Matthew Poole and continuators on Exodus 8

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

All thy land, which is within thy borders. A Synecdoche, so that word is used also, Exod. 10. 14, 19. 1 King. 1. 3. Psal. 147. 14. Ier. 15. 13. So the gate and the wall are put for the city to which they belong, Gen. 22. 17. Amos 1. 7, 10, 14.

Marginal references: Rev. 16. 13.

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bed chamber , and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.

Under which are comprehended all other rivers, streams and ponds, as appears from ver. 5. But the river Nilus is mentioned, because God would make that an instrument of their misery, in which they most gloried, Ezek. 29. 3. and to which they gave divine honours, and which was the instrument of their cruelty against the Israelites, chap. 1. 22.

Either because God made the doors and windows to flie open, which it is easie to believe concerning God, seeing this hath been many times done by evil Angels; or because whensoever men entred into any house or any room of their house, which their occasions would oft force them to do, the frogs, being always at their heels in great numbers, would go in with them. This plague was worse than the former, because it was more constant and more general; for the former was onely in the waters, and did onely molest them when they went to drink or use the water, but this infected all liquors and all places, and at all times, and annoyed all their sences with their filthy substance and shape and noise and stink, and mingled themselves with their meats and [illegible: 1+ letters]auces and drinks, and crawling into their bed[illegible: 1+ letters] made them restless. And many of them probably were of a more ugly shape and infectious nature than ordinary.

Marginal references: Or, dough.

4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people , and upon all thy servants.

Not upon the Israelites, whom he hereby exempts from the number of Pharaohs people and subjects, and owns them for his peculiar people. The frogs did not onely invade their houses, but assault their persons, which is not strange, considering that they were armed with a divine commission and power.

5 And the LORD spake unto Moses , Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

By inward instinct or suggestion to his mind; for he was now in the Kings presence.

7 And the Magicians did so with their inchantments , and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Nor was it hard for the Devil to produce them out of their own spawn and the slime of the river.

Marginal references: Wisd. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪

9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me : When shall I intreat for thee, , and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

As I have gloried over thee in laying first my commands, and then my plagues upon thee, so now lay thy commands upon me for the time of my praying, and if I do not what thou requirest, I am content thou shouldest insult over me, and punish me. Or Glory, or boast thy self of, or concerning me, as one that by Gods power can do that for thee which all thy Magitians cannot, of whom therefore thou now seest thou canst not glory nor boast as thou hast hitherto done.

Appoint me what time thou pleasest. Hereby he knew that the hand and glory of God would be more conspicuous in it. And this was no presumption in Moses, because he had a large Commission, chap. 7. 1. and also had particular direction from God in all that he said or did in these matters.

Marginal references: Or, have this honour over [illegible: 1 word].; Or, against when.; Heb. to [illegible: 1+ letters]ut [illegible: 1 word].

10 And he said, To morrow . And he said, Be it according to thy word, that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

Why not presently? Ans. 1. Because he hoped ere that time they might be removed either by natural causes or by chance, and so he should not need the favour of Moses or his God. 2. Because he thought it an hard and long work to remove so vast a number of frogs, and that Moses might use divers Ceremonies, as the Magitians did, in his addresses to God, which would require some considerable time.

Marginal references: Or, against to morrow.

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cryed unto the LORD , because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh .

Though he was assured that the frogs would depart at his word, yet he would use the means appointed by God for the accomplishment of it.

Or, as the place is fitly rendred by others, because of the word or matter of or about the frogs which he had given or propounded to Pharaoh. Because he had given his word both for the thing and the time of it, he prayed more earnestly, lest God should be dishonoured and Pharaoh have occasion of triumph. The Hebrew verbs to put and to give are frequently exchanged, as appears by comparing 1 King. 10. 9. with 2 Chron. 9. 8. and Isa. 42. 1. with Mat. 12. 18.

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses: and the frogs died out of the houses , out of the villages, and out of the fields.

A short speech for, they died and were removed out of, &c. as appears from the next verse. It being frequent in the Hebrew tongue under one verb expressed to understand another agreeable to it. See Examples in the Hebrew, Gen. 43. 33, 34. Exod. 18. 12. and 25. 2. Prov. 25. 22.

14 And they gathered them together upon heaps , and the land stank.

Which doubtless they cast into their rivers, or pits, &c. though that be not here mentioned. God would not instantly and wholly take them away, both to convince them of the truth of the miracle, and to make them more sensible of this judgment and more fearful of bringing another upon themselves.

16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron , Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

God, it seems, gave him no warning, because he shewed himself in the very last plague to be both per[illegible: 1+ letters]idious and incorrigible. Others think, he was forewarned, though that be not here expressed.

So the Hebrew word is rendred by all the Iewish and most other Interpreters. But it is probable, that what is said of the locusts, Exod. 10. 14. was true of these, that they were much more loathsome and troublesome then ordinary.

17 And they did so ▪ for Aaron stretched out his hand with his ro[illegible: 1+ letters] and smote the dust of the earth, and it [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word], in man and in beast: all the dust of the [illegible: 1+ letters]d became lice, throughout all the land of Egypt.

Which was not fit matter to produce lice, and therefore shews this work to be divine and miraculous.

i. e. A great part of it, the word all being commonly so understood in Scripture. [illegible: 1 word]

18 And the Magicians did so with their inchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not : so there were lice upon man and upon beast.

(i. e.) Indeavoured to do so. Thus to enter, Mat. 7. 13. is put for striving to enter, Luk. 13. 24. Thus men are said to deliver, Gen. 37. 21. to fight, Ios. 24. 9. to return, Ios. 10. 15. when they onely attempted or endeavoured to do so. And therefore when it is said in any of the plagues that the Magicians did so, it is not to be understood, that they really did the same thing, but that they indeavoured to do so, and that they did something which looked like it.

It was as easie for them to produce lice as frogs, but God hindred them, partly to confound them and their devilish arts, and to shew that what they did before was onely by his permission, and partly to convince Pharaoh and the Egyptians of their vanity in trusting to such impotent Magicians, and in opposing that God who could controll and confound them, when he pleased.

19 Then the Magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God . And Pharaohs heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them , as the LORD had said.

Which is either Synecdochically for the hand, as it is Exod. 31. 18. Psal. 8. 3. and 144. 1. or metaphorically for the power or vertue, as Luk. 11. 20. compared with Mat. 12. 28.

Of that supreme God, whom both the Egyptians and other heathen idolaters, acknowledged as superiour to all men and Idols and Devils. This they said, lest they should be thought inferiour to Moses and Aaron in magical art. But hereby they own the soveraign God to be on Israels side, and yet, like the Devils, they proceed to fight against him.

Either to his Magicians, of whom he last spake: or rather to Moses and Aaron, as the following words shew. For relatives oft belong to the remoter antecedents, as Gen. 19. 13. 1 Sam. 7. 17. Mark 2. 13.

Marginal references: 1 Sam. 6. 9.

21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.

Heb. a mixture, of insects or flies, as appears from Psal. 78. 45. which were of various kinds, as bees, wasps, gnats, hornets, &c. infinite in their numbers, and doubtless larger and more venemous and pernicious than the common ones were.

Marginal references: Or, a [illegible: 1 word] of noisome beasts, &c.

22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end that thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth .

Either 1. of the w[illegible: 1+ letters]e earth, and consequently of Egypt, that I am not o[illegible: 1+ letters]ly the Lord of Israel, but of thee and thy dominions too. God is here spoken of after the manner of earthly Princes, who use to reside in the midst of their Kingdomes that they may more conveniently rule and influence them. Or rather 2. of Goshen, the words being properly thus rendred, that I the Lord am in the midst of that land, to wit, the land of Goshen now spoken of, to defend and preserve it. For God is said to be in the midst of them whom he protects, Deut. 7. 21. and 23. 14. Ios. 3. 10. Psal. 46. 5. and not to be in the midst of others whom he forsakes and designs or threatens to destroy, Num. 14. 42. Deut. 1. 42. and 31. 17. Compare Exod. 33. 3. with 34. 9.

Marginal references: chap. 9. 4, 26. and 10. 23. and 12. 13.

23 And I will put a division between my people, and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be .

Heb. a redemption or deliverance, i. e. a token or mean of deliverance, by a Metonymy; a wall of partition, by which I will preserve the Israelites whilest I destroy the Egyptians.

This he [illegible: 1+ letters]aith, [illegible: 1+ letters]y t[illegible: 1+ letters] gain the more belief to himself in what he now [illegible: 1 word] should further speak in Gods name to them; and par[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]o warn them of their danger, and make their disobedience more inexcusable.

Marginal references: Heb. a redemption.; Or, by to morrow.

24 And the LORD did so : and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

Immediately by his own word, and not by M[illegible: 1+ letters]ses his rod, le[illegible: 1+ letters]t the Egyptians should think it was a Magicians wand, and that all Moses his works were done by the power of the Devil.

Heb. an heav[illegible: 1+ letters] mixture of flies▪ heavy, i. e. either great, as this Hebrew word is used, Gen. 41. 31. Isa. 32. 2. or mischievous and troubles[illegible: 1+ letters]me: or rather, numerous, as it is taken, Gen. 50. 9. Numb. 11. 14. 1 King. 3. 9. compared with 2 Chron. 1. 10.

(i. e.) Either the fruits and products of the land: or rather the inhabitants of the land, as the word land is taken, Gen. 41. 36. 1 Sam. 27. 9. many of the people were poisoned or stung to death by them, as appears from Psal. 78. 45. See also the book of Wisedom, chap. 16. 9.

Marginal references: Wisd. 16. 9. Psal. 105. 31.; Or, destroyed.

26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do: for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us ?

Heb. Not right, neither in Gods eyes, who hath appointed us the place, as well as the thing: nor in the Egyptians eyes, as it follows.

That which the Egyptians abhor to kill or to see killed; as not onely Scripture, but profane Authours, as Diodorus, and Tully, and Iuvenal, witness, because they worshipped them as Gods, as is notoriously known.

It was a just fear. For when once a Roman had but killed a cat, though imprudently, the people tumultuously met together and beset his house and killed him in spight of the King and his Princes, who used their utmost power and diligence to prevent it.

Marginal references: Gen. 43. 32. and 46. 34.

27 We will go three dayes journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us .

For we know not what kind or number of sacrifices to offer to him, till we come thither.

Marginal references: chap. 3. 12.; chap. 3. 18.