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| 1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah: Let my people go, that they may serve me. |
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| 2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs. |
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| 3 And the river shall swarm with frogs, and they shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bedroom, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs. |
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| 4 And the frogs shall come up both upon thee and upon thy people, and upon all thy bondmen. |
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| 5 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy hand with thy staff over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. |
Cause frogs to come – Vast numbers come to Egypt at times, but never in so great numbers as on this occasion. R5272:1
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| 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. |
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| 7 And the scribes did so with their sorceries, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. |
And the magicians – Sorcery, witchcraft and enchantments are manifestations of Satan and of demons for the delusion of mankind. R2110:2, R2189:3
With their enchantments – Using Satan's knowledge of natural laws. R1685:3
Brought up frogs – Satan and the fallen angels may be permitted some power in creating pests. Q265:4
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| 8 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat Jehovah, that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Jehovah. |
Intreat the LORD – While Pharaoh's magicians duplicated the first two plagues, they were unable to take away the frogs. R5272:1
Take away the frogs – The Egyptians worshipped the froghead goddess, Heka. Thus this plague was a special reproach and particularly severe because it was not lawful for Egyptians to kill frogs. R3994:6
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| 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me, for what time shall I intreat for thee, and for thy bondmen, and for thy people, to cut off the frogs from thee and from thy houses; so that they shall remain in the river only? |
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| 10 And he said, For to-morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like Jehovah our God. |
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| 11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy bondmen, and from thy people: they shall remain in the river only. |
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| 12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to Jehovah because of the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh. |
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| 13 And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. |
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| 14 And they gathered them in heaps; and the land stank. |
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| 15 And Pharaoh saw that there was respite; and he hardened his heart, and hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said. |
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| 16 And Jehovah said to Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy staff, and smite the dust of the earth, and it shall become gnats throughout the land of Egypt. |
May become lice – The Revised Version margin renders the word "lice" as sandflies, or fleas. R3994:6
The word "lice" probably means "dust ticks." R5272:2
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| 17 And they did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and smote the dust of the earth, and there arose gnats on man and on beast: all the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. |
Throughout all the land – The miracle was producing these ticks in unusual numbers and places. R5272:2
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| 18 And the scribes did so with their sorceries, to bring forth gnats; but they could not. And the gnats were on man and on beast. |
But they could not – Doubtless, however, the fallen spirits have learned much since then and are probably now responsible for many of the plagues, pests and microbes afflicting plant and animal life. R2189:3
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| 19 Then the scribes said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God! But Pharaoh's heart was stubborn, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said. |
The finger of God – The first definition of a miracle. R3995:1
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| 20 And Jehovah said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh--behold, he will go out to the water--and say to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Let my people go, that they may serve me. |
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| 21 For, if thou do not let my people go, behold, I will send dog-flies upon thee, and upon thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thy houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of dog-flies, and also the ground on which they are. |
Swarms of flies – Or beetles, the Hebrew word signifies a mixture of various swarms of insects. R3995:1
Gnats, mosquitoes, house flies and cattle flies. R5272:2
These plagues upon Egypt were intended in some measure to foreshadow, to illustrate, the plagues with which this Gospel age will end-the first three and the "seven last plagues." (Rev. 15:1) F175
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| 22 And I will distinguish in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no dog-flies shall be there; that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am in the midst of the land. |
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| 23 And I will put a separation between my people and thy people; to-morrow shall this sign be. |
Put a division – Both here and in Revelation the first three affected both Israel and Egypt, but the Israelites were exempted from the last seven. R3994:4
In Revelation the first three plagues are called the woe trumpets and following them come the "seven last trumpets." R3994:4
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| 24 And Jehovah did so; and there came dog-flies in a multitude into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his bondmen; and throughout the land of Egypt, the land was corrupted by the dog-flies. |
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| 25 And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the land. |
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| 26 And Moses said, It is not proper to do so; for we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah our God: lo, if we sacrificed the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, would they not stone us? |
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| 27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our God, as he shall command us. |
Three days' journey – Nothing was said respecting their non-intention of returning, for they had the same right to depart as to come to Egypt. R2910:6
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| 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Jehovah your God in the wilderness; only, go not very far away: intreat for me! |
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| 29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and will intreat Jehovah; and the dog-flies will depart from Pharaoh, from his bondmen, and from his people, to-morrow; only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Jehovah. |
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| 30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated Jehovah. |
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| 31 And Jehovah did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the dog-flies from Pharaoh, from his bondmen, and from his people; there remained not one. |
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| 32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and would not let the people go. |
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