Exodus 8:2

And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
refuse	מָאֵ֥ן ma.'En	H3986	unwilling · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
go	לְשַׁלֵּ֑חַ le.sha.Le.ach	H7971	to send away · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct
smite	נֹגֵ֛ף no.Gef	H5062	to push · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
borders	גְּבוּלְךָ֖ ge.vu.le.Kha	H1366	properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
frogs	בַּֽצְפַרְדְּעִֽים Batz.far.de.'Im	H6854	a marsh-leaper · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Exodus 9:2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
Psalms 78:45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
Psalms 105:30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.
Revelation 16:13-14 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of t…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 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, and makes what use he pleases of them. Some have thought that the power of God is shown as much in the making of an ant as in the making of an elephant; so is his providence in serving his own purposes…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:2

I will smite all thy borders with frogs--Those animals, though the natural spawn of the river, and therefore objects familiar to the people, were on this occasion miraculously multiplied to an amazing extent, and it is probable that the ova of the frogs, which had been previously deposited in the mire and marshes, were miraculously brought to perfection at once.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:2

If thou refuse - Nothing can be plainer than that Pharaoh had it still in his power to have dismissed the people, and that his refusal was the mere effect of his own wilful obstinacy. With frogs - צפרדעים tsepardeim. This word is of doubtful etymology: almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree to render it as we do, though some mentioned by Aben Ezra think the crocodile is meant; but these can never weigh against the conjoint testimony of the ancient versions. Parkhurst derives the word from צפר tsaphar, denoting the brisk action, or motion of the light, and ידע yada, to feel, as they seem to feel or rejoice in the light, croaking all the summer months, yet hiding themselves in…

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John Gill on Exodus 8:2

And if thou refuse to let them go,.... Will not obey the orders: I will smite all thy borders with frogs; he gives him warning of the blow before he strikes, which shows his clemency and goodness, his patience and longsuffering; and this he did, not only that he might have time and space for repentance, and thereby avoid the blow; but that when it came, he might be sensible it was not by chance, or owing to second causes, but was from the Lord himself. I will smite all thy borders with frogs: fill the whole land of Egypt with them, to the utmost borders thereof on every side. Some (q) say the word signifies a large Egyptian fish, which in the Arabic tongue is called Altamsach, that is, a c…

The Church Fathers

In the second plague frogs are brought forth. They are thought to stand figuratively for the songs of the poets. The poets have brought deceptive fables into this world, with their empty and conceited songs that are like the croaking of frogs. For the frog stands for empty loquacity. That animal is good for nothing else but to give out the sounds of its voice in offensive and annoying noises.
— Isidore of Seville, QUESTIONS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT, EX 14:3

For what reason do you puff yourself up with human pride? A man insulted you, and you swelled up and were angered. Rid yourself of the fleas that you may sleep. Find out who you are! For that you may know, brothers, that these things which would bother us were created to enable us to control our pride, [remember], God could have tamed the proud people of Pharaoh with bears, with lions or with snakes; he sent flies and frogs upon them that their pride might be tamed by the most ignoble of things.
— Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 1.15

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Frog — (Heb. tsepharde’a, meaning a “marsh-leaper”). This reptile is mentioned in the Old Testament only in connection with one of the plagues which fell on the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:2-14; Ps. 78:45;…
Nadab — Liberal, generous. (1.) The eldest of Aaron’s four sons (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2). He with his brothers and their father were consecrated as priests of Jehovah (Ex. 28:1). He afterwards perished with…
Plague — A “stroke” of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement (Num. 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Sam. 24:21). Painful afflictions or diseases, (Lev. 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity…
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Frogs · Plague of — Plague of
Plague · .Frogs — .Frogs
Reptiles · Mentioned in scripture: Frog — Mentioned in scripture: Frog

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 8:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 8:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:2

Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:2

John Gill on Exodus 8:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 8:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 8:1-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 8:2

Adam Clarke on Exodus 8:2

John Gill on Exodus 8:2

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 8:1-7

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 8:1-15

Rashi on Exodus 8:2