Exodus 8

Exo 8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Let my people go - God, in great mercy to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, gives them notice of the evils he intended to bring upon them if they continued in their obstinacy. Having had therefore such warning, the evil might have been prevented by a timely humiliation and return to God.

the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh--The duration of the first plague for a whole week must have satisfied all that it was produced not by any accidental causes, but by the agency of omnipotent power. As a judgment of God, however, it produced no good effect, and Moses was commanded to wait on the king and threaten him, in the event of his continued obstinacy, with the infliction of a new and different plague. As Pharaoh's answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been unfavorable, for the rod was again raised.

The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. It is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs became a miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms (“bed-chamber”), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds, the ovens, and the kneading-troughs, but even got upon the men themselves.

Exo 8:2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

This plague was, like the preceding, in general accordance with natural phenomena, but marvelous both for its extent and intensity, and for its direct connection with the words and acts of God’s messengers. It had also apparently, like the other plagues, a direct bearing upon Egyptian superstitions. There was a female deity with a frog’s head, and the frog was connected with the most ancient forms of nature-worship in Egypt.

If thou refuse - Nothing can be plainer than that Pharaoh had it still in his power to have dismissed the people, and that his refusal was the mere effect of his own wilful obstinacy.

Exo 8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:

Into thine ovens - In various parts of the east, instead of what we call ovens they dig a hole in the ground, in which they insert a kind of earthen pot, which having sufficiently heated, they stick their cakes to the inside, and when baked remove them and supply their places with others, and so on. To find such places full of frogs when they came to heat them, in order to make their bread, must be both disgusting and distressing in the extreme.

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.

kneading-troughs--Those used in Egypt were bowls of wicker or rush work.

Exo 8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

Exo 8:5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

say unto Aaron, stretch forth thy hand with thy rod - for Aaron carried the rod, and he was the minister of Moses; and he was to speak and to do whatever Moses ordered him from the Lord:

over the streams, over the rivers and over the ponds - the seven streams of the river of Nile, and over the canals cut out of it, and over all places where there was a collection of water for any use for man or beast:

Exo 8:6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt - That is, towards the waters of the Nile, and towards all places where any water was; for it was not possible he could stretch out his hand over all the waters that were in every place:

Compare to Rev_16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Exo 8:7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

The magicians did so - A little juggling or dexterity of hand might have been quite sufficient for the imitation of this miracle, because frogs in abundance had already been produced; and some of these kept in readiness might have been brought forward by the magicians, as proofs of their pretended power and equality in influence to Moses and Aaron. This was adding to the plague, and not diminishing it; had they done anything to the purpose, they should have removed it at once, or destroyed the frogs; but that they could not do, of which Pharaoh being sensible, he therefore entreated for the removal of them by Moses and Aaron. Moreover the fact that Pharaoh entreated them to intercede with Jehovah to take away the frogs, and promised to let the people go, that they might sacrifice to Jehovah (Exo_8:8), was a sign that he regarded the God of Israel as the author of the plague.

Exo 8:8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.

and said, entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me - he begins now to know the Lord, whom he knew not before, by the judgments he executed on him, to acknowledge his hand in those judgments, and tacitly to own that none else could remove them; and his proud heart was so far humbled, as to beg the favor of Moses and Aaron to intercede with the Lord to cause this plague to cease.

Exo 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

Glory over me - “have honor over me,” i. e. have the honor, or advantage over me, directing me when I shall entreat God for thee and thy servants.

Glory over me - These words have greatly puzzled commentators in general; and it is not easy to assign their true meaning. The Septuagint render the words thus: Appoint unto me when I shall pray, etc. The Vulgate is exactly the same; and in this sense almost all the versions understood this place. Nothing could be a fuller proof that this plague was supernatural than the circumstance of Pharaoh’s being permitted to assign himself the time of its being removed, and its removal at the intercession of Moses according to that appointment. And this is the very use made of it by Moses himself, Exo_8:10, when he says, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God; and that, consequently, he might no longer trust in his magicians, or in his false gods.

Exo 8:10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

And he said, tomorrow - It may seem strange that Pharaoh, and his people, being so greatly distressed with this plague, should not desire that the Lord would be entreated to do it immediately, and not put it off to another day: two reasons are usually given; one is, he might hope that it would by that time go off of itself, and then he should not be beholden to the Lord, nor to Moses; and the other is, that he thought an affair of this kind could not be done immediately, but that it required time for making the intercession, and performing rites and ceremonies, which he supposed might be used, as were by his magicians; and it might be now the evening of the day, and therefore deferred it till tomorrow:

Be it according to thy word - It shall be done just when thou wouldst have it done, that thou mayst know, that whatever the magicians pretend to, there is none like unto the Lord our God.

Exo 8:11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.

Exo 8:12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

Exo 8:13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.

Villages - Literally, enclosures, or courtyards.

And the Lord did according to the word of Moses - He heard his prayers, and fulfilled what he had promised Pharaoh:

and the frogs died out of the houses - And their dying, and remaining dead upon the spot, were clear proofs that they were real frogs that were produced, and not in appearance only, as the frogs of the magicians might be; God could have caused them to return to the river from whence they came, or have annihilated them, or removed them out of sight in an instant; but the killing of them, and letting them lie dead, proved the truth of the miracle, and gave apparent evidence of it both ways, both in the bringing and removing them.

Exo 8:14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

They gathered them together upon heaps - Swept them up, and laid them in heaps out of the way. The killing of the frogs was a mitigation of the punishment; but the leaving them to rot in the land was a continual proof that such a plague had taken place, and that the displeasure of the Lord still continued.

Exo 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite - From his affliction; the plague was removed, and he found himself and his people at ease: or there was a "breathing"; before he and his people were so oppressed, that they could scarce breathe, but now being delivered from the judgment on them with which they were straitened, were enlarged and at liberty, and in easy circumstances: he hardened his heart.

Exo 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

It is observed by Hebrew commentators that the nine plagues are divided into three groups: distinct warnings are given of the first two plagues in each group; the third in each is inflicted without any previous notice; namely, the third, lice, the sixth, boils, the ninth, darkness.

The dust of the land - The two preceding plagues fell upon the Nile. This fell on the earth, which was worshipped in Egypt as the father of the gods. A special sacredness was attached to the black fertile soil of the basin of the Nile, called Chemi, from which the ancient name of Egypt is supposed to be derived.

Lice - The Hebrew word occurs only in connection with this plague. These lice were very troublesome, as well as disgraceful to the Egyptians, whose priests were obliged to take much pains that no vermin ever should be found about them.

Exo 8:17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in beast - which shows it was a miraculous operation, since lice do not usually spring from dust; and moreover, this was like the creation of man at first, which was out of the dust of the earth, and alike the effect of almighty power:

Exo 8:18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Exo 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

The finger of God - This expression is thoroughly Egyptian; it need not imply that the magicians recognized Yahweh, the God who performed the marvel. They may possibly have referred it to as a god that was hostile to their own protectors.

Exo 8:20 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Exo 8:21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

The plague now announced may be regarded as connected with the atmosphere, also an object of worship. The predicted evil overtook the country in the form of what was not "flies," such as we are accustomed to, but divers sorts of flies Psa_78:45 He sent different kinds of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them, the gad fly, the cockroach, the Egyptian beetle, for all these are mentioned by different writers. Insects of various kinds; not only flies, but gnats, wasps, hornets; and those probably more pernicious than the common ones were. They are very destructive, some of them inflicting severe bites on animals, others destroying clothes, books, plants, every thing. These insects are described by Philo and many travellers as a very severe scourge. They are much more numerous and annoying than the gnats; and when enraged, they fasten themselves upon the human body, especially upon the edges of the eyelids, and become a dreadful plague. The worship of flies, particularly of the beetle, was a prominent part of the religion of the ancient Egyptians. The sun-god, as creator, bore the name Chepera, and is represented in the form, or with the head, of a beetle. The employment of these winged deities to chastise them must have been painful and humiliating to the Egyptians while it must at the same time have strengthened the faith of the Israelites in the God of their fathers as the only object of worship.

Swarms of flies - The word for swarm (and translated as swarm of flies) is Strong’s H6157, meaning a masculine noun referring to a swarm of flies (Psa_78:45; Psa_105:31). It is used exclusively of the insects involved in the fourth plague against Egypt (Exo_8:29 [25], Exo_8:31 [27]), a swarm of harmful and noxious insects (Exo_8:21-22 [17-18], Exo_8:24 [20]).

Exo 8:22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

I will sever in that day - This severance constituted a specific difference between this and the preceding plagues. Pharaoh could not of course attribute the exemption of Goshen from a scourge, which fell on the valley of the Nile, to an Egyptian deity, certainly not to Chepera (the Egyptian sun god creator with a beetles head as mentioned above), a special object of worship in Lower Egypt.

I will sever in that day - has been translated by some good critics, “I will miraculously separate”; the Septuagint “I will render illustrious the land of Goshen in that day”; and this he did, by exempting that land, and its inhabitants the Israelites, from the plagues by which he afflicted the land of Egypt.

Exo 8:23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

And I will put a division - a redemption, between my people and thy people; God hereby showing that he had redeemed them from those plagues to which he had abandoned the others. Thus God makes a difference between his chosen people and the rest of the world

And I will put a division – The word division, from Strong’s H6304 is a feminine noun meaning ransom, redemption. It is used four times in the Old Testament and could refer to redemption in general Psa_111:9 He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever; holy and awesome is His name; redemption from sins Psa_130:7 Let Israel hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plentiful redemption; or redemption from exile Isa_50:2 Who knows why I have come, and no one is here ? I called and no one answered. Is My hand shortened at all so that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst. The meaning of the fourth occurrence of this word (Exo_8:23 [19]) is difficult to ascertain. The Septuagint renders it Exodus 8:23 And I will put a difference between my people and thy people, and on the morrow shall this be on the land. And the Lord did thus. (Septuagint) Exemption from this plague was essentially a deliverance for Israel, which manifested the distinction conferred upon Israel above the Egyptians. By this plague, in which a separation and deliverance was established between the people of God and the Egyptians, Pharaoh was to be taught that the God who sent this plague was not some deity of Egypt, but “Jehovah in the midst of the land” (of Egypt); i.e., as Knobel correctly interprets it, (a) that Israel's God was the author of the plague; (b) that He had also authority over Egypt; and (c) that He possessed supreme authority: or, to express it still more concisely, that Israel's God was the Absolute God, who ruled both in and over Egypt with free and boundless omnipotence.

Exo 8:24 And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

The land was corrupted - Every thing was spoiled, and many of the inhabitants destroyed, being probably stung to death by these venomous insects. This seems to be intimated by the psalmist, Psa_78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which Devoured them.

And the Lord did so - And this he did immediately of himself without any means; not by the rod of Aaron, to let the Egyptians see that there was nothing in that rod, that it had no magic virtue in it, and what was done by it was from the Lord himself.

There came a grievous swarm of flies - The prince of the power of the air has gloried in being Beelzebub, the god of flies; but here it is proved that even in that he is a pretender, and an usurper; for even with swarms of flies God fights against his kingdom and prevails.

There came a grievous swarm of flies - We read in profane history of such creatures being so troublesome, that people have been obliged to quit their habitations, and seek for new ones; so Pausanias relates of the inhabitants of Myus, that such a number of flies rose out of the lake, that the men were obliged to leave the city, and go to Miletus; so Aelian reports, that the inhabitants of Megara were driven from thence by a multitude of flies, as were the inhabitants of Phaselis by wasps, which creatures also might be in this mixture of insects.

Exo 8:25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

To your God - Pharaoh now admits the existence and power of the God whom he had professed not to know; but, as Moses is careful to record, he recognizes Him only as the national Deity of the Israelites.

Sacrifice to your God in the land – in the land of Goshen, in the place where they were; he was willing to allow them the liberty of sacrificing to their God. Between impatient anxiety to be freed from this scourge and a reluctance on the part of the Hebrew bondsmen, the king followed the course of expediency; he proposed to let them free to engage in their religious rites within the kingdom. But true to his instructions, Moses would accede to no such arrangement; he stated a most valid reason to show the danger of it, and the king having yielded so far as to allow them a brief holiday across the border, annexed to this concession a request that Moses would entreat with Jehovah for the removal of the plague. He promised to do so, and it was removed the following day. But no sooner was the pressure over than the spirit of Pharaoh, like a bent bow, sprang back to its wonted obduracy, and, regardless of his promise, he refused to let the people depart.

Exo 8:26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

The abomination - i. e. an animal which the Egyptians held it sacrilegious to slay. The ox, bull, or cow, is among those meant. The cow was never sacrificed in Egypt, Hathor was the cow headed goddess in ancient Egypt.

Exo 8:27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

And sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us - both what sacrifices shall be offered, and the manner in which they shall be done, both which seemed for the present in a good measure undetermined and unknown; and therefore it was possible, and very probable, that in one or the other they should give offence to the Egyptians. It is very likely that neither Moses nor Aaron knew as yet in what manner God would be worshipped; and they expected to receive a direct revelation from him relative to this subject, when they should come into the wilderness.

As he shall command us - For he has not yet told us what sacrifices to offer.

Exo 8:28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

I will let you go only ye shall not go very far away - Pharaoh relented because the hand of God was heavy upon him; but he was not willing to give up his gain. The Israelites were very profitable to him; they were slaves of the state, and their hard labor was very productive: hence he professed a willingness, first to tolerate their religion in the land, (Exo_8:25); or to permit them to go into the wilderness, so that they went not far away, and would soon return.

Entreat for me - Exactly similar to the case of Simon Magus, who, like Pharaoh, fearing the Divine judgments, begged an interest in the prayers of Peter, Act_8:24 And answering Simon said, You pray to the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken may come on me.

only you shall not go very far away - his meaning is that they should go no further than three days' journey; he was jealous that this was only an excuse to get entirely out of his dominions, and never return more. He might have heard of their claim to the land of Canaan, and of their talk, and hope, and expectation, of going and settling there; and so understood this motion of theirs, to have leave to go into the wilderness for three days, to sacrifice to the Lord, was only a pretence; that their real intention was to proceed on in their journey to Canaan; however, being in this great distress, he made as if he was willing to grant what they desired, and very importunately urged they would pray he might be delivered from this plague:

Exo 8:29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

And Moses said, behold, I go out from thee - Directly, immediately, to the place where he was wont to meet the Lord, and receive orders and instructions from him:

and I will entreat the Lord - for as he sent them, he only could remove them, and he could do the one as easily as he did the other:

but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more - as in the plague of frogs, refusing to let them go when it was past; which Moses calls an illusion, a mocking of them, and dealing deceitfully, to which he here refers.

Exo 8:30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

Exo 8:31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

The Lord did according to the word of Moses - How powerful is prayer! God permits his servant to prescribe even the manner and time in which he shall work.

Exo 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also - This hardening was the mere effect of his self-determining obstinacy. He preferred his gain to the will and command of Jehovah, and God made his obstinacy the means of showing forth his own power and providence.