What Does Exodus 8:9 Mean in the King James?
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The requested relief is a boundary, not annihilation: the frogs leave the houses and remain in the river alone.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you where distress fills the whole space: relief can mean the return of a boundary, with the frogs leaving the houses and remaining in the river. Moses lets Pharaoh name when the plea is made, so the change has a definite time and can be recognized. The crisis is not erased from existence; its reach is cut back to one place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that relief requires the cause of distress to be annihilated: the frogs remain in the river while their presence is cut off from people and houses.
THE ROOT
לְהַכְרִית
lehakhrît
GROWS FROM
כרת
k-r-t
Cut, sever, or cause to be cut off.
“destroy” in this verse is lehakhrît. The action is framed as cutting the frogs off from you and your houses; the line then says they remain in the river alone. The root makes the hinge spatial: the household is cleared while the frogs’ river-world remains.
ALSO GROWS
kārat: The basic verb of cutting.
כָּרַת
Its physical sense lies beneath the request to end the frogs’ presence in human spaces.
kārat berit: A Hebrew expression for making a covenant.
כָּרַת בְּרִית
The same root can mark a defined bond or boundary, not only an ending.
הִתְפָּאֵר
hitpa'er
GROWS FROM
פאר
p-ʾ-r
Adorn, beautify, or bring honor.
“Glory over me” in this verse is hitpa'er. Here the honor-language functions as an invitation for Pharaoh to choose when Moses will plead. The timing is placed in Pharaoh’s hands, making the relief recognizable at the moment he names.
ALSO GROWS
tif'eret: Beauty, adornment, or honor.
תִּפְאֶרֶת
This noun shares the honor and beauty carried by the invitation to “glory” over Moses.
yefa'er: To beautify or bring honor.
יְפָאֵר
This verbal branch keeps the phrase connected to taking honor by choosing the moment.
אַעְתִּיר
aʿtîr
GROWS FROM
עתר
ʿ-t-r
Entreat, supplicate, or plead.
“intreat” in this verse is aʿtîr. The plea is made for Pharaoh, his servants, and his people together. The same root can describe both making a petition and being entreated, holding appeal and answer within one word-family.
ALSO GROWS
vayyeʿtar: Isaac made a plea to the LORD.
וַיֶּעְתַּר
This active form from Genesis 25:21 shares the root of Moses’ plea.
vayyeʿater: The LORD received or answered the plea.
וַיֵּעָתֶר
The passive form follows the active one in Genesis 25:21, showing the root on both sides of petition and response.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance becomes recognizable when its outcome is concrete enough to observe.
And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.THE THREAD
And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.The same Hebrew root עתר (ʿāṯar, “entreat”) names Moses’ appeal here and Isaac’s plea there. Genesis repeats it in active and passive forms, Isaac entreats, and the LORD is entreated, so petition and answer sit inside one root.
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