SEV Biblia, Chapter 8:2
Y si no lo quisieres dejar ir, he aquí yo heriré con ranas todos tus términos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Exodus 8:2
Verse 2. If thou refuse] Nothing can be plainer than that Pharaoh had it still in his power to have dismissed the people, and that his refusal was the mere effect of his own wilful obstinacy. With frogs] µy[drpx tsepardeim. This word is of doubtful etymology: almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree to render it as we do, though some mentioned by Aben Ezra think the crocodile is meant; but these can never weigh against the conjoint testimony of the ancient versions. Parkhurst derives the word from rpx tsaphar, denoting the brisk action, or motion of the light, and [dy yada, to feel, as they seem to feel or rejoice in the light, croaking all the summer months, yet hiding themselves in the winter. The Arabic name for this animal is very nearly the same with the Hebrew zafda, where the letters are the same, the r resch being omitted. It is used as a quadriliteral root in the Arabic language, to signify froggy, or containing frogs: see Golius. But the true etymology seems to be given by Bochart, who says the word is compounded of zifa, a bank, and rada, mud, because the frog delights in muddy or marshy places; and that from these two words the noun zafda is formed, the re being dropped. In the Batrocho myomachia of Homer, the frog has many of its epithets from this very circumstance. Hence limnocariv, delighting in the lake; borborokoithv, lying or engendering in the mud; phleuv, and phlbathv, belonging to the mud, walking in the mud, &c., &c.
A frog is in itself a very harmless animal; but to most people who use it not as an article of food, exceedingly loathsome. God, with equal ease, could have brought crocodiles, bears, lions, or tigers to have punished these people and their impious king, instead of frogs, lice, flies, &c. But had he used any of those formidable animals, the effect would have appeared so commensurate to the cause, that the hand of God might have been forgotten in the punishment; and the people would have been exasperated without being humbled. In the present instance he shows the greatness of his power by making an animal, devoid of every evil quality, the means of a terrible affliction to his enemies. How easy is it, both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy or save by means of the most despicable and insignificant of instruments! Though he is the Lord of hosts he has no need of powerful armies, the ministry of angels, or the thunderbolts of justice, to punish a sinner or a sinful nation; the frog or the fly in his hands is a sufficient instrument of vengeance.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-15 - Pharaoh is plagued with frogs; their vast numbers made them sor plagues to the Egyptians. God could have plagued Egypt with lions, or bears, or wolves, or with birds of prey, but he chose to do it by thes despicable creatures. God, when he pleases, can arm the smallest part of the creation against us. He thereby humbled Pharaoh. They shoul neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep in quiet; but wherever they were they should be troubled by the frogs. God's curse upon a man wil pursue him wherever he goes, and lie heavy upon him whatever he does Pharaoh gave way under this plague. He promises that he will let the people go. Those who bid defiance to God and prayer, first or last will be made to see their need of both. But when Pharaoh saw there wa respite, he hardened his heart. Till the heart is renewed by the grac of God, the thoughts made by affliction do not abide; the conviction wear off, and the promises that were given are forgotten. Till the state of the air is changed, what thaws in the sun will freeze again in the shade.
Original Hebrew
ואם 518 מאן 3986 אתה 859 לשׁלח 7971 הנה 2009 אנכי 595 נגף 5062 את 853 כל 3605 גבולך 1366 בצפרדעים׃ 6854
