#Exodus 7:25-8:11

The Frogs

Like the blood, here too we have two similar stories intertwined, but easily separated now that we know what each source is up to in this section, and how they each envision the process of the plagues/wonders.

7:25-29 is the J introduction: reference to the Nile, instructions to Moses to go to Pharaoh, passage of time, usual message about leaving to worship, use of “refuse,” warning about what’s to come, and actually damaging plague. I’ll also add Pharaoh’s servants, regulars in J.

8:1 is P’s parallel, straightforward instructions given to Moses, requiring Aaron to act, right there in the moment just after the blood trick has failed to convince Pharaoh. Note the entire land of Egypt, not just the Nile, as was the case with blood too.

8:2 is sort of a combo package: the first half, where Aaron does the gesture, is clearly P; the second half, especially the words “the frogs came up,” has to belong to both - logical enough, since both use the same verb, עלה, for how the frogs emerge.

I suspect that the phrase “and covered the land of Egypt” is J, since J has a whole list of who and where gets affected, while P (as we’ll see more in a moment) doesn’t really have the frogs covering anything, just popping up.

8:3, with the magicians replicating the trick, is obviously P. And that they replicate it means again that in P the frogs are only momentary. I think it’s just that Aaron lifts his arm and all the frogs jump out of the water - then right back in again.

8:4-11 (mostly) is J again. The negotiations about relieving the plague - which means it was a real burden - the passage of time, the servants, the Nile, the list of places the frogs were, the stinking like in the blood plague: all clear J ideas and patterns.

The only small complication is the last verse. When Pharaoh sees the relief, he becomes stubborn - that’s easy J. But “he would not heed them, as YHWH had spoken” - that’s the end of the P concluding phrase. We’re missing “Pharaoh’s heart hardened” here, as in 7:22.

Easy enough to explain: at this point in the P story, YHWH doesn’t have to intervene to harden Pharaoh’s heart. As long as the magicians can do the trick too, he’s stubborn on his own. So the P idea at this point is exactly the same as the J idea. J’s stubbornness covers both.

Small complications aside, the frogs look a lot like the blood. The stories follow their regular patterns and phrasings, with J being more complex with more moving parts, and P being pretty simple and static. J is still plagues, P is still wonders.