Exodus 8:7 Ulasan

Three more of the plagues of Egypt are related in this chapter, I. That of the frogs, which is, 1. Threatened (Exo 8:1-4). 2. Inflicted (Exo 8:5, Exo 8:6). 3. Mimicked by the magicians (Exo 8:7). 4. Removed, at the humble request of Pharaoh (Exo 8:8-14), who yet hardens his heart, and, notwithstanding his promise while the plague was upon him (Exo 8:8), refuses to let Israel go (Exo 8:15). II. The plague of lice (Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17), by which, 1. The magicians were baffled (Exo 8:18, Exo 8:19), and yet, 2. Pharaoh was hardened (Exo 8:19). III. That of flies. 1. Pharaoh is warned of it before (Exo 8:20, Exo 8:21), and told that the land of Goshen should be exempt from this plague (Exo 8:22, Exo 8:23). 2. The plague is brought (Exo 8:24). 3. Pharaoh treats with Moses about the release of Israel, and humbles himself (Exo 8:25-29). 4. The plague is thereupon removed (Exo 8:31), and Pharaoh's heart hardened (Exo 8:32).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 8 In this chapter Pharaoh is threatened with the plague of frogs, in case he refused to let Israel go, which accordingly was brought upon him, Exo 8:1 and though the magicians did something similar to it, yet these were so troublesome to Pharaoh, that he promised to let the people go, and sacrifice to God, if they removed; and a time being fixed for the removal of them, it was accordingly done at the entreaty of Moses and Aaron, Exo 8:7 but there being a respite, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and the plague of lice is ordered, and which was executed; and though this the magicians essayed to do, and could not, but owned it to be the finger of God, yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, Exo 8:15 wherefore he is threatened with a swarm of flies, which should not infest Goshen, only the places where the Egyptians dwelt, and it was so, Exo 8:20 upon which Pharaoh called for Moses, and declared himself willing the people would sacrifice in the land; but this not being satisfactory, he agreed they should go into the wilderness, but not so far; and on the account of the entreaty of Moses, the plague was removed; but still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go, Exo 8:25.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron,.... He sent for them: and said, entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; he begins now to know the Lord, whom he knew not before, by the judgments he executed on him, to acknowledge his hand in those judgments, and tacitly to own that none else could remove them; and his proud heart was so far humbled, as to beg the favour of Moses and Aaron to intercede with the Lord to cause this plague to cease, which was intolerable: and it may be observed from other instances in history, somewhat similar to this, that whole cities and countries have been deserted by their inhabitants on a like occasion, as those of Paeonia and Dardania, in the account above given; and Justin reports (u) of the Abderites, a people of Thrace, that because of the multitude of frogs and mice, were obliged to leave their native country, and seek new habitations; and Diodorus Siculus (w) and Aelianus (x) relate much the same of a people called Autariatae; and Varro (y) affirms, that in a city in France, the inhabitants of it were drove away by frogs; which instances, as they show how very distressing such a calamity is, so they serve to illustrate and confirm the truth of the divine history, cavilled at by infidels, when anything is related in it exceeding the common and ordinary course of things: and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord; as had been frequently required of him, Exo 5:1. (u) E Trogo, l. 15. c. 2. (w) Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 164. (x) De Animal. l. 17. c. 41. (y) Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 29.

The plague of frogs threatened, Exo 8:1, Exo 8:2. The extent of this plague, Exo 8:3, Exo 8:4. Aaron commanded to stretch out his hand, with the rod, over the river and waters of Egypt, in consequence of which the frogs came, Exo 8:5, Exo 8:6. The magicians imitate this miracle, Exo 8:7. Pharaoh entreats Moses to remove the frogs, and promises to let the people go, Exo 8:8. Moses promises that they shall be removed from every part of Egypt, the river excepted, Exo 8:9-11. Moses prays to God, and the frogs die throughout the land of Egypt, Exo 8:12-14. Pharaoh, finding himself respited, hardens his heart, Exo 8:15. The plague of lice on man and beast, Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17. The magicians attempt to imitate this miracle, but in vain, Exo 8:18. They confess it to be the finger of God, and yet Pharaoh continues obstinate, Exo 8:19. Moses is sent again to him to command him to let the people go, and in case of disobedience he is threatened with swarms of flies, Exo 8:20, Exo 8:21. A promise made that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, should be exempted front this plague, Exo 8:22, Exo 8:23. The flies are sent, Exo 8:24. Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and offers to permit them to sacrifice in the land, Exo 8:25. They refuse, and desire to go three days' journey into the wilderness, Exo 8:26, Exo 8:27. Pharaoh consents to let them go a little way, provided they would entreat the Lord to remove the flies, Exo 8:28. Moses consents, prays to God, and the flies are removed, Exo 8:29-31. After which Pharaoh yet hardened his heart, and refused to let the people go, Exo 8:32.

The magicians did so - A little juggling or dexterity of hand might have been quite sufficient for the imitation of this miracle, because frogs in abundance had already been produced; and some of these kept in readiness might have been brought forward by the magicians, as proofs of their pretended power and equality in influence to Moses and Aaron.

PLAGUE OF FROGS. (Exo 8:1-15) the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh--The duration of the first plague for a whole week must have satisfied all that it was produced not by any accidental causes, but by the agency of omnipotent power. As a judgment of God, however, it produced no good effect, and Moses was commanded to wait on the king and threaten him, in the event of his continued obstinacy, with the infliction of a new and different plague. As Pharaoh's answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been unfavorable, for the rod was again raised.

the magicians did so with their enchantments--required no great art to make the offensive reptiles appear on any small spot of ground. What they undertook to do already existed in abundance all around. They would better have shown their power by removing the frogs.

The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. צפרדּע is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, called rana Mosaica or Nilotica by Seetzen, which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs (הצּפרדּע in Exo 8:6, used collectively) became a penal miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms ("bed-chamber"), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds (מטּה), the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the "dough" as Luther renders it), but even got upon the men themselves.

This miracle was also imitated by the Egyptian augurs with their secret arts, and frogs were brought upon the land by them. But if they were able to bring the plague, they could not take it away. The latter is not expressly stated, it is true; but it is evident from the fact that Pharaoh was obliged to send for Moses and Aaron to intercede with Jehovah to take them away. The king would never have applied to Moses and Aaron for help if his charmers could have charmed the plague away. Moreover the fact that Pharaoh entreated them to intercede with Jehovah to take away the frogs, and promised to let the people go, that they might sacrifice to Jehovah (Exo 8:8), was a sign that he regarded the God of Israel as the author of the plague. To strengthen the impression made upon the king by this plague with reference to the might of Jehovah, Moses said to him (Exo 8:9), "Glorify thyself over me, when I shall entreat for thee," i.e., take the glory upon thyself of determining the time when I shall remove the plague through my intercession. The expression is elliptical, and לעמר (saying) is to be supplied, as in Jdg 7:2. To give Jehovah the glory, Moses placed himself below Pharaoh, and left him to fix the time for the frogs to be removed through his intercession.