II-2 Va'iera A Plague on You

» Dubh_Sidhe - Plague of Frogs

The land of Egypt was covered with frogs. They were everywhere, but the word for frog used in Torah is in the singular - tzifardaya. So how can this be, when there were millions of frogs?

There was once a debate between two rabbis on this question. One rabbi maintained that, yes, there was only one frog, but it bred so rapidly that it filled up the entire land of Egypt. Any truth in this? Not improbable, because frogs are hermaphrodites. That is, they possess both male and female reproductive organs, so one could reproduce rapidly.

The view of the second rabbi was that, yes, there was only one frog, and it croaked so loudly and so rapidly for the others, that they came in swarms, from everywhere.

Then Exodus 8:6 tells us that Moses instructed Aaron to stretch forth his rod over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land.
It was a miracle.

However, the magicians duplicated the plague of frogs, revealing the power of Satan. But only G-d was able to cause the frogs to go away.

Interesting article and links, Pogo. Enjoyed all of it.

-- posted by Dubh_Sidhe

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