Exodus 8:1-9

1 Also the Lord said to Moses, Enter thou to Pharaoh, and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me; (And then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and thou shalt say to him, The Lord saith these things, Let my people go, so they can worship me;)
2 soothly if thou wilt not deliver (them), lo! I shall smite all thy terms, or coasts, with paddocks; (and if thou wilt not let them go, lo! I shall cover all thy land with frogs,)
3 and the flood shall boil out paddocks, that shall go up, and enter into thine house, and into the closet of thy bed, and on thy bed, and into the house(s) of thy servants, and into thy people, and into thine ovens, and into the remnants of thy meats; (and the River shall boil out frogs, that shall go up, and enter into thy house, and into thy bed-closet, and onto thy bed, and into thy servants? houses, and onto thy people, and into thy ovens, and even onto thy food;)
4 and the paddocks shall enter to thee, and to thy people, and to all thy servants. (and the frogs shall jump on thee, and on thy people, and on all thy servants.)
5 And the Lord said to Moses, Say thou to Aaron, Hold forth thine hand on the floods, and on the streams, and on the marshes; and bring out paddocks on the land of Egypt. (And the Lord said to Moses, Say thou to Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand over the rivers, and the steams, and the marshes; and bring out frogs onto the land of Egypt.)
6 And Aaron held forth the hand on the waters of Egypt; and paddocks went up, and covered the land of Egypt. (And Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters of Egypt; and frogs went out, and covered the land of Egypt.)
7 Forsooth and the witches did in like manner by their enchantments; and they brought forth paddocks on the land of Egypt. (And the witches did likewise with their enchantments; and they also brought forth frogs onto the land of Egypt.)
8 Forsooth Pharaoh called (for) Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Pray ye the Lord, that he do away the paddocks from me, and from my people; and I shall deliver the people, that it make sacrifice to the Lord (and then I shall let the people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord).
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Ordain thou a time to me, when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the paddocks be driven away from thee, and from thine house(s), and from thy servants, and from thy people; and [they] dwell only in the flood. (And Moses said to Pharaoh, Ordain thou a time for me, when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, so that the frogs be driven away from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and so that they live only in the River.)

Exodus 8:1-9 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.