Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Exodus
Chapter 8: Frogs, Lice, and Flies
The plagues press harder. Frogs swarm out of the Nile and fill every house, bed, and oven, until Pharaoh begs Moses to pray them away, promising to let Israel go, then breaks his word the moment he has relief. The dust of the land becomes lice, a plague the magicians cannot copy, and they confess to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." Then swarms of flies fill Egypt, but God severs the land of Goshen where His people dwell, so that no swarm comes near them, proving He is "the LORD in the midst of the earth." Pharaoh bargains and lies, and his heart stays hard. Exodus 8 is a chapter about half-hearted repentance that changes nothing, the God whose finger the counterfeit cannot match, and the God who makes a difference between His people and the world.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Exodus chapter 8. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 8 carries the second, third, and fourth plagues, frogs, lice, and flies. It teaches the emptiness of a repentance that only wants relief, the limit of every counterfeit power, and the God who sets a division between His people and the world. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
A Land Overrun
Frogs come up from the river and fill every house and bed and oven, an unclean flood out of the god Egypt trusted for life.
Pharaoh's False Repentance
Pharaoh begs for relief and promises to let Israel go, but the moment there is respite he hardens his heart and breaks his word.
The Lice the Magicians Could Not Copy
When the dust becomes lice, the magicians fail and confess, "This is the finger of God"; still Pharaoh will not hear.
Goshen Set Apart
Swarms of flies fill Egypt, but God severs Goshen where His people dwell, proving He is the LORD in the midst of the earth.
Frogs Out of the River (Exodus 8:1-7)
The second plague comes up out of the Nile itself, an unclean flood of frogs that fills every corner of Egypt at the word of God.
I Will Smite All Thy Borders With Frogs
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 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. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD."
Explanation
God sends Moses again with the same demand, "Let my people go, that they may serve me," and warns that refusal will bring frogs. When Pharaoh refuses, Aaron stretches the rod over the waters and "the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt." The river that had been turned to blood now teems with frogs that swarm out of it into every house, bedchamber, and oven, an inescapable, revolting flood. Once more the magicians manage to imitate the sign, bringing up frogs of their own by their enchantments, but their power only adds to the plague; it cannot remove it. That is the emptiness of the counterfeit: it can multiply the trouble but never relieve it. Only the true God can take the frogs away.
Hebrew Study
The Nile was worshiped in Egypt, and the frog was tied to Heqet, an Egyptian goddess of fertility pictured with a frog's head. So the very creature Egypt honored as a sign of life now became an unbearable plague. God turned Egypt's own idol into its torment, showing that the thing they revered was under His command, not theirs.
Gospel Focus
Notice again the limit of the counterfeit. The magicians could produce frogs, but they could not banish them; they could add to the misery of Egypt, but they were powerless to end it. This is always the way of the enemy and of every false hope. Sin and the powers of darkness can multiply our troubles, but they can never take them away. Only the LORD can say the word that removes the plague. When a man is overrun by the consequences of his sin, the world's remedies only add more frogs; they cannot cleanse the land. There is one who can, and only one. As the leper cried, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean" (Matthew 8:2), so every burdened heart must turn from the counterfeits that cannot help to the God who alone can lift the load.
Why Not Now? Pharaoh's Tomorrow (Exodus 8:8-15)
Pharaoh begs Moses to pray the frogs away and promises to release Israel, but the moment relief comes he hardens his heart and breaks his word.
To Morrow
"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? 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. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 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. And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. 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. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt."
Hebrew Study
Pharaoh begs, "Intreat the LORD" (athar, to plead in prayer), and Moses grants him the choice of timing — yet Pharaoh answers "To morrow," electing one more night with the frogs rather than instant relief, so blind is a hardened heart. When the respite comes, "he hardened his heart" — here kaved, made it heavy. Note the order in these early plagues: Pharaoh hardens himself again and again before ever the text says God hardened him. The breathing-space meant for repentance he spends on rebellion.
Explanation
Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron and begs, "Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs," promising, "I will let the people go." Moses answers with striking confidence: name the time, and it will be done, so Pharaoh "mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God." Then comes one of the strangest answers in Scripture. Moses asks when he shall pray, and Pharaoh says, "To morrow." He would rather spend one more night with the frogs in his bed than be free of them at once. It is a picture of a heart that wants relief but not today, that will turn to God, but later. Moses prays, and the next day the frogs die in heaps until the land stinks. But "when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not." The relief he begged for became the very occasion of his hardening.
Gospel Focus
Pharaoh's "to morrow" is the sermon of this chapter. Offered deliverance now, he chose one more night in his misery. So do many hearts. They know they must make things right with God, they even ask for help, but they say, "Tomorrow." Scripture pleads against this delay: "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15), and "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). Tomorrow is the devil's word; today is God's. And notice the deeper danger: when the respite came, Pharaoh grew harder, not softer. Mercy misused hardens the heart. Every time God relieves us and we go back to our sin, we are worse off than before, for we have despised His goodness. The goodness of God "leadeth thee to repentance" (Romans 2:4); it is not given to make us room to delay. Do not say tomorrow to the God who is speaking today.
This Is the Finger of God (Exodus 8:16-19)
The dust becomes lice throughout Egypt, and for the first time the magicians cannot copy the sign; they confess the plague is the very finger of God.
The Magicians Could Not
"And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 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 thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are."
Explanation
Without warning to Pharaoh this time, God has Aaron smite the dust of the land, and it becomes lice "in man, and in beast" throughout Egypt. Now the magicians meet their wall. They try their enchantments "to bring forth lice, but they could not." The counterfeit had copied the serpents, the blood, and the frogs, but here it fails utterly, and the failure forces a confession out of Egypt's own wise men: "This is the finger of God." They can no longer pretend this is a trick they too can perform; they name it as the work of God Himself. Yet even this open admission by his own advisers does not move Pharaoh. "Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not." He would rather deny what his own magicians confessed than humble himself before God.
Hebrew Study
"The finger of God" is a vivid phrase for God's direct, personal power. The same words return when the LORD writes the law on stone, "tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18), and Jesus uses the image of His own authority over demons: "if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Luke 11:20). The finger of God is God acting with unmistakable power.
Gospel Focus
The counterfeit has a limit, and God appoints where it stops. The magicians could imitate for a while, but at the lice they failed, and their failure preached the truth: "This is the finger of God." Darkness can mimic the works of God only so far; it cannot go the whole way, for it is not God. What is striking is that even unbelievers were forced to acknowledge God's hand, yet Pharaoh, seeing the same evidence, refused. Knowledge is not the same as surrender. A man may see the finger of God plainly, hear it confessed by others, and still harden his heart. The same finger of God that plagued Egypt writes the law and casts out devils, and by that finger Jesus declared the kingdom of God had come. The question is never whether the evidence is enough; the question is whether the heart will bow. Pharaoh's advisers saw and confessed; Pharaoh saw and hardened. Let us not be those who see the finger of God and turn away unchanged.
A Division Between My People and Thy People (Exodus 8:20-32)
Swarms of flies fill Egypt, but God severs the land of Goshen so no swarm touches His people, and Pharaoh bargains, breaks his word, and hardens his heart again.
I Will Sever the Land of Goshen
"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 thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. 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. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 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? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go."
Hebrew Study
With the swarms of flies God draws a line: He puts a "division" — peduth, a word that elsewhere means redemption — between His people in Goshen and the Egyptians, "to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth." And Pharaoh begins to bargain: sacrifice "in the land," or "not very far away." These are the compromises the enemy still offers — worship, but stay in Egypt; obey, but not all the way — every one of them a bid to keep devotion partial.
Explanation
The fourth plague brings "a grievous swarm of flies" into every Egyptian house, but now God draws a line. He severs Goshen, where Israel lives, so that no swarm comes there, "to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth." From this plague on, God plainly makes a difference between His people and Egypt. Pharaoh, pressed again, begins to bargain: first, "sacrifice to your God in the land," staying in Egypt; Moses refuses, for their worship would offend the Egyptians. Then Pharaoh says they may go, "only ye shall not go very far away," and asks Moses to pray for him. Moses warns him not to "deal deceitfully any more," prays, and God removes every fly. And yet, once relieved, "Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go." The same pattern repeats: plague, bargain, broken promise, hardened heart.
Gospel Focus
Here God begins to draw the line that runs through the whole of Scripture: "I will put a division between my people and thy people." He does not save His people out of Egypt by leaving them in the middle of its judgment; He sets them apart. This is the call on God's people still: "come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord" (2 Corinthians 6:17). The Lord knows how to shelter His own even while judgment falls all around, for "the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9). And mark Pharaoh's bargaining, for it is exactly how the enemy tries to compromise a believer's obedience. Stay in Egypt to worship; if you must go, do not go far; leave something behind. Each offer is a way of keeping God's people half in the world. But God calls for a clean deliverance and a whole obedience, not a negotiated one. Pharaoh's repeated word and repeated betrayal, promising freedom under pressure and snatching it back in relief, is the portrait of a heart that will use God for rescue but never yield to Him as Lord. True repentance keeps its word; Pharaoh's never did.
Chapter 8 in Review
Exodus 8 carries three plagues. Frogs swarm out of the Nile and fill Egypt, and though the magicians can produce more, they cannot take them away; only God can. Pharaoh begs for relief, and when Moses asks when to pray, he answers "To morrow," choosing one more night with the frogs rather than deliverance now, and when the respite comes he hardens his heart. The dust becomes lice, and here the counterfeit fails; the magicians confess, "This is the finger of God," yet Pharaoh will not hear. Then swarms of flies fill the land, but God severs Goshen so His people are untouched, and Pharaoh bargains, breaks his word, and hardens his heart once more.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter warns and assures. It warns against Pharaoh's "to morrow," the deadly delay that says yes to God but not today, for now is the day of salvation, and mercy misused only hardens the heart. It shows the limit of every counterfeit power, which can multiply trouble and imitate for a season but fails where God draws the line, until even His enemies confess His finger. And it assures us that God makes a division between His people and the world, sheltering His own in the midst of judgment and calling them to come out and be separate. Pharaoh's endless bargaining is the enemy's strategy against every believer, to keep us half in Egypt; but God calls for a whole and clean obedience. He is the LORD in the midst of the earth, and He will be known.
- The counterfeit can multiply our troubles but never remove them; only God can take the plague away (8:7; Matthew 8:2).
- Pharaoh's "to morrow" warns against delay; today is God's word, tomorrow is the enemy's (8:10; Hebrews 3:15; 2 Corinthians 6:2).
- Mercy misused hardens the heart; when respite came, Pharaoh grew harder, not softer (8:15; Romans 2:4).
- Every counterfeit has a God-appointed limit; at the lice the magicians confessed, "This is the finger of God" (8:19; Luke 11:20).
- God sets a division between His people and the world, sheltering His own and calling them to come out and be separate (8:22-23; 2 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Peter 2:9).
Questions for Reflection
- Pharaoh said "to morrow" when he could have been free today. Where are you delaying an obedience God is asking of you now?
- The magicians confessed the finger of God, yet Pharaoh hardened his heart. Is there evidence of God's hand you have seen but refused to bow to?
- God calls His people to come out and be separate, not to stay half in Egypt. Where might you be settling for a negotiated obedience instead of a whole one?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The link of the frog to the Egyptian goddess Heqet and of the Nile to Egyptian worship reflects the background of the plagues as judgments on Egypt's gods (Exodus 12:12), and can be checked in any Bible reference or study on Exodus. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The plague of frogs: Exodus 8:1-7; Matthew 8:2.
- Pharaoh's "to morrow" and false repentance: Exodus 8:8-15; Hebrews 3:15; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Romans 2:4.
- The finger of God, the lice: Exodus 8:16-19; Exodus 31:18; Luke 11:20.
- The flies and the division of Goshen: Exodus 8:20-32; 2 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Peter 2:9.