoh consents to let them go a little way, provided they would entreat the Lord to remove the flies, 28. Moses consents, prays to God, and the flies are removed, 29-31. After which Pharaoh yet hardened his heart, and refused to let the people go, 32. NOTES ON CHAP. VIII The SECOND plague - FROGS Verse 1. 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.

1–15. The second plague. Frogs come up out of the Nile. The narrative consists of J and P only, without any traces of E.

SECOND PLAGUE — FROGS, Exodus 8:1-15. 1. Go unto Pharaoh — The going we must think of as being from Goshen to Zoan, Pharaoh’s capital. Zoan we may suppose to be the scene of these interviews between prophet and king.