Exodus 8:8

8 Forsooth Pharaoh called (for) Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Pray ye the Lord, that he do away the paddocks from me, and from my people; and I shall deliver the people, that it make sacrifice to the Lord (and then I shall let the people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord).

Exodus 8:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 8:8

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

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 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 ^F23 and Aelianus ^F24 relate much the same of a people called Autariatae; and Varro ^F25 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, ( Exodus 5:1 Exodus 5:8 ) ( 7:16 ) ( 8:1 ) .

F21 E Trogo, l. 15. c. 2.
F23 Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 164.
F24 De Animal. l. 17. c. 41.
F25 Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 29.

Exodus 8:8 In-Context

6 And Aaron held forth the hand on the waters of Egypt; and paddocks went up, and covered the land of Egypt. (And Aaron stretched forth his hand over the waters of Egypt; and frogs went out, and covered the land of Egypt.)

7 Forsooth and the witches did in like manner by their enchantments; and they brought forth paddocks on the land of Egypt. (And the witches did likewise with their enchantments; and they also brought forth frogs onto the land of Egypt.)

8 Forsooth Pharaoh called (for) Moses and Aaron, and said to them, Pray ye the Lord, that he do away the paddocks from me, and from my people; and I shall deliver the people, that it make sacrifice to the Lord (and then I shall let the people go, so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord).

9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Ordain thou a time to me, when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the paddocks be driven away from thee, and from thine house(s), and from thy servants, and from thy people; and [they] dwell only in the flood. (And Moses said to Pharaoh, Ordain thou a time for me, when I shall pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, so that the frogs be driven away from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; and so that they live only in the River.)

10 And he answered, Tomorrow. And Moses said, I shall do by thy word, (so) that thou know, that none is as our Lord God;