Exodus 8:9

9 Moses answered Pharaoh, "You may have the honor of choosing when I should pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only ones left will be those in the Nile."

Exodus 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:9

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, ( Judges 7:2 ) ( Isaiah 10:15 ) 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.

Exodus 8:9 In-Context

7 But the magicians did the same thing using their magic spells and brought frogs onto the land.
8 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray that the LORD will take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."
9 Moses answered Pharaoh, "You may have the honor of choosing when I should pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then the frogs will leave you and your homes. The only ones left will be those in the Nile."
10 "Pray for me tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say so that you will know that there is no one like the LORD our God.
11 The frogs will leave you, your homes, your officials, and your people. The only frogs left will be those in the Nile."
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