Adam Clarke's Bible Commentary Verse 3. The river shall bring forth frogs abundantly] The river Nile, which was an object of their adoration, was here one of the instruments of their punishment. The expression, bring forth abundantly, not only shows the vast numbers of those animals, which should now infest the land, but it seems also to imply that all the spawn or ova of those animals which were already in the river and marshes, should be brought miraculously to a state of perfection. We may suppose that the animals were already in an embryo existence, but multitudes of them would not have come to a state of perfection had it not been for this miraculous interference. This supposition will appear the more natural when it is considered that the Nile was remarkable for breeding frogs, and such other animals as are principally engendered in such marshy places as must be left in the vicinity of the Nile after its annual inundations.
Into thine ovens] In various parts of the east, instead of what we call ovens they dig a hole in the ground, in which they insert a kind of earthen pot, which having sufficiently heated, they stick their cakes to the inside, and when baked remove them and supply their places with others, and so on. To find such places full of frogs when they came to heat them, in order to make their bread, must be both disgusting and distressing in the extreme.
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 ושׁרץ8317 היאר2975 צפרדעים6854 ועלו5927 ובאו935 בביתך1004 ובחדר2315 משׁכבך4904 ועל5921 מטתך4296 ובבית1004 עבדיך5650 ובעמך5971 ובתנוריך8574 ובמשׁארותיך׃4863
