Exodus 8:2

_AND IF THOU REFUSE TO LET THEM GO, BEHOLD, I WILL SMITE ALL THY BORDERS WITH FROGS:_ I will smite ... х_ NOGEEP_ (H5062)] - smite by the infliction of a divine judgment; I will plague х_ BATSªPARDª`IYM_ (H6854)], with the frogs-from х_ TSAAPAR_ (H6852)], to leap-a marsh-leaper (Gesenius) [Septuagint, tois batrachois]. Egypt abounds with frogs of various sorts; but as on the cessation of this plague the reptiles were confined to the river-it has been concluded that those aquatic animals were Ranae Niloticae, which, after the subsidence of the annual inundation, are engendered on the putrid mud (cf. Psalms 105:30, where it is called "the land"). They are called Dofda by the natives-are small, of an ashy hue, and dotted with g

1-15 Pharaoh is plagued with frogs; their vast numbers made them sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued Egypt with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with birds of prey, but he chose to do it by these despicable creatures. God, when he pleases, can arm the smallest parts of the creation against us. He thereby humbled Pharaoh. They should neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep in quiet; but wherever they were, they should be troubled by the frogs. God's curse upon a man will pursue him wherever he goes, and lie heavy upon him whatever he does. Pharaoh gave way under this plague. He promises that he will let the people go. Those who bid defiance to God and prayer, first or last, will be made to see their need of both. But when Pharaoh saw there was respite, he hardened his heart. Till the heart is renewed by the grace of God, the thoughts made by affliction do not abide; the convict...

Verse Exodus 8:2. _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. _WITH FROGS_] צפרדעים _tsepardeim_. This word is of doubtful etymology: almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree to render it as we do, though some mentioned by Aben Ezra think the _crocodile_ is meant; but these can never weigh against the conjoint testimony of the ancient versions. Parkhurst derives the word from צפר _tsaphar_, denoting the _brisk action_, or _motion of_ _the light_, and ידע _yada_, to _feel_, as they seem to _feel_ or _rejoice_ in the _light_, croaking all the summer months, yet hiding themselves in the winter. The Arabic name for this animal is very nearly the same with the

WITH FROGS - Some months appear to have elapsed between this and the former plague, if the frogs made their appearance at the usual time, that is in September. The special species mentioned here is of Egyptian origin. 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....

EXPOSITION THE SECOND PLAGUE. After an interval which there are no means of estimating, the second plague followed the first. Again, while the main purpose of the plague was to punish the nation by which Israel had been so long oppressed, the secondary object of throwing contempt upon their, religion was main-rained. Frogs were among the Egyptian sacred animals. One of their deities, Heka, was a frog-headed goddess; and they seem to have regarded the frog as a sacred emblem of creative power. The great multiplication of frogs, whereby they became an annoyance and a curse, was a trial and strain to the entire Egyptian religious system. The Egyptians might not kill them; yet they destroyed all their comfort, all their happiness. Their animal-worship was thus proved absurd and ridiculous. They were obliged to respect the creatures which they hated—to preserve the animals they would fain hav...

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

CHAPTER 8 THE SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH PLAGUES _ 1. The demand and the plague of frogs announced (Exodus 8:1)_ 2. The plague executed (Exodus 8:5) 3. The request of Pharaoh and the frogs removed (Exodus 8:8) 4. The divine command for the third plague (Exodus 8:16) 5. The plague executed (Exodus 8:17) 6. The confession of the magicians (Exodus 8:18) 7. The renewed demand and the plague of the flies announced ...

2°. FROGS SWARM FROM THE NILE (Exodus 8:1 J, Exodus 8:5 P, Exodus 8:8 a J, heart, Exodus 8:15 b P). Each year the inundation brings with it myriads of frogs (Sayce), amounting in certain years to a veritable plague, but they do not infest houses or die suddenly in heaps. In Exodus 8:3 they were to come upon the persons of the people, and into their earthenware stoves (ovens) and the shallow wooden bowls they used, as do the Arabs still, for kneading-troughs. When Pharaoh prays for relief, Moses concedes him the glory or ad vantage of naming the time when the pests should be remo

FROGS. Worshipped as symbol of fecundity....

Exodus 7:14 to Exodus 11:5 _The first nine Plagues_ The narrative of the Plagues, like that of the preceding Chapter s, is composite. The details of the analysis depend partly upon literary criteria, partly upon differences in the representation, which are not isolated, but recurrent, and which moreover _accompany_the literary differences and support the conclusions based upon them, the differences referred to often also agreeing remarkably with corresponding differences in the parts of the preceding narrative, especially in Exodus 3:1 to Exodus 7:13, which have already, upon independent grounds, been assigned to P, J, and E, respectively. N