Exodus 8:2

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,)

Exodus 8:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:2

And if thou refuse to let them go
Will not obey the orders:

I will smite all thy borders with frogs;
he gives him warning of the blow before he strikes, which shows his clemency and goodness, his patience and longsuffering; and this he did, not only that he might have time and space for repentance, and thereby avoid the blow; but that when it came, he might be sensible it was not by chance, or owing to second causes, but was from the Lord himself.

I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
fill the whole land of Egypt with them, to the utmost borders thereof on every side. Some ^F17 say the word signifies a large Egyptian fish, which in the Arabic tongue is called Altamsach, that is, a crocodile, with which the Nile abounded; but such a creature could not invade and attack them in the manner as is after related.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 R. Chananeel apud Abendana, and some in Aben Ezra in Ioc.

Exodus 8:2 In-Context

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.)