Exodus 8:8

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, 1"Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and 2I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."

Exodus 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:8

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


FOOTNOTES:

F21 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 F23 and Aelianus F24 relate much the same of a people called Autariatae; and Varro F25 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, ( Exodus 5:1 Exodus 5:8 ) ( 7:16 ) ( 8:1 ) .


F21 E Trogo, l. 15. c. 2.
F23 Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 164.
F24 De Animal. l. 17. c. 41.
F25 Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 29.

Exodus 8:8 In-Context

6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, "Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile."
10 And he said, "Tomorrow." Moses said, "Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver. 28, 30; Exodus 9:28; Exodus 10:17, 18; [Numbers 21:7; 1 Kings 13:6; Acts 8:24]
  • 2. ver. 25-28; Exodus 10:8, 24; Exodus 12:31, 32
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.