Hebrew word · H6854

צְפַרְדֵּעַ

hatzfarde'im

frog

"Frog" (used as a collective or plural). In the Hebrew Bible it appears only in the account of this plague (Exod 8) and in the psalms that recall it (Ps 78:45; 105:30).

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

frogs

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 8:9

Range of meaning

"Frog" (used as a collective or plural). In the Hebrew Bible it appears only in the account of this plague (Exod 8) and in the psalms that recall it (Ps 78:45; 105:30).

Against the English

All English versions say "frogs"; there is no translation issue.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Egypt, frogs swarmed every year after the Nile flood went down and were linked with fertility and new life. The frog-headed goddess Heqet was associated with childbirth, and the tadpole was used as the hieroglyph for the number 100,000, a sign of countless abundance.

From the study of Exodus 8:4

Range of meaning

The frog, or perhaps frogs and toads together. It is a concrete animal word with no figurative uses in the Hebrew Bible.

Against the English

Every English version says 'frogs'. The word is accurate. What English readers miss is what frogs meant in Egypt.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word appears only in the frog-plague story (Exod 8:2–13) and in the two psalms that retell the plagues (Ps 78:45; 105:30). Arabic has a related word, ḍifdaʿ, 'frog'. The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, uses batrachos. In Egypt frogs swarmed every year after the Nile flood went down. The tadpole sign in Egyptian writing stood for the number 100,000. A frog-headed goddess, Heqet, was linked with birth and new life.

From the study of Exodus 8:3

Range of meaning

Frog. In the Hebrew Bible it appears only in the account of the second plague (Exodus 7:27–8:9 in Hebrew numbering) and in the psalms that recall it (Psalm 78:45; 105:30).

Against the English

'Frogs' in every version. The translation is accurate; what English readers lack is the Egyptian background.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Egypt frogs swarmed from the Nile mud as the flood went down, and they became a symbol of fertility and new life. The goddess Heqet, linked with childbirth, was shown as a frog or with a frog's head. In hieroglyphic writing a tadpole stood for the number 100,000. The Greek Bible translates the word as batrachoi. Revelation 16:13 picks up the image with 'three unclean spirits like frogs'.

Where it appears

Exodus · 11

  1. Exodus 8:2 בַּֽצְפַרְדְּעִֽים׃ with <the> frogs

    But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.

    Here: 'With' marks the means: frogs are the weapon. 'The' frogs may simply be Hebrew idiom for a class of things, or it may point to the familiar frogs of the Nile.

  2. Exodus 8:3 צְפַרְדְּעִים֒ frogs

    The Nile will teem with frogs, and they will come into your palace and up to your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.

    Here: Frogs, plural. Grammatically they are what the river swarms *with* (the Nile 'swarms frogs'). The word is rare in Hebrew and turns up almost only in this plague story and in the psalms that remember it.

  3. Exodus 8:4 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִֽים׃ the frogs

    The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

    Here: 'The frogs' just announced in 8:2–3. In Hebrew they are held back to the last word of the sentence, so the verse ends on the creatures themselves.

  4. Exodus 8:5 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֖ים the frogs

    And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’”

    Here: 'The frogs' has 'the' because they were just announced in 8:2–4. To an Egyptian, frogs were a familiar sign of the Nile's fertility. Here they become a plague.

  5. Exodus 8:6 הַצְּפַרְדֵּ֔עַ the frog[s]

    So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

    Here: Singular with 'the', used for the whole species, the way English says 'the locust came' for a swarm. Verses 5 and 7 use the plural for the same frogs, which confirms that a mass of them is meant.

  6. Exodus 8:7 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֖ים the frogs

    But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

    Here: "The frogs," with the article. It may simply mean "frogs" as a kind of creature. Read closely, it is "the frogs": the same plague that already covers the land, now made worse.

  7. Exodus 8:8 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֔ים the frogs

    Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”

    Here: 'The frogs.' These are the swarms that came up from the Nile into houses, beds, ovens and kneading bowls (8:3 English).

  8. Exodus 8:9 הַֽצֲפַרְדְּעִ֔ים the frogs

    Moses 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?”

    Here: "The frogs" already described: swarming out of the Nile into bedrooms, beds, ovens and kneading bowls (vv. 3–4). In Egypt the frog was linked with fertility and new life, so a plague of them is a blessing turned into a curse.

  9. Exodus 8:11 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֗ים the frogs

    The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

  10. Exodus 8:12 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֖ים the frogs

    After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help with the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh.

  11. Exodus 8:13 הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֔ים the frogs

    And the LORD did as Moses requested, and the frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields died.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 78:45 וּ֝צְפַרְדֵּ֗עַ and frog[s]

    He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.

  2. Psalm 105:30 צְפַרְדְּעִ֑ים frogs

    Their land teemed with frogs, even in their royal chambers.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.