Exodus 8:10-20

10 And he answered, Tomorrow. And Moses said, I shall do by thy word, (so) that thou know, that none is as our Lord God;
11 and the paddocks shall go away from thee, and from thine house(s), and from thy children, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and they shall dwell only in the flood (and they shall live only in the River).
12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried to the Lord, for the promise of (the) paddocks, which he had said to Pharaoh (And Moses cried to the Lord, to take away the frogs which he had brought upon Pharaoh).
13 And the Lord did by the word of Moses; and the paddocks were dead from [the] houses, and from [the] towns, and from [the] fields; (And the Lord did what Moses asked; and the frogs were dead in the houses, and in the towns, and in the fields;)
14 and they gathered them into great heaps, and the land was rotten, or corrupted with stink. [and they gathered them together into great heaps without number, and the earth stank.]
15 Soothly Pharaoh saw that rest was given, and he made grievous his heart, and he heard not them, as the Lord commanded. (But when Pharaoh saw that the trouble had ceased, he hardened his heart, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.)
16 And the Lord said to Moses, Speak thou to Aaron, Hold forth thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth (Say thou to Aaron, Stretch forth thy staff, and strike the dust of the earth), and little flies, or gnats, be in all the land of Egypt.
17 And they did so; and Aaron held forth the hand, and held the rod, and smote the dust of [the] earth; and gnats were made in men, and in work beasts; all the dust of the earth was turned into gnats by all the land of Egypt. (And they did so; and Aaron stretched forth the staff with his hand, and struck the dust of the earth; and gnats came on people, and on the work beasts; yea, all the dust of the earth was turned into gnats in all the land of Egypt.)
18 And the witches did in like manner by their enchantments, that they should bring forth gnats, and they might not; and gnats were as well in men as in work beasts. (And the witches did likewise with their enchantments, so that they would also bring forth gnats, but they could not do so; still, gnats covered all the people, and the work beasts as well.)
19 And the witches said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. And the heart of Pharaoh was made hard, and he heard not them, as the Lord commanded (But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said).
20 And the Lord said to Moses, Rise thou (up) early, and stand before Pharaoh, for he shall go out to the waters; and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me (The Lord saith these things, Let my people go, so that they can worship me);

Exodus 8:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 8

In this chapter Pharaoh is threatened with the plague of frogs, in case he refused to let Israel go, which accordingly was brought upon him, Ex 8:1-6 and though the magicians did something similar to it, yet these were so troublesome to Pharaoh, that he promised to let the people go, and sacrifice to God, if they removed; and a time being fixed for the removal of them, it was accordingly done at the entreaty of Moses and Aaron, Ex 8:7-14 but there being a respite, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and the plague of lice is ordered, and which was executed; and though this the magicians essayed to do, and could not, but owned it to be the finger of God, yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, Ex 8:15-19 wherefore he is threatened with a swarm of flies, which should not infest Goshen, only the places where the Egyptians dwelt, and it was so, Ex 8:20-24 upon which Pharaoh called for Moses, and declared himself willing the people would sacrifice in the land; but this not being satisfactory, he agreed they should go into the wilderness, but not so far; and on the account of the entreaty of Moses, the plague was removed; but still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go, Ex 8:25-32.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.