Exodus 8:3

3 and the river shall teem with frogs, and they shall go up and enter into thy houses, and into thy bed-chambers, and upon thy beds, and upon the houses of thy servants, and of thy people and on thy dough, and on thine ovens.

Exodus 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:3

And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly
The river Nile; and though water, and watery places, naturally produce these creatures, yet not in such vast quantities as to cover a whole country, and so large an one as Egypt, and this done at once, immediately; for they were all produced instantaneously, and in one day were spread all over the nation, and removed the next: and besides what follows is equally miraculous,

which shall go up and come into thine house;
which though they may come up out of rivers, and be upon the banks and the meadows adjacent, yet are never known to come into houses, and especially into bedchambers and other places after mentioned, being not a bold but timorous creature, and shuns the sight and company of men; but these came even into the royal palace, nor could his guards keep them out:

and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed;
and by their leaping upon him, and croaking in his ears, disturb his rest:

and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people
both nobles and common people, and not only get into their houses, but upon their persons, on their hands when about their business, on their laps, and into their bosoms, as they sat; which must be very offensive and troublesome to them, what with their ugly shape, croaking noise and filthy smell, and the disagreeable touch of them, leaping on them, and even upon their food, and all vessels used for the same, which must make it very nauseous and distasteful to them:

and into thy ovens;
where they baked their bread, and would be now hindered from the use of them:

and into thy kneadingtroughs;
where they kneaded their dough, and made it into loaves, and prepared it for the oven; or the "dough" ^F18 itself, which they leaped upon and licked, and made it loathsome for use.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 (Kytwravmb) "in tuas pastas", Pagninus; "in farinam tuam aquis conspersam", Tigurine version; "in reliquiis ciborum tuorum", V. L.

Exodus 8:3 In-Context

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to him, These things says the Lord: send forth my people, that they may serve me.

2 And if thou wilt not send them forth, behold, I afflict all thy borders with frogs:

3 and the river shall teem with frogs, and they shall go up and enter into thy houses, and into thy bed-chambers, and upon thy beds, and upon the houses of thy servants, and of thy people and on thy dough, and on thine ovens.

4 And upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, shall the frogs come up.

5 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron thy brother, Stretch forth with the hand thy rod over the rivers, and over the canals, and over the pools, and bring up the frogs.