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Exodus 8 has Pharaoh ask for the frogs to be removed the next day. Philo interprets the frogs as empty opinions and Pharaoh’s delay as a refusal to give up his foolishness, even when relief is offered.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 8:10
Hebrew Bible
8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord that he may take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will release the people that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me—when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed from you and your houses, so that they will be left only in the Nile?” 10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Moses said, “It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”
Philo On the Birth of Abel 69
De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini
Classical
69 But Pharaoh, the squanderer of all things, not being able himself to receive the conception of virtues unconnected with time, inasmuch as he was mutilated as to the eyes of his soul, by which alone incorporeal natures are comprehended, would not endure to be benefited by virtues unconnected with time; but being weighed down by soulless opinions, I mean here by the frogs, animals which utter a sound and noise wholly void and destitute of reality, when Moses says, 'appoint a time to me when I may pray for you and for your servants that God will make the frogs to Disappear,' though he ought, as he was in very imminent necessity, to have said, Pray this moment, nevertheless postponed it, saying, 'Pray to-morrow,' in order that he might in every case preserve the folly of his impiety.
Date: 20-50 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... The frogs139 mean "soulless opinions and conjectures, which produce
noise and sound destitute and devoid of all reality." Pharaoh wanted to put
off being free of them until "tomorrow", just as evil people want to main
tain the unchanging level of their godlessness (Sacr. 69-71).140 The plague
is only one link in a long chain of evidence against Cain's offering. The
evidence consists of two parts: he offered "after some days" instead of at
once, and he did not offer the first-fruits (Sacr. 52). The frogs belong to
the former part. Good deeds should be done eagerly and without delay; ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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