FROG

[Heb., tsephar·deʹaʽ; Gr., baʹtra·khos].

A tailless amphibian with smooth skin and long, muscular hind legs ideally suited for leaping. In the Hebrew Scriptures frogs are mentioned solely in connection with the second blow Jehovah visited upon Egypt (Ex 8:1-14; Ps 78:45; 105:30), which, like the other plagues, was a judgment on the deities worshiped in that land. (Ex 12:12) The frog was sacred to Heqt, an Egyptian goddess depicted with the head of this creature.

At Revelation 16:13 “unclean inspired expressions” are likened to frogs. This is appropriate, inasmuch as frogs were unclean for food according to the Mosaic Law.​—Le 11:12.