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Exodus 8 Bible study: God's finger
Pharaoh's magicians could bring up more frogs, but it was Moses whom Pharaoh asked to take them away, and when they couldn't make lice they said, "This is God’s finger" (8:19), words the World English Bible gives again only for the stone tablets and on Jesus' lips (Luke 11:20). With the flies, the LORD began to set his people's land apart.
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“Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.”
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“The lice came without Moses warning Pharaoh first.”
Is that in Exodus 8, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Two warnings, and one without
Before the frogs, the LORD sends Moses to Pharaoh with his demand, "Let my people go, that they may serve me" (8:1), and a warning: "If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs" (8:2). Before the flies, the same: Moses is to "stand before Pharaoh" when "he comes out to the water" (8:20), with the same demand and a warning of "swarms of flies" (8:21). Between them, the lice come with no message to Pharaoh at all. The LORD tells Moses that Aaron is to "strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt" (8:16), and "They did so" (8:17).
Where it leads to Jesus
By God's finger
Exodus 8:19leads toLuke 11:20
When they couldn't make lice, Pharaoh's magicians told him, "This is God’s finger" (8:19). When some said Jesus cast out demons "by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons" (Luke 11:15), he answered, "But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you" (Luke 11:20). In Matthew the same saying reads "by the Spirit of God" (Matthew 12:28). In the World English Bible, "God’s finger" is said only here, of the stone tablets (31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10), and by Jesus. Jesus doesn't name Exodus, so this link is a reading: some hear the magicians' words behind his; others read his words simply as the Old Testament's way of speaking of God's own work, as with the tablets.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Exodus 8
That was a taste
The rest of Exodus 8 is waiting in Favor
- What the magicians couldn't do
- A land set apart
- Pharaoh's bargains
- "That you may know"
- Two men who opposed Moses
- Frogs and flies in Israel's songs
- 12 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Exodus 8 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אֶצְבַּעetsba'say ets-BA
"Finger" (Brown-Driver-Briggs); Strong's adds "by analogy, a toe". When the magicians can't make lice, they tell Pharaoh, "This is God’s finger" (8:19). In the World English Bible, "God’s finger" comes only four times: here; twice of the stone tablets "written with God’s finger" (31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10); and once from Jesus: "But if I by God’s finger cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come to you" (Luke 11:20).
For your group
Exodus 8 Bible study questions
- 1Pharaoh promised to let Israel go while the frogs were everywhere, then hardened his heart once there was a respite (8:8, 8:15). When has relief made it easier for you to forget what you said while things were hard?
- 2Moses prayed for the king who was holding his people (8:28-30). Who is hard for you to pray for, and what would it look like to pray for them this week?
- 3The magicians finally said, "This is God’s finger" (8:19). Where have you seen something you couldn't explain except as God at work?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Exodus 8 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Exodus 8 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Exodus 8 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home