Exodus 8:26
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But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do that, because the sacrifices we offer to the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. If we offer sacrifices that are detestable before the Egyptians, will they not stone us?
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. צפרדּע is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, called rana Mosaica or Nilotica by Seetzen, which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs (הצּפרדּע in Exo 8:6, used collectively) became a penal miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms ("bed-chamber"), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds (מטּה), the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the "dough" as Luther renders it), but even got upon the men themselves.
Open source ↗Three more of the plagues of Egypt are related in this chapter, I. That of the frogs, which is, 1. Threatened (Exo 8:1-4). 2. Inflicted (Exo 8:5, Exo 8:6). 3. Mimicked by the magicians (Exo 8:7). 4. Removed, at the humble request of Pharaoh (Exo 8:8-14), who yet hardens his heart, and, notwithstanding his promise while the plague was upon him (Exo 8:8), refuses to let Israel go (Exo 8:15). II. The plague of lice (Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17), by which, 1. The magicians were baffled (Exo 8:18, Exo 8:19), and yet, 2. Pharaoh was hardened (Exo 8:19). III. That of flies. 1. Pharaoh is warned of it before (Exo 8:20, Exo 8:21), and told that the land of Goshen should be exempt from this plague (Exo 8:22, Exo 8:23). 2. The plague is brought (Exo 8:24). 3. Pharaoh treats with Moses about the release of Israel, and humbles himself (Exo 8:25-29). 4. The plague is thereupon removed (Exo 8:31), and Pharaoh's heart hardened (Exo 8:32).
Open source ↗8:26-27 Moses pointed out the impossibility of what Pharaoh was asking on the grounds of the Egyptians’ own prejudice: They considered all Semites to be uncultured and uncouth (see Gen 43:32). • The Hebrews were leaving Egypt in order to worship God (see, e.g., Exod 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20). God’s purpose for the Exodus was to lead his people into a proper relationship with him.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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They separately served Joseph, his brothers, and the Egyptians. They ate separately because the Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.
you are to say, ‘Your servants have raised livestock ever since our youth—both we and our fathers.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”
And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’