Psalms 78:45

45. Divers sorts of flies This was the fourth plague. Exodus 8:21. The English translation of ערב , ( ‘arobh,) here and Psalms 105:31, supposes a mixture of species, but the commonly accepted derivation of the word by modern critics does not justify this ancient interpretation, but denotes a species that stings like a scorpion and sucks blood. See Isaiah 7:18. Clark ( Israel in Egypt, p. 22) would favour the common fly of Egypt, which is bad enough. Van Lennep ( Bible Lands, page 323,) supposes “the destructive fly called tsaltsalya by the Abyssinians and tsetse in South Africa, which kills cattle and horses, and attacks men.” The Septuagint reads κυνομυιαν , dog-fly. The precise species is not known. Flies are terrible in Egypt and Palestine. Baal-zebub, lord of flies, was the god of Ekron, and was supposed to protect from flies.

Frogs These were by the law “unclean” and “abominable,” (Leviticus 11:12-13,) and emblematic of the “spirits of devils.” Revelation 16:13-14. The vilest creatures were made the instruments of the humiliation and sufferings of the Egyptians.