Keluaran 8:7

8:7 The magicians did the same ¹  with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. ² 

Keluaran 4:17

4:17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.” ³ 

[8:7]  ¹ tn Heb “thus, so.”

[8:7]  ² sn In these first two plagues the fact that the Egyptians could and did duplicate them is ironic. By duplicating the experience, they added to the misery of Egypt. One wonders why they did not use their skills to rid the land of the pests instead, and the implication of course is that they could not.

[4:17]  ³ sn Mention of the staff makes an appropriate ending to the section, for God’s power (represented by the staff) will work through Moses. The applicable point that this whole section is making could be worded this way: The servants of God who sense their inadequacy must demonstrate the power of God as their sufficiency.