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Texts -- Exodus 8:1-31 (NET)

Context
8:1 Then the Lord said to Moses , “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord : “Release my people in order that they may serve me! 8:2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague all your territory with frogs . 8:3 The Nile will swarm with frogs , and they will come up and go into your house , in your bedroom , and on your bed , and into the houses of your servants and your people , and into your ovens and your kneading troughs . 8:4 Frogs will come up against you, your people , and all your servants .”’” 8:5 The Lord spoke to Moses , “Tell Aaron , ‘Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers , over the canals , and over the ponds , and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt .’” 8:6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt , and frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt . 8:7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. 8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said , “Pray to the Lord that he may take the frogs away from me and my people , and I will release the people that they may sacrifice to the Lord .” 8:9 Moses said to Pharaoh , “You may have the honor over me– when shall I pray for you, your servants , and your people , for the frogs to be removed from you and your houses , so that they will be left only in the Nile ?” 8:10 He said , “Tomorrow .” And Moses said , “It will be as you say , so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God . 8:11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses , your servants , and your people ; they will be left only in the Nile .” 8:12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh , and Moses cried to the Lord because of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh . 8:13 The Lord did as Moses asked – the frogs died out of the houses , the villages , and the fields . 8:14 The Egyptians piled them in countless heaps , and the land stank . 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief , he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted .
The Third Blow: Gnats
8:16 The Lord said to Moses , “Tell Aaron , ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground , and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt .’” 8:17 They did so ; Aaron extended his hand with his staff , he struck the dust of the ground , and it became gnats on people and on animals . All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt . 8:18 When the magicians attempted to bring forth gnats by their secret arts , they could not . So there were gnats on people and on animals . 8:19 The magicians said to Pharaoh , “It is the finger of God !” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard , and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted .
The Fourth Blow: Flies
8:20 The Lord said to Moses , “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water , and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord , “Release my people that they may serve me! 8:21 If you do not release my people , then I am going to send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses . The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies , and even the ground they stand on . 8:22 But on that day I will mark off the land of Goshen , where my people are staying , so that no swarms of flies will be there , that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land . 8:23 I will put a division between my people and your people . This sign will take place tomorrow .”’” 8:24 The Lord did so ; a thick swarm of flies came into Pharaoh’s house and into the houses of his servants , and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies . 8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said , “Go , sacrifice to your God within the land .” 8:26 But Moses said , “That would not be the right thing to do , for the sacrifices we make to the Lord our God would be an abomination to the Egyptians . If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes , will they not stone us? 8:27 We must go on a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God , just as he is telling us.” 8:28 Pharaoh said , “I will release you so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert . Only you must not go very far . Do pray for me.” 8:29 Moses said , “I am going to go out from you and pray to the Lord , and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh , from his servants , and from his people tomorrow . Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again by not releasing the people to sacrifice to the Lord .” 8:30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord , 8:31 and the Lord did as Moses asked – he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh , from his servants , and from his people . Not one remained !

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • Moses

    [ebd] drawn (or Egypt. mesu, "son;" hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years before the birth of Moses. ...
    [isbe] MOSES - mo'-zez, mo'-ziz (mosheh; Egyptian mes, "drawn out," "born"; Septuagint Mouse(s)). The great Hebrew national hero, leader, author, law-giver and prophet. I. LIFE 1. Son of Levi 2. Foundling Prince 3. Friend of the Pe...
    [nave] MOSES A Levite and son of Amram, Ex. 2:1-4; 6:20; Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23. Hidden in an ark, Ex. 2:3. Discovered and adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, Ex. 2:5-10. Learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, Acts 7:22. His loyalt...

  • Plague

    [ebd] 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 (Mark 5:29; Luke 7:21), o...
    [nave] PLAGUE As a judgment on the Egyptians, Psa. 105; 135:8, 9; Acts 7:36. The plague of blood, Ex. 7:14-25; frogs, Ex. 8:1-15; lice, Ex. 8:16-19; flies, Ex. 8:20. On cattle, Ex. 9:1-7. Of boils and sores, Ex. 9:8-12; hail, Ex...

  • Animals

    [nave] ANIMALS Creation of, Gen. 1:24, 25; 2:19; Jer. 27:5. Food of, Gen. 1:30. Named, Gen. 2:20. Ordained as food for mankind, Gen. 9:2, 3; Lev. 11:3, 9, 21, 22; Deut. 14:4-6, 9, 11, 20. God's care of, Gen. 9:9, 10; Deut. 25:4...

  • PLAGUES, THE TEN

    [smith] The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12. The plague of blood.When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, a miracle was required of them. Then Aaron?s rod became "a serpent (Authorized Version), or...

  • GENESIS, 1-2

    [isbe] GENESIS, 1-2 - jen'-e-sis: I. GENERAL DATA 1. The Name 2. Survey of Contents 3. Connection with Succeeding Books II. COMPOSITION OF GENESIS IN GENERAL 1. Unity of the Biblical Text (1) The Toledhoth (2) Further Indication of...

  • Egyptians

    [nave] EGYPTIANS Descendants of the Mizraim, Gen. 10:6, 13, 14. Wisdom of, 1 Kin. 4:30. The art of embalming the dead practiced by, Gen. 50:2, 3, 26. Hospitality of, to Abraham, Gen. 12:10-20. Slaves bought by, Gen. 37:36. Opp...

  • Judgments

    [nave] JUDGMENTS On the serpent, Gen. 3:14, 15. Eve, Gen. 3:16; Adam, Gen. 3:17-19. Cain, Gen. 4:11-15; the Antediluvians, Gen. 6; 7; Sodomites, Gen. 19:23-25; Egyptians, the plagues and overthrow, Ex. 7-14; Nadab and Abihu, Lev....

  • Sin

    [nave] SIN. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Unclassified Scriptures Relating to, Defining, and Illustrating; Confession of; Consequences of, Entailed Upon Children; Conviction of; Forgiveness of; Fruits of; Kn...

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...

  • Quotations and Allusions

    [nave] QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS. In the New Testament from, and to, the Old Testament Matt. 1:23 Isa. 7:14. Matt. 2:6 Mic. 5:2. Matt. 2:15 Hos. 11:1. Matt. 2:18 Jer. 31:15. Matt. 3:3 Isa. 40:3. Matt. 4:4 Deut. 8:3; Luke 4:4. Matt...

  • Lies and Deceits

    [nave] LIES AND DECEITS Ex. 23:1; Lev. 6:2-7; Lev. 19:11, 12, 16 Ex. 20:16. Job 13:4; Job 21:34; Job 27:4; Job 31:5, 6, 33; Job 36:4; Psa. 5:6, 9; Psa. 10:7; Psa. 12:2, 3; Psa. 28:3; Psa. 31:18; Psa. 34:13 1 Pet. 3:10. Psa. 36:3; P...

  • Prophecy

    [ebd] or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, disce...

  • PLAGUES OF EGYPT

    [isbe] PLAGUES OF EGYPT - plagz (niphle'oth, "wonders "from pala', "to be separate," i.e. in a class by themselves; also called negheph, "plague," from naghaph, "to smite" (Ex 9:14), and negha`, "a stroke," from nagha`, "to touch" ...

  • FROG

    [ebd] (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; 105:30). In the New Testament th...
    [isbe] FROG - (tsephardea`; compare Arabic dafda` (Ex 8:2 ff; Ps 78:45; 105:30); batrachos (Rev 16:13)): The references in Psalms, as well as in Exodus, are to the plague of flogs. In Rev 16:13 we have, "And I saw coming out of the...
    [smith] a well-known amphibious animal of the genus Rana . The mention of this reptile in the Old Testament is confined to the passage in (Exodus 8:2-7) etc., in which the plague of frogs is described, and to (Psalms 78:45; 105:30) I...

  • Frogs

    [nave] FROGS, plague of, Ex. 8:2-14; Psa. 78:45; 105:30. Symbolical: Rev. 16:13.

  • Lice

    [ebd] (Heb. kinnim), the creatures employed in the third plague sent upon Egypt (Ex. 8:16-18). They were miraculously produced from the dust of the land. "The entomologists Kirby and Spence place these minute but disgusting insect...
    [isbe] LICE - lis (kinnim (Ex 8:17,18; Ps 105:31), kinnim (Ex 8:16), kinnam (Ex 8:17,18); Septuagint skniphes (Ex 8:16,18), ton sknipha, once in Ex 8:18; sknipes (Ps 105:31); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) scniphes; a...
    [smith] (Heb. cinnam, cinnim). this word occurs in the Authorized Version only in (Exodus 8:16-18) and in (Psalms 105:31) both of which passages have reference to the third great plague of Egypt. The Hebrew word has given occasion to...
    [nave] LICE, plague of, Ex. 8:16-19; Psa. 105:31.

  • Fly

    [ebd] Heb. zebub, (Eccl. 10:1; Isa. 7:18). This fly was so grievous a pest that the Phoenicians invoked against it the aid of their god Baal-zebub (q.v.). The prophet Isaiah (7:18) alludes to some poisonous fly which was believed ...

  • FLY, FLIES

    [smith] The two following Hebrew terms denote flies of some kind: Zebub , which occurs only in (Ecclesiastes 10:1) and in Isai 7:18 And is probably a generic name for an insect. ?Arob ("swarms of flies ," "divers sorts of flies ," A...

  • Flies

    [nave] FLIES, Eccl. 10:1. Plague of, Ex. 8:21-31; Psa. 78:45; 105:31. Figurative Isa. 7:18.

  • Intercession

    [nave] INTERCESSION. Of One Person with Another 1 Sam. 2:25 Instances of: Reuben for Joseph, Gen. 37:21, 22. Judah for Joseph, Gen. 37:26, 27. Pharaoh's chief baker for Joseph, Gen. 41:9-13, with Gen. 40:14. Jonathan for David...
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Three Scriptural Examples; Exodus 8-10

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
  • The second crisis Abram faced arose because of a famine in Canaan. Abram chose to sojourn in the Nile Valley until it was past. In this incident Abram tried to pass Sarai off as his sister because he feared for his life. By d...
  • Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
  • Exodus embraces about 431 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt (ca. 1876 B.C.) to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai (ca. 1445 B.C.). However 1:1-7 is a review of Jacob's ...
  • I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-41. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-72. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-223. Moses' birth and education 2:1-104. Moses' flight from Eg...
  • This pericope serves a double purpose. It introduces the rigorous conditions under which the Egyptians forced the Israelites to live, and it sets the stage for the birth of Moses.1:8-14 The new king (v. 8) was perhaps Ahmose ...
  • 3:1-12 Horeb is another name for Sinai (v. 1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God"because it was the place where God later gave the Mos...
  • 4:19-23 Moses did not return immediately to Egypt when he arrived back in Midian following his encounter with God at Horeb (v. 19). God spoke to him again in Midian and sent him back to Egypt assuring His servant that everyon...
  • 5:1-9 At Moses and Aaron's first audience with Pharaoh they simply presented God's command (v. 1). They did not perform miracles but asked for permission to leave Egypt.The Israelites could have worshipped the gods of Egypt i...
  • Pharaoh requested that Moses and Aaron perform a miracle to prove their divine authority since they claimed that God had sent them (vv. 9-10)."What we refer to as the ten plagues' were actually judgments designed to authentic...
  • Psalm 78:43 places the scene of the plagues in northern Egypt near Zoan.The plagues were penal; God sent them to punish Pharaoh for his refusal to obey God and to move him to obey Yahweh. They involved natural occurrences rat...
  • "As the Egyptian magicians saw nothing more than the finger of God in the miracle which they could not imitate, that is to say, the work of some deity, possibly one of the gods of the Egyptians, and not the hand of Jehovah th...
  • Moses announced the purpose of the following plagues to Pharaoh "in the morning"(cf. 7:15; 8:20). This purpose was twofold: that Pharaoh personally might know God's power (v. 14) and that the whole world might know it (v. 16;...
  • The angel struck the Egyptians at midnight, the symbolic hour of judgment (v. 29; cf. Matt. 25:5-6), when they were asleep ". . . to startle the king and his subjects out of their sleep of sin."216Pharaoh had originally met M...
  • The Israelites erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, almost exactly one year after the Israelites left Egypt (vv. 2, 17). This was about nine months after Israel had arrived at Mt. Sinai (cf. 19:1).First...
  • Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])."Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall 1986):82-92.Aharoni, Yohanan. "Kadesh-Barnea and Mount Sinai."In God's Wilderness: Discoveries in Sinai, pp. 11...
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • Samaria's conqueror, Shalmaneser V, died in 722 B.C. shortly after his conquest. His successor, Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), carried out the deportation of the Israelites. The king who followed him was Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.,...
  • Evidently it was Kish, Mordecai's great-grandfather, who went into captivity with Jehoiachin (vv. 5-6).38This means Mordecai and Esther were probably descendants of the leading citizens of Jerusalem who went into exile in 597...
  • 105:7-11 God remembered His people (v. 7, cf. v. 42) so His people should remember Him (v. 5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:18-21; 22:15-18; 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham...
  • This is the sixth and last message that Ezekiel received from the Lord the night before the refugees reached the exiles with the message that Jerusalem had fallen (cf. 33:21-22). It too deals with God's plans for Israel in th...
  • Mark said that Jesus appeared to the Eleven on this occasion. However, John qualified that statement by explaining that Thomas was absent (John 20:24). Mark was speaking of the Eleven as a group.16:14 This event evidently hap...
  • The placement of these events in Luke's Gospel again raises the question of whether Luke recorded the same incident as Matthew and Mark or whether this was a similar but different one. I, along with many other students of the...
  • The Pharisees, who considered themselves enlightened, now tried to badger the formerly blind man into denying that he saw the light.9:24 The Pharisees now questioned the healed man again. They had already decided that Jesus w...
  • The apostle began to apply the principle stated in 2:15-21 to his audience.3:1 It is folly to mix law and grace. The Galatians were behaving as though they were under some kind of spell and not in full use of their rational f...
  • 9:20 These three severe judgments (fire, smoke, and brimstone, vv. 17-18) will not move the remaining unbelievers as a whole to repent (cf. Exod. 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 35; 10:20; 11:10)."In all cases in the apocaly...
  • Most interpreters who see the first beast as an individual also see the second beast as one. Others who see the first beast as a power or movement tend to view the second beast similarly. Many of the Reformers identified the ...
  • The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plag...
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