John Gill Commentary Exodus 8

And the Lord spoke unto Moses
Either whilst the plague upon the waters continued, or immediately upon the removal of it:

go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus says the Lord, let my
people go, that they may serve me ;
mentioning neither time nor place, where, when, and how long they should serve him, for which their dismission was required, but insist on it in general.

And if you refuse to let them go
Will not obey the orders:

I will smite all your 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 your borders with frogs :
fill the whole land of Egypt with them, to the utmost borders thereof on every side. Some ^F17 say the word signifies a large Egyptian fish, which in the Arabic tongue is called Altamsach, that is, a crocodile, with which the Nile abounded; but such a creature could not invade and attack them in the manner as is after related.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: R. Chananeel apud Abendana, and some in Aben Ezra in Ioc.

And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly
The river Nile; and though water, and watery places, naturally produce these creatures, yet not in such vast quantities as to cover a whole country, and so large an one as Egypt, and this done at once, immediately; for they were all produced instantaneously, and in one day were spread all over the nation, and removed the next: and besides what follows is equally miraculous,

which shall go up and come into your house ;
which though they may come up out of rivers, and be upon the banks and the meadows adjacent, yet are never known to come into houses, and especially into bedchambers and other places after mentioned, being not a bold but timorous creature, and shuns the sight and company of men; but these came even into the royal palace, nor could his guards keep them out:

and into your bedchamber, and upon your bed ;
and by their leaping upon him, and croaking in his ears, disturb his rest:

and into the house of your servants, and upon your people
both nobles and common people, and not only get into their houses, but upon their persons, on their hands when about their business, on their laps, and into their bosoms, as they sat; which must be very offensive and troublesome to them, what with their ugly shape, croaking noise and filthy smell, and the disagreeable touch of them, leaping on them, and even upon their food, and all vessels used for the same, which must make it very nauseous and distasteful to them:

and into your ovens ;
where they baked their bread, and would be now hindered from the use of them:

and into your kneadingtroughs ;
where they kneaded their dough, and made it into loaves, and prepared it for the oven; or the "dough" ^F18 itself, which they leaped upon and licked, and made it loathsome for use.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (Kytwravmb) "in tuas pastas", Pagninus; "in farinam tuam aquis conspersam", Tigurine version; "in reliquiis ciborum tuorum", V. L.

And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon your people,
and upon your servants .
] No doubt by the interposition of divine power and providence, and it may be by the ministry of angels; so that let them use what care, caution, and diligence they would, there was no keeping them out; but they came upon all the people of the land, high and low, rich and poor, and upon the king's ministers, courtiers, and nobles, and the king himself not excepted; though by this particular enumeration of him, his people, and servants, the children of Israel may be thought to be exempted from this plague, as R. Japhez observes; though Aben Ezra dislikes his remark, but it seems to be just.

And the Lord spoke to Moses
By a secret impulse upon his mind, for he was now in the presence of Pharaoh, who had refused to let Israel go:

say to Aaron, stretch forth your hand with your rod ;
for Aaron carried the rod, and he was the minister of Moses, who was appointed a god to him; and he was to speak and to do whatever he ordered him from the Lord:

over the streams, over the rivers and over the ponds ;
the seven streams of the river of Nile, and over the canals cut out of it, and over all places where there was a collection of water for any use for man or beast:

and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt ;
out of the streams, rivers, and ponds, immediately.