And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people ,.... Signifying there should be a full and clear riddance of them: they shall remain in the river only ; the river Nile. read more
And Moses and Aaron went from Pharaoh ,.... To the place where they used to pray to the Lord, and meet with him, and receive messages from him; this they did the same day the plague was inflicted, the day before the morrow came when the frogs were to be removed: and Moses cried unto the Lord : prayed unto him with great fervency, and with a loud voice, most fervently entreating that the frogs might be removed on the morrow, as he had promised, that so he might not be covered with shame... read more
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 out of the villages, and out of the fields ; the word for "villages" signifies "courts" F2 מן החצרת "ex atriis", Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator. , and may be so rendered here; and the sense is, that they not only died out of their dwelling houses, but out of their courtyards, and even out of their gardens,... read more
The seared plague: the frogs. In intimating the first plague, Moses made no forms! demand upon Pharaoh to liberate Israel, though of course the demand was really contained in the intimation. But now as the second plague approaches, the formal demand once again is heard. Pharaoh is left for no long time without a distinct appeal which he must face either with consent or refusal. And so now Moses addresses him in the same words as on his first visit: "Let my people go." It is a challenge to... read more
The plague of frogs. Observe on this plague, in addition to what has been said above. I. PHARAOH 'S HARDNESS UNDER THE FIRST PLAGUE WROUGHT NO ESCAPE , EITHER FROM THE DIVINE COMMAND OR FROM THE DIVINE POWER ( Exodus 8:1 ). He probably thought, now that the river was healed, that he had done with Jehovah's demand, and perhaps congratulated himself that he had succeeded in holding out. But divine commands are not thus to be got rid of. They are... read more
God's mercy when men repent ever so little. The object of the judgments, as well as of the goodness of God is "to lead men to repentance "( Romans 2:4 ). He "wouldeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live"( Ezekiel 33:11 ). His cry is ever," Why will ye die, O house of Israel?" And sometimes His judgments have their proper effect on men, partially at any rate. Ahab repented to some extent when woe was denounced upon his house by Elijah—he "rent... read more
Moses cried unto the Lord . The expression used is a strong one, and seems to imply special earnestness in the prayer. Moses had ventured to fix a definite time for the removal of the plague, without (so far as appears) any special command of God. Hence earnest prayer (as Kalisch notes) was doubly necessary. (Compare 1 Kings 18:36 , 1 Kings 18:37 .) read more
The villages . The translation "courts" or "court-yards," is preferred by some. Houses in Egypt had generally a court-yard attached to them. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 8:1-15
Pharaoh is here first threatened and then plagued with frogs, as afterwards, in this chapter, with lice and flies, little despicable inconsiderable animals, and yet by their vast numbers rendered sore plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued them with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with vultures or other birds of prey; but he chose to do it by these contemptible instruments. 1. That he might magnify his own power. He is Lord of the hosts of the whole creation, has them all at his beck,... read more