Exodus 8:6-16

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.)
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.

Exodus 8:6-16 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.