Êxodo 8

ARC · Chapter 8/40

1Depois disse o Senhor a Moysés: Entra a Pharaó, e dize-lhe: Assim diz o Senhor: Deixa ir o meu povo, para que me sirva.

2E se recusares deixal-o ir, eis que ferirei com rãs todos os teus termos.

3E o rio creará rãs, que subirão e virão á tua casa, e ao teu dormitorio, e sobre a tua cama, e ás casas dos teus servos, e sobre o teu povo, e aos teus fornos, e ás tuas amassadeiras.

4E as rãs subirão sobre ti, e sobre o teu povo, e sobre todos os teus servos.

5Disse mais o Senhor a Moysés: Dize a Aarão: Estende a tua mão com tua vara sobre as correntes, e sobre os rios, e sobre os tanques, e faze subir rãs sobre a terra do Egypto.

6E Aarão estendeu a sua mão sobre as aguas do Egypto, e subiram rãs, e cobriram a terra do Egypto.

7Então os magos fizeram o mesmo com os seus encantamentos: e fizeram subir rãs sobre a terra do Egypto.

8E Pharaó chamou a Moysés e a Aarão, e disse: Rogae ao Senhor que tire as rãs de mim e do meu povo; depois deixarei ir o povo, para que sacrifiquem ao Senhor.

9E Moysés disse a Pharaó: Tu tenhas a honra sobre mim: Quando orarei por ti, e pelos teus servos, e por teu povo, para tirar as rãs de ti, e das suas casas, que sómente fiquem no rio

10E elle disse: Ámanhã. E Moysés disse: Seja conforme á tua palavra, para que saibas que ninguem ha como o Senhor nosso Deus.

11E as rãs apartar-se-hão de ti, e das tuas casas, e dos teus servos, e do teu povo: sómente ficarão no rio

12Então saiu Moysés e Aarão de Pharaó: e Moysés clamou ao Senhor por causa das rãs que tinha posto sobre Pharaó,

13E o Senhor fez conforme á palavra de Moysés: e as rãs morreram nas casas, nos pateos, e nos campos,

14E ajuntaram-as em montões, e a terra fedeu.

15Vendo pois Pharaó que havia descanço, aggravou o seu coração, e não os ouviu, como o Senhor tinha dito

16Disse mais o Senhor a Moysés: Dize a Aarão: Estende a tua vara, e fere o pó da terra, para que se torne em piolhos por toda a terra do Egypto.

17E fizeram assim; porque Aarão estendeu a sua mão com a sua vara, e feriu o pó da terra, e havia muitos piolhos nos homens e no gado: todo o pó da terra se tornou em piolhos em toda a terra do Egypto.

18E os magos fizeram tambem assim com os seus encantamentos para produzir piolhos, mas não poderam: e havia piolhos nos homens e no gado.

19Então disseram os magos a Pharaó: Isto é o dedo de Deus. Porém o coração de Pharaó se endureceu, e não os ouvia, como o Senhor tinha dito.

20Disse mais o Senhor a Moysés: Levanta-te pela manhã cedo, e põe-te diante de Pharaó; eis que elle sairá ás aguas, e dize-lhe: Assim diz o Senhor: Deixa ir o meu povo, para que me sirva

21Porque se não deixares ir o meu povo, eis que enviarei enxames de moscas sobre ti, e sobre os teus servos, e sobre o teu povo, e á tuas casas; e as casas dos egypcios se encherão d'estes enxames, e tambem a terra em que elles estiverem.

22E n'aquelle dia eu separarei a terra de Goshen, em que meu povo habita, que n'ella não haja enxames de moscas, para que saibas que eu sou o Senhor no meio d'esta terra.

23E porei separação entre o meu povo e o teu povo: ámanhã será este signal.

24E o Senhor fez assim; e vieram grandes enxames de moscas á casa de Pharaó, e ás casas dos seus servos, e sobre toda a terra do Egypto: a terra foi corrompida d'estes enxames.

25Então chamou Pharaó a Moysés e a Aarão, e disse: Ide, e sacrificae ao vosso Deus n'esta terra.

26E Moysés disse: Não convem que façamos assim, porque sacrificariamos ao Senhor nosso Deus a abominação dos egypcios: eis que se sacrificassemos a abominação dos egypcios perante os seus olhos, não nos apedrejariam elles?

27Deixa-nos ir caminho de tres dias ao deserto, para que sacrifiquemos ao Senhor nosso Deus, como elle nos dirá.

28Então disse Pharaó: Deixar-vos-hei ir, para que sacrifiqueis ao Senhor vosso Deus no deserto; sómente que, indo, não vades longe; orae tambem por mim

29E Moysés disse: Eis que saio de ti, e orarei ao Senhor, que estes enxames de moscas se retirem ámanhã de Pharaó, dos seus servos, e do seu povo: sómente que Pharaó não mais me engane, não deixando ir a este povo para sacrificar ao Senhor.

30Então saiu Moysés de Pharaó, e orou ao Senhor,

31E fez o Senhor conforme á palavra de Moysés, e os enxames de moscas se retiraram de Pharaó, dos seus servos, e do seu povo: não ficou uma só.

32Mas aggravou Pharaó ainda esta vez seu coração, e não deixou ir o povo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God sends the plagues of frogs, lice, and flies upon Egypt; Pharaoh repeatedly promises to let the people go, but changes his mind as soon as each plague is removed.

Explanation

This chapter shows a pattern that will repeat throughout the entire plague narrative: Pharaoh, under immediate pressure, promises to give in, but resumes his stubbornness as soon as relief comes, revealing a shallow, self-interested repentance rather than a true change of heart. The plagues of frogs and flies, though treated almost as 'lesser' plagues compared to those that follow, already demonstrate God's growing power over creation, including the careful separation between the people of Israel (protected in the land of Goshen) and the Egyptians — a clear sign that the events were not natural coincidences but deliberate acts of God. The Egyptian magicians' inability to replicate the plague of lice, leading them to acknowledge 'this is the finger of God' (v. 19), is a remarkable moment when even the opponents themselves recognize, if only partially, a spiritual reality that Pharaoh insists on ignoring.

Fun facts

  • The frog (represented by the Egyptian goddess Heket, associated with fertility and childbirth) becoming an unbearable plague is another example of theological irony: an Egyptian symbol of blessing and life turns into a source of disgust and mass death, emptying out its supposed divine power.
  • The Egyptian magicians' statement, 'this is the finger of God' (v. 19), is remarkably echoed centuries later by Jesus in Luke 11:20, when He describes His own miracles as a sign of God's power working visibly in the world.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 8:1After the seven days at the end of the previous chapter, God sends Moses to make a new request to Pharaoh, introducing the second plague.
  2. Êxodo 8:2The threat is specific: if Pharaoh keeps refusing, frogs will invade all of Egyptian territory, a problem quite different from and more invasive than the polluted river.
  3. Êxodo 8:3The description details how the frogs, normally a nuisance confined to the water, will invade even the most private spaces of homes, including beds and ovens.
  4. Êxodo 8:4It repeats the reach of the plague: no one in Egypt, neither Pharaoh nor the common people, would be free from the invasion of frogs.
  5. Êxodo 8:5As in the previous plague, it is Aaron who stretches out the staff to set the sign in motion, following the division of roles already established between the two brothers.
  6. Êxodo 8:6The plague comes to pass exactly as announced: frogs come up out of the Egyptian waters and cover the whole land.
  7. Êxodo 8:7The magicians of Egypt repeat the same feat as the previous plague, imitating the sign, even though making more frogs appear only made everyone’s situation worse.
  8. Êxodo 8:8For the first time, Pharaoh directly asks for Moses’s intercession to end a plague, promising in return to let the people go sacrifice.
  9. Êxodo 8:9Moses lets Pharaoh choose the exact moment when the plague will end, making clear that the power behind the miracle belongs to God alone.
  10. Êxodo 8:10Pharaoh chooses the next day for the plague to end, and Moses agrees, explaining that the whole point is to show that there is no god like the LORD.
  11. Êxodo 8:11It repeats the promise: the frogs will disappear from everywhere else, remaining only in the river, their natural habitat.
  12. Êxodo 8:12Moses keeps his word and prays to God specifically about the plague he himself had announced to Pharaoh.
  13. Êxodo 8:13God answers Moses’s request, and the frogs die en masse in the houses, courtyards, and fields throughout Egypt.
  14. Êxodo 8:14The Egyptians gather the bodies of the dead frogs into heaps, and the smell of decay takes over the air — relief accompanied by another nuisance.
  15. Êxodo 8:15As soon as he feels the relief of the plague, Pharaoh goes back on his promise and hardens his heart again, repeating the pattern God had already told Moses to expect.
  16. Êxodo 8:16With no prior warning to Pharaoh, God sends Aaron to start the third plague, turning the very dust of the Egyptian ground into lice.
  17. Êxodo 8:17The plague takes effect immediately and strikes both people and animals, covering the whole land of Egypt with lice coming out of the ground.
  18. Êxodo 8:18This time the Egyptian magicians try to imitate the sign, but fail — it is the first plague they cannot reproduce with their own tricks.
  19. Êxodo 8:19The Egyptian magicians themselves, who up to then had managed to imitate the earlier plagues, admit that this is the “finger of God” when they cannot reproduce the lice coming up out of the dust. The expression means acknowledging a direct act of God, something their magic or tricks simply cannot reach.
  20. Êxodo 8:20After the plague of lice, God sends Moses to approach Pharaoh again in the morning, by the river, repeating the same request for the people’s freedom.
  21. Êxodo 8:21The threat now involves swarms of flies, which would invade both the Egyptians’ houses and the very ground they stood on, another widespread plague.
  22. Êxodo 8:22Goshen was the region of the Nile Delta where the Hebrews had lived since the time of Joseph, set apart from the rest of Egypt. From here on God begins sparing that area from the plagues, a distinction that makes clear to the Egyptians that what is happening has a defined target, not just some random disaster.
  23. Êxodo 8:23God promises to draw a dividing line between the Hebrew people and the Egyptians, making clear that the plague has a defined target, not a random disaster.
  24. Êxodo 8:24The plague comes to pass as announced, with swarms overrunning Pharaoh’s house and all Egyptian territory, sparing only Goshen.
  25. Êxodo 8:25For the first time Pharaoh seems to really give in, calling Moses and Aaron and authorizing the sacrifice, but he still imposes a condition in the next verse.
  26. Êxodo 8:26Moses explains to Pharaoh that sacrificing sheep and oxen to the LORD inside Egypt would be dangerous, because these animals were sacred to the Egyptians, and killing them in public would be seen as a serious religious insult. That is why he insists on going three days’ distance, into the wilderness, away from Egyptian eyes.
  27. Êxodo 8:27Moses refuses Pharaoh’s condition and insists on the original plan: going out into the wilderness, three days’ distance away, as God had directed since chapter 3.
  28. Êxodo 8:28Pharaoh agrees to the trip into the wilderness, but asks that they not go too far, and even asks them to pray for him, revealing some fragility behind his resistance.
  29. Êxodo 8:29Moses agrees to pray for the plague to end, but warns that he will no longer accept deception from Pharaoh regarding the people’s freedom — a suspicion soon confirmed.
  30. Êxodo 8:30Keeping his word, Moses leaves Pharaoh’s presence and prays to God for the end of the plague of flies.
  31. Êxodo 8:31God answers Moses’s request, and the flies disappear completely, without leaving a single trace.
  32. Êxodo 8:32Even after seeing the plague end as promised, Pharaoh goes back on his word once again and does not let the people go, repeating the pattern of the earlier plagues.

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