What are צפרדעים?

In the entire Tanach, the term צפרדע appears only in this section of the Torah and Tehillim 105:30 where it also refers to the second plague. It is an unusual word and may not actually be Hebrew. The traditional view is that this creature is the frog, and this is its meaning in modern Hebrew. Onkelos translates the term as עורדעניא which likely means frogs. However, there is no source in Hazal that clearly identifies צפרדעים as frogs and a surprisingly large number of commentators believed that they were crocodiles.

• Sforno bases his entire interpretation of the plague on the assumption that צפרדעים were crocodiles. According to his view, they were a unique creation that God introduced into the world in order to manifest his power. Unlike other creatures they move their upper jaw rather than their lower one.
• Rabbeinu Hananel, cited by both Ramban and Rabbeinu Bahya, assumes the translation of צפרדע as crocodiles in explaining Moshe’s declaration that, following his prayer, ‘only in the Nile will they remain’. This promise, he argued, extended thousands of years later, when the crocodile is still unique to Egypt. [In fact, crocodiles are also widely found in the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia, but they are rare in the Mediterranean, Europe and Middle East, with the exception of Egypt].

Ibn Ezra discusses both understandings of צפרדע, concluding that the identification of it as the frog is more likely. The correct identification makes a difference to how we understand the plague. Crocodiles are particularly associated with Egypt, whereas frogs exist throughout the world. More significantly, frogs would represent a nuisance to the Egyptians, but a plague of crocodiles would result in many actual deaths. This consideration weighs strongly in favour of identifying the צפרדעים as frogs, because this fits in with the general pattern of the plagues increasingly gradually in terms of their destructive power. A plague of crocodiles would be every bit as bad, if not worse, than hail and locusts. Moreover, the Torah describes the צפרדעים as entering the ovens and kneading troughs of the Egyptians which is far more plausible to posit of frogs than crocodiles.

For more on parshat Va’eira, see Haggadah Berurah, the Haggadah that helps you tell the story of yetziat mitzrayim.