Exodus 8:14
in Exodus 8They were piled into countless heaps, and there was a terrible stench in the land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they gathered them together in heaps; and the land stank.
KJV
And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThey gathered them together upon heaps - The killing of the frogs was a mitigation of the punishment; but the leaving them to rot in the land was a continual proof that such a plague had taken place, and that the displeasure of the Lord still continued. The conjecture of Calmet is at least rational: he supposes that the plague of flies originated from the plague of frogs; that the former deposited their ova in the putrid masses, and that from these the innumerable swarms afterwards mentioned were hatched.
This site's exposition
Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs
on Exodus 8:12-14
Moses prays for the man who is holding his people, and Henry takes it as praying for a persecutor. The frogs die where they stand, in the houses and the courts and the fields, and the people gather them into heaps until the land stinks. The relief leaves the evidence lying in the open, so Egypt has to handle what it asked to be rid of.
This site's exposition
there was a terrible stench in the land
The dead frogs are gathered into countless heaps, and their rotting fills Egypt with a stench. The relief from the plague leaves its evidence in every district. Adam Clarke sees the heaps as a lasting proof that the plague had come and that the displeasure of the LORD remained, and he reports the guess of Calmet that the later flies bred in them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Note, The great Sovereign of the world makes what use he pleases of the lives and deaths of his creatures; and he that gives a being, to serve one purpose, may, without wrong to his justice, call for it again immediately, to serve another purpose. What was the issue of this plague (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And they gathered them together upon heaps,.... Swept them up, and laid them in heaps out of the way: and the land stank; with the stench of the dead frogs, which was another proof and evidence of the reality of the miracle; and that dead frogs will cause such an ill smell appears from the above account of what befell the inhabitants of Paeonia and Dardania, unless that should be the same with this, only the names of places and some circumstances altered; See Gill on Exo 8:16.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But many, while suffering the consequences of their sins, make promises of amendment and obedience which they afterwards forget; and so Pharaoh, when he saw there was a respite, was again hardened [Ex 8:15].
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And they did refers to Moses and Aaron. Moses is included because he told Aaron to smite the dust with the rod.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּצְבְּר֥וּ | vaiyitzberu | and people piled up | H6651 → | |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֳמָרִ֣ם | chomarim | heaps | H2563 → | 31 times |
| חֳמָרִ֑ם | chomarim | heaps | H2563 → | 31 times |
| וַתִּבְאַ֖שׁ | vativash | and it stank | H887 → | 17 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיִּצְבְּר֥וּand people piled up
vaiyitzberuH6651 →
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
חֳמָרִ֣םheaps
chomarimH2563 →31 times
חֳמָרִ֑םheaps
chomarimH2563 →31 times
וַתִּבְאַ֖שׁand it stank
vativashH887 →17 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joel 2:20The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its…
it leads to
- Zechariah 14:8
And on that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the Eastern Sea and the other half toward the Western Sea, in summer and winter alike.
- Ezekiel 47:18
On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
- Isaiah 34:3
Their slain will be left unburied, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will flow with their blood.
- Amos 4:10
“I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you…
- Zechariah 14:8
Through
Exodus 8:24And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined by swarms of flies.
it leads to
- Psalms 105:31
He spoke, and insects swarmed— gnats throughout their country.
- Psalms 78:45
He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
- Psalms 105:31
Through
Exodus 7:21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt.
it leads to
- Exodus 7:18
The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’”
- Exodus 7:18
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.