Exodus 8:9
in Exodus 8Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Have thou this glory over me: against what time shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs be destroyed from thee and thy houses, and remain in the river only?
KJV
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?
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This verse in Exodus 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Glory over me - See the margin, “have honor over me,” i. e. have the honor, or advantage over me, directing me when I shall entreat God for thee and thy servants. When - Or by when; i. e. for what exact time. Pharaoh’s answer in Exo 5:10 refers to this, by tomorrow. The shortness of the time would, of course, be a test of the supernatural character of the transaction.
This site's exposition
Intreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs
on Exodus 8:8-9
Pharaoh asks for prayer from the men he had dismissed at 5:2 with the words who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice, and he offers to let the people go for the first time. Moses answers with Glory over me and hands the king the choosing of the hour, which the older commentators read as an invitation to name a time no trickery could arrange. The frogs are to go back into the river they came out of rather than to disappear.
This site's exposition
You may have the honor over me
Moses lets Pharaoh choose the hour when the frogs will leave, handing the king the honor of setting the terms. A time fixed by Pharaoh himself would show that the LORD ended the plague by His word. The frogs of the Nile are excepted, so the river keeps its own creatures. Albert Barnes reads the short interval as a test of the supernatural character of the deliverance.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, glory over me,....
Have thou this honour over me, tell me against when I shall entreat for thee. This was designed for Pharaoh's conviction, that, if his eyes were not opened by the plague, they might by the removal of it. So various are the methods God takes to bring men to repentance.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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].
Glory over me - התפאר עלי hithpaer alai. These words have greatly puzzled commentators in general; and it is not easy to assign their true meaning. The Septuagint render the words thus: Ταξαι προς με ποτε, etc., Appoint unto me when I shall pray, etc. The constitue mihi quando of the Vulgate is exactly the same; and in this sense almost all the versions understood this place. This countenances the conjectural emendation of Le Clerc, who, by the change of a single letter, reading התבאר hithbaer for התפאר hithpaer, gives the same sense as that in the ancient versions. Houbigant, supposing a corruption in the original, amends the reading thus: אתה באר עלי attah baar alai - Dic mihi quo tempore, etc., “Tell me when thou wishest me to pray for thee,” etc., which amounts to the same in sense with that proposed by Le Clerc. Several of our English versions preserve the same meaning; so in the Saxon Heptateuch; so in Becke’s Bible, 1549, “And Moses sayed unto Pharaoh, Appoint thou the time unto me.” This appears to be the genuine import of the words, and the sense taken in this way is strong and good. We may conceive Moses addressing Pharaoh in this way: “That thou mayest be persuaded that Jehovah alone is the inflicter of these plagues, appoint the time when thou wouldst have the present calamity removed, and I will pray unto God, and thou shalt plainly see from his answer that this is no casual affliction, and that in continuing to harden thy heart and resist thou art sinning against God.” Nothing could be a fuller proof that this plague was supernatural than the circumstance of Pharaoh’s being permitted to assign himself the time of its being removed, and its removal at the intercession of Moses according to that appointment. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They gathered them into [many] heaps, and the land was [ they became ] polluted [ decayed upon the land ].
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֣ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| לְפַרְעֹה֮ | lefaroh | to Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| הִתְפָּאֵ֣ר | hitpaer | honor yourself | H6286 → | |
| עָלַי֒ | ʾalai | over me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לְמָתַ֣י׀ | lematai | to when? | H4970 → | 43 times |
| אַעְתִּ֣יר | ʾa'tir | will I pray | H6279 → | 20 times |
| לְךָ֗ | lekha | for you | ||
| וְלַעֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙ | velaavadeikha | and for servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וּֽלְעַמְּךָ֔ | uleamekha | and for people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לְהַכְרִית֙ | lehakhrit | to cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| הַֽצֲפַרְדְּעִ֔ים | hatzafardeim | the frogs | H6854 → | 13 times |
| מִמְּךָ֖ | mimekha | from you | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| וּמִבָּתֶּ֑יךָ | umibbateikha | and from houses your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| רַ֥ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| בַּיְאֹ֖ר | bayor | in the River | H2975 → | 65 times |
| תִּשָּׁאַֽרְנָה׃ | tishaarnah | they will remain | H7604 → | 133 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁ֣הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
לְפַרְעֹה֮to Pharaoh
lefarohH6547 →274 times
הִתְפָּאֵ֣רhonor yourself
hitpaerH6286 →
עָלַי֒over me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
לְמָתַ֣י׀to when?
lemataiH4970 →43 times
אַעְתִּ֣ירwill I pray
ʾa'tirH6279 →20 times
לְךָ֗for you
lekha
וְלַעֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙and for servants your
velaavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
וּֽלְעַמְּךָ֔and for people your
uleamekhaH5971 →1873 times
לְהַכְרִית֙to cut off
lehakhritH3772 →288 times
הַֽצֲפַרְדְּעִ֔יםthe frogs
hatzafardeimH6854 →13 times
מִמְּךָ֖from you
mimekhaH4480 →1188 times
וּמִבָּתֶּ֑יךָand from houses your
umibbateikhaH1004 →2046 times
רַ֥קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
בַּיְאֹ֖רin the River
bayorH2975 →65 times
תִּשָּׁאַֽרְנָה׃they will remain
tishaarnahH7604 →133 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
Judges 7:2Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:17
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–29
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7
Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
- Romans 11:18
do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
- Zechariah 12:7
The LORD will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah.
- Deuteronomy 8:17
Through
Isaiah 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or…
it leads to
- Romans 9:20–21
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 10:5
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Romans 9:20–21
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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.