8:1–15 The second plague was an army of hopping and noisy frogs. While the first plague brought death to the fish of the Nile and to the waters of the Nile itself, the second brought an overabundance of amphibious life from the waters. Frogs (tsepardeʿim) invaded the land. The Hebrew word is considered an onomatopoeia, as it sounds like the noise made by new frogs. Creation seemed out of control, with the Egyptian frog goddess Heqet (whose purpose was to assist in childbirth) running amok. Moses and Aaron presented the competing claim, which was that the Creator (Yahweh) was controlling the creation for a specific purpose.

The text recounts this plague in an abbreviated form, without a description of the actual conversation with Pharaoh or his response to the threat of the plague. The sho…