Exodus 8:2

2 But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy coasts with frogs.

Exodus 8:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:2

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 ^F17 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 R. Chananeel apud Abendana, and some in Aben Ezra in Ioc.

Exodus 8:2 In-Context

1 And the Lord said to Moses: Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

2 But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy coasts with frogs.

3 And the river shall bring forth an abundance of frogs; which shall come up and enter into thy house, and thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the houses of thy servants, and to thy people, and into thy ovens, and into the remains of thy meats:

4 And the frogs shall come in to thee, and to thy people, and to all thy servants.

5 And the Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Stretch forth thy hand upon the streams, and upon the rivers and the pools, and bring forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.