Chapter 8

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 swarms of flies. 25 Pharaoh inclineth to let the people go, 32 but yet is hardened.

1. Go unto Pharaoh. After an indeterminate interval Moses was ordered to announce the second plague. Like the first plague, this one was announced in advance, lest it should be taken as a natural and coincidental occurrence.

2. Frogs. Frogs were sacred animals to the Egyptians. One of their deities, Heqa, was a frog-headed goddess thought to possess creative power. Though the chief purpose of this plague was to punish the oppressors of Israel, it was also designed to cast contempt upon their many heathen gods. The great multiplication of frogs made the goddess Heqa appear not only ridiculous but even vicious. Here she was, tormenting the very people who professed to be her most ardent devotees. Their religious superstitions obliged the Egyptians to respect the creatures they now loathed and hated and would otherwise have destroyed.

3. The river shall bring forth. It is difficult for us to realize the severity of this plague. For the whole country to be filled with these disgusting creatures, to be unable to walk in the streets without treading on them, to find them not only occupying one’s doorstep but in possession of one’s house, in one’s bedchamber and upon one’s bed, to listen without respite to their dismal croak, to see nothing but their loathsome forms on every side, to be in perpetual contact with them and feel the repulsiveness of their cold and clammy skin, would be perhaps enough to try one’s sanity.

8. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. Though able to imitate the new plague, the Egyptian magicians were unable to remove it. This is not expressly stated, but is evident from the fact that Pharaoh was obliged to send for Moses and Aaron to intercede with the Lord, whom he had pretended not to know. Thus the obdurate king, who had stubbornly endured the first plague till God chose to remove it, was forced to acknowledge the impotence of his own gods and to call upon the God of the Hebrews for help.

9. Glory over me. This is an expression of courtesy which means “have the honor of my submission,” or as in the RSV, “be pleased to command me.” By calling upon Pharaoh to appoint the time for the removal of the frogs Moses gave him another opportunity to witness the undeniable power of God.

12. Moses cried unto the Lord. Up to this point Moses had acted only in response to direct instructions from God. Now, however, he had ventured to fix a definite time for the removal of the plague, seemingly without any such specific command. Appropriately, he resorted to earnest prayer that his proposal might meet with divine approval. For the first time Moses appears in the role of one who knew the unlimited power of prayer, to which he resorted often and successfully during the following difficult years of leadership (see Ex. 32:31, 32; Num. 12:13).

15. When Pharaoh saw. As soon as respite was given, Pharaoh’s rebellious spirit again gained the upper hand. Believing the recent danger past and no doubt speculating lightheartedly that further visitations need not be expected, he broke his word. He was set on despising “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God” was intended to lead him “to repentance.” By the “hardness” of his “impenitent heart” he was treasuring up unto himself “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:4, 5).

As the Lord had said. See on ch. 3:19; cf. chs. 4:21; 7:4.

16. Lice. Kinnam, probably derived from the Egyptian chenemesЊ, “gnats” or “mosquitoes.” The rendering “lice” follows the opinion of the Jewish historian Josephus and Talmudic writers, but has no linguistic basis. The Egyptian gnats were so small as to be barely visible to the eye but had a sting which, according to Philo and Origen, caused a most painful irritation of the skin.

18. They could not. Many commentators suggest that the magicians gave up the unequal contest by their own choice, realizing that they were unable to compete with Moses and Aaron. The text hardly warrants such an explanation, since the statement is made that they attempted to do what the messengers of the Hebrews’ God had done, but without producing any gnats. God permitted them to carry forward their work of opposition to a certain point, and then called a halt by preventing further apparently successful imitation of His own miraculous power.

19. This is the finger. The magicians recognized their own impotence more than do many modern commentators, who think that the magicians could have imitated the third plague just as easily as they did the previous two, had they wished to do so. In attributing this plague to the power of One whose works they could not match, the magicians unintentionally joined forces with Moses and Aaron. How often Christ’s opponents among the Pharisees and even the demon-possessed testified to His supernatural power (John 11:47, 48; Luke 8:28). How often truth is unwittingly drawn from those whose natural inclinations lead them to oppose it!

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. The magicians recognized the futility of further attempts to oppose God, but Pharaoh held out. Pride prevented him from acknowledging defeat. His heart was adamant (see on Ex. 4:21).

20. Stand before Pharaoh. The first nine plagues fall logically into three groups of three plagues each, of which the first two were preceded by a warning and the third was not. In other respects no particular order is apparent, except that each succeeding plague surpassed, in general, the severity or offensiveness of the preceding one.

21. Flies. From Фarob, a word of uncertain meaning. It may be related to the Assyrian urubatu, “mixed, noxious insects.” The translators of the LXX, who themselves lived in Egypt, took it to be the dog fly. This large and venomous insect is described by ancient and modern writers as a severe scourge, for when enraged it often fastens itself to the human body, particularly to the edges of the eyelids. This accounts, in part, for the fact that eye diseases are found so commonly in Egypt (see also on v. 24).

22. I will sever. A new feature is introduced, which distinguishes the later from earlier plagues, with one possible exception (see on ch. 7:24). This constituted an additional evidence of the miraculous character of the visitations, well calculated to impress thoughtful and honest minds that God was not a local or even a national deity but one whose power extended to all peoples. Egyptians who studied the course of events during those fateful weeks or months must have recognized the supreme authority of Israel’s God over Egypt as well as over the Hebrews themselves.

23. A division. Literally, “redemption.” God would establish a sign by which everyone might see that the Hebrews were already “redeemed” from bondage though still nominally in slavery.

24. The land was corrupted. This plague must have been severe in the extreme to “corrupt,” or literally, “to destroy” the land. It is not clear how this could have been true, even of dog flies, however numerous they may have been. We simply accept the statement of Holy Writ.

25. Go ye. The fourth plague impressed Pharaoh more than those that had preceded it. Nevertheless, he was not yet prepared to accede to the demand of Moses, but offered, instead, a compromise. Granting the Israelites respite from their toil, he was now willing for them to celebrate their proposed feast—within the borders of Egypt.

26. It is not meet. “It would not be right to do so,” as in the RSV. Many animals were held sacred by the Egyptians, some universally and some only locally. By celebrating a great festival anywhere in Egypt the Israelites would inevitably offend the religious sensibilities of their neighbors. This fact was so obvious that even Pharaoh did not attempt to refute Moses’ arguments. He himself would have looked upon sacrificial rites performed by the Israelites as an outrageous insult to his gods.

28. Not go very far away. The reasons presented by Moses for going into the desert commended themselves to the heathen king, from his own religious viewpoint. As a result he promised to let the people go into the wilderness and sacrifice if they would be content not to go far away, and provided of course that Moses and Aaron release him and his people from the plague. Pharaoh here revealed for the first time that his real reason for refusing to let Israel go was the fear of losing them altogether. With this in mind he proposed to compromise that they should just enter the wilderness on his eastern border, remain near the frontier, and thus be within easy reach of his army. Moses seems to have made no objection to this suggestion, since he had requested permission to leave for three days only, and this would not have taken the Hebrews very far beyond the Egyptian frontier.

29. To morrow. Pharaoh had fixed the following day for the lifting of the second plague (v. 10). Similarly, Moses now announced the time for the removal of the fourth. However, he added a solemn warning to the king against further deceitful dealing. His boldness is certainly surprising, but Pharaoh apparently accepted his proposal without objection.

31. There remained not one. The hand of God was shown in the removal, no less than in the infliction of, the plagues. The complete disappearance of the flies was as supernatural as their sudden coming had been.

Ellen G. White comments

1-32PP 265-267

3-8PP 265

5-14SR 116

9, 10    PP 265

13-15PP 266

15   5T 119

17, 18  PP 266

18, 19  SR 116

19   DA 262; PP 266; SR 116; 1T 292

24   SR 116

24-30PP 266

31, 32  PP 267