Exodus 8:8-11

"Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat Jehovah, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice unto Jehovah. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this glory over me: against what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only? And he said, Against tomorrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like unto Jehovah our God. 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."

"Entreat Jehovah ..." This is the first sign of surrender on Pharaoh's part. He, by his actions, demonstrated that he considered his magicians powerless to cope with the situation, that he acknowledged Moses and Aaron as the spokesman for Jehovah, and that he would consent for the Israelites to sacrifice to Jehovah. This indication by Pharaoh stopped short of promising permission for the Israelites to leave the country, but it definitely showed signs of his cracking under the pressure being applied.

"In asking Moses to entreat the Lord, Pharaoh recognizes him as the spokesman of an actual deity. He no longer scorns Yahweh."[9]

"Have thou this glory over me ..." These words are considered difficult by some, but the obvious meaning is that suggested by Harford:

"When Pharaoh prays for relief, Moses concedes him the "glory" or advantage of naming the time when the pests should be removed, that the Divine control of the visitation might be the more conspicuous."[10]

"Thy houses ..." The plural is used in Exodus 8:9,11, and, despite this being usually interpreted as reference to the houses of both Pharaoh and his servants, there remains the possibility that the houses (plural) of Pharaoh himself are meant, and that the reference is to the twin capitals of Pharaoh, one in the south of Egypt, and the other northward in the Delta. The plagues were visited upon the whole of Egypt. "I will smite all thy borders" (Exodus 8:2). This would have prevented Pharaoh's merely moving to his other residence to escape the plague. Rawlinson accepted this view: "It would seem that the frogs had invaded more than one palace of Pharaoh. He had perhaps quitted Tanis and gone to Memphis when the plague came, but the frogs pursued him there."[11]

"That the frogs be destroyed ..." Pharaoh might have felt that he had out maneuvered Moses and Aaron in the first confrontation, as some have alleged that he did, but all that was wiped out completely by Pharaoh's being outmaneuvered here. Moses said, in effect, "You have the honor of telling WHEN the frogs will be destroyed! Destroyed? Pharaoh might have thought that meant they would vanish. But NO, it meant they would all die! And is a dead frog any less a plague than a live one! Pharaoh soon found out. "The removal of the plague in a manner intensified it."[12]