Pharaoh has begged. Now Moses gives him an extraordinary gift: pick the hour. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 8:5 renders the offer with unmistakable dignity to Pharaoh's office: Glorify thyself on account of me. At what time dost thou request that I should pray for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be destroyed?
The Aramaic phrase itpa'er alai — glorify thyself on account of me — is Moses handing Pharaoh a ceremonial scepter he did not earn. Choose your moment, Moses says. Dawn? Noon? Tomorrow? The plague will end when you say. Any other prophet would have named the hour himself. Moses offers the timing as an honor.
Why? Because Moses wants no doubt. If the frogs disappear the instant he prays, skeptics might say the plague was already ending by itself, and Moses merely caught the wave. By letting Pharaoh pick the exact moment, Moses ensures that the miracle is undeniable. The clock becomes Pharaoh's witness against himself.
And there is something gentle here too. Pharaoh's ego needs the compliment. Moses, who had every reason to grind him into the dust, chooses instead to grant him the small courtesy of choosing a time. Redemption does not require humiliating the oppressor. It requires outlasting him with dignity intact.
The takeaway: true power speaks softly enough to let the king pick the hour, and still wins.