The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. I, pp. 308–311
1 Frogs are sent. 8 Pharaoh sueth to Moses, 12 and Moses by prayer removeth them away. 16 The dust is turned into lice, which the magicians could not do. 20 The plague of flies. 25 Pharaoh inclineth to let the people go, 32 but yet is hardened.
1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses, a Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
a ch. 5.1-4; 7.1, 2, 15, 16. Je. 1.8-10, 17, 18. Eze. 2.5, 6. Ps. 119.46. 1 Co. 4.2. Ac. 20.27.
2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs:3
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
3 Or, dough.
4 And the frogs shall come up both on b thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.4
b Ps. 107.40; 83.10, 11.
4 Had not God commanded Moses to threaten Pharaoh and the idolatrous Egyptians with the plague of frogs before its infliction. the uncommon increase of this amphibious reptile would doubtless have been attributed to some other cause. It is not absolutely certain whether the frog were an object of worship or of abhorrence in Egypt, possibly of both; as in other instances where religious adoration was offered from sentiments of terror; and if so, they were punished as well by what they venerated as by what they abominated.
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.
6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the c frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.
c Ps. 78.45; 105.30. Re. 16.13, 14.
7 And d the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
d ch. 7.11, 22. 2 Ti. 3.8.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, e Entreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I f will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD.
e ch. 9.28; 10.17. 1 Ki. 13.6. Ac. 8.24. Nu. 21.7. Pr. 14.19. Is. 49.23; 60.14.
f ver. 25, 28; 10.8, 24. Je. 22.23. Mat. 21.30. Ps. 78.34, 36.
9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory5 over me:6 when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy7 the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
5 Or, have this honour over me. Prescribe you the time when this plague shall be removed. See ver. 10.
6 Glory over me, i.e. I will in this point follow thy command and acknowledge thee as my master, so that thou mayest have the appearance as if thy will had removed the plague. This seems to be the sense of these much-disputed words.—(Kalisch.)—P.
7 Heb. to cut off.
10 And he said, To-morrow.8 And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou g mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.
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.
12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses h cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.
h ch. 32.10, 11. Eze. 36.37. Ja. 5.16-18.
13 And the LORD did i according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.
i ver. 9-11. Is. 45.11. Mat. 7.7. Mar. 11.24.
14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land k stank.
k Joel 2.20. Eze. 39.11. Is. 34.3.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he l hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
l ver. 32. Is. 26.10. Ec. 8.11. Zec. 7.11, 12. See ch. 7.14; 4.21.
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 m lice9 throughout all the land of Egypt.
m Ps. 105.31.
9 The Septuagint, Origen, and Jerome translate the word mosquito gnat, an insect which from its habits is known to be insufferably galling. Josephus, supported by the Jewish rabbis, renders the word lice, a species of vermin, of which the Egyptians, from their singular attention to cleanliness, were peculiarly abhorrent. Others think it was the Avarus sanguisugus, or greedy bloodsucker, a small tick which buried itself in the flesh of both man and beast, and this is countenanced by the phraseology of ver. 17. The Egyptian impostors could not imitate this miracle, because the plague was on themselves already, and therefore they acknowledged it to have been caused by the finger of God alone; and Pharaoh, aware of their former chicanery in so often attempting to deceive him, refuses to believe them, looking upon the miracle as a mere temporary triumph of Jehovah. It is farther to be observed that this plague, unlike the former two, was inflicted without any previous warning, so that Jannes and Jambres could make no preparation, and being taken unawares, acknowledged the finger of God, not because they honoured him, but to hide their own defeat. That this was the real state of the case is rendered still more probable from their continued attempt to 'stand before Moses,' recorded in ch. 9.11.—C.
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.
18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they n could not: so there were lice upon man and upon beast.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
n Lu. 10.18. Ac. 16.18, 19. 2 Ti. 3.8, 9. De. 32.31. See ver. 10.
19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the o finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was p hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
o 1 Sa. 6.9. Mat. 12.28. Lu. 11.20. Ps. 8.3; i.e. his powerful work.
p See ch. 4.21; 7.13, 14, 22; ver. 15. Ro. 2.5.
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, q Let my people go, that they may serve me:
q ch. 5.1-3; 7.16; ver. 1.
21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send r 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 swarms1 of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
r Or, a mixture of noisome beasts, &c. Ps. 78.45; 105.31.
1 The Septuagint, which in all things referring to Egypt must be considered high authority, translates the word dog-fly—a most tormenting insect; others think it a species of beetle of most destructive propensities and powers; whilst some believe it to mean 'a mixture of venomous and ravenous creatures.'—C.
22 And I will s 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 t mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
23 And I will put a division2 between my people and thy people: to-morrow3 shall this sign be.
2 Heb. a redemption.
3 Or, by to-morrow.
24 And the LORD did so; and u 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 corrupted4 by reason of the swarm of flies.
25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
26 And Moses said, x It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the y abomination5 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?
x ch. 3.18. 2 Co. 6.14.
y Ge. 43.32; 46.34. Animals which they worship, and will not allow us to kill or eat in their sight.
5 That is, not what the Egyptians abominated, but what Moses, as a worshipper of the true God, called an abomination, because idolatrously worshipped by the Egyptians. But why does Moses employ such an offensive term to Pharaoh? Because if Pharaoh was an idolater, it was the duty of Moses to bear testimony against idolatry. The bull and the cow are the animals chiefly meant, both of which a Hebrew would have sacrificed, and an Egyptian most abjectly worshipped. That the Egyptians would have stoned the Hebrews, as Moses affirms, had they sacrificed a cow, is well illustrated by the fact, that, in after years, they put a Roman citizen of rank to death for killing a cat—another of their gods—though they exceedingly dreaded the power of Rome, and anxiously courted her favour.—C.
27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as z he shall command us.
z ch. 3.18: 5.1, 3; 10.9, 26; xix. &c.
28 And Pharaoh said, a 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: b entreat for me.
a Ho. 10.2. Eze. 33.31.
b ver. 8, 29; ch. 9.28; 10.17. 1 Ki. 13.6. Ezr. 6.10. Ac. 8.24. Ro. 15.30.
29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow: but let not Pharaoh c deal deceitfully any more, in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.
c See ver. 8. 1 Ki. 18.21. Job 13.9. Ps. 78.34, 36, 57. Ga. 6.7.
30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD.
31 Andd 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.
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
d Ja. 5.16. Mat. 7.7. Mar. 11.24.
32 And Pharaoh e hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.4
e Zec. 7.11, 12. Ec. 8.11. See ch. 4.21; 7.3,4, 13,14,22; ver. 15,19. Ro. 2.5. Job 9.4.
4 The only request before Pharaoh now was permission to go three days' journey to sacrifice. Moses tacitly yielded to Pharaoh's injunction not to go very far away. After giving a solemn promise the king deliberately, and without excuse, violated the promise. His guilt was thus aggravated.—P.
Notes
Reflections.—How terrible an enemy is God, who, even by frogs, flies, and lice, can subdue the most proud and potent of his human opposers;—can force them to their prayers, and to feigned compliances with his will! Great indeed is his power who can, at his pleasure, restrain Satan and his agents; and marvellous his kindness to his people, in distinguishing them from their fellow-sinners of mankind, and hiding them from common calamities under the shadow of his wings. But, alas! how quickly unrenewed hearts return to their wickedness; and reigning lusts break through every bond, and render men imprudently presumptuous and scandalously perfidious! Let me, with Moses and Aaron, be bold and faithful in every point in the service of God! neither fearing the wrath of kings nor the opposition of devils: and let me always be ready to pray for mine enemies when I have any encouragement to it, any hopes of their change of heart, or of a blessing from the Lord upon them.