Exodus 7

Exo 7:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

With this chapter begins the series of miracles performed in Egypt. They are progressive. The first miracle is performed to accredit the mission of the brothers; it is simply credential, and unaccompanied by any infliction. Then come signs which show that the powers of nature are subject to the will of Yahweh, each plague being attended with grave consequences to the Egyptians, yet not inflicting severe loss or suffering; then in rapid succession come ruinous and devastating plagues, murrain, boils, hail and lightning, locusts, darkness, and lastly, the death of the firstborn. Each of the inflictions has a demonstrable connection with Egyptian customs and phenomena; each is directly aimed at some Egyptian superstition; all are marvelous, not, for the most part, as reversing, but as developing forces inherent in nature, and directing them to a special end. The effects correspond with these characteristics; the first miracles are neglected; the following plagues first alarm, and then for a season, subdue, the king, who does not give way until his firstborn is struck. Even that blow leaves him capable of a last effort, which completes his ruin, and the deliverance of the Israelites.

I have made thee a god to Pharaoh - That is, my representative in this affair, as magistrates are called gods, because they are God's vicegerents. He was authorized to speak and act in God's name, and endued with a divine power, to do that which is above the ordinary course of nature.

I have made thee a god - According to Exo_4:16, And it will be, he shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be for a mouth to you. And you shall be to him a god. Moses was to be a god to Aaron; and in harmony with that, Aaron is here called the prophet of Moses, as being the person who would announce to Pharaoh the revelations of Moses. At the same time Moses was also made a god to Pharaoh; i.e., he was promised divine authority and power over Pharaoh, so that henceforth there was no more necessity for him to be afraid of the king of Egypt, but the latter, notwithstanding all resistance, would eventually bow before him. Moses was a god to Aaron as the revealer of the divine will, and to Pharaoh as the executor of that will.

I have made thee a god - Or “appointed thee.” Not a god by nature, he was so by commission and office, clothed with power and authority from God to act under him in all things he should direct; not in an ordinary way, as magistrates are gods, but in an extraordinary manner; and not to any other but to Pharaoh, being an ambassador of God to him, Moses will stand in this special relation to Pharaoh, that God will address him by a prophet, i. e. by one appointed to speak in His name.

Shall be thy prophet - to declare the will of God revealed to him by Moses from the Lord; Shall receive the word from thy mouth, and communicate it to the Egyptian king, Exo_7:2. The passage is an important one as illustrating the primary and essential characteristic of a prophet, he is the declarer of God’s will and purpose.

Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet--that is, "interpreter" or "spokesman." The one was to be the vicegerent of God, and the other must be considered the speaker throughout all the ensuing scenes, even though his name is not expressly mentioned.

God glorifies himself. He makes people know that he is Jehovah. Israel is made to know it by the performance of his promises to them, and the Egyptians by the pouring out of his wrath upon them. Moses, as the ambassador of Jehovah, speaking in his name, laid commands upon Pharaoh, denounced threatenings against him, and called for judgments upon him. Pharaoh, proud and great as he was, could not resist. Moses stood not in awe of Pharaoh, but made him tremble. This seems to be meant in the words, Thou shalt be a god unto Pharaoh. At length Moses is delivered from his fears. He makes no more objections, but, being strengthened in faith, goes about his work with courage, and proceeds in it with perseverance.

Exo 7:2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

Thou shalt speak all that I command thee - That is, to Aaron his prophet, whatever the Lord made known to him in a private manner as his will to be done:

that he send the children of Israel out of his land - this was the principal thing to be insisted upon; and all that was said or done to him was to bring about this end, the dismission of the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Exo 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

Wonders - A word used only of portents performed to prove a divine interposition; they were the credentials of God’s messengers.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart - This would be the result. But the divine message would be the occasion, not the cause of the king's impenitent obduracy. God will permit his stubbornness and obstinacy still to remain, that God may have the greater opportunity to multiply His wonders in the land, that the Egyptians may know that He only is Jehovah, the self-existent God.

Exo 7:4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you - this the Lord apprised them of, that they might not be discouraged, and conclude their labor would be in vain.

bring forth mine armies - the children of Israel consisting of 600,000 men, besides women and children, Exo_12:37 which, divided into twelve tribes, made twelve fine armies, 50,000 men in a tribe or army upon an average: Armies is used of Israel, with reference to its leaving Egypt equipped Exo_13:18 But God led the people around, by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the sons of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt and organized as an army according to the tribes to contend for the cause of the Lord, and fight the battles of Jehovah. In this respect the Israelites were called the hosts of Jehovah. Exo_6:26 It was Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. Exo_12:51 And it happened the very same day, that the LORD brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

I may lay mine hand upon Egypt--The succession of terrible judgments with which the country was about to be scourged would fully demonstrate the supremacy of Israel's God.

Exo 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord - Jehovah, the one only true and living God; this they should know by the judgments executed upon them, and be obliged to acknowledge it: Pharaoh’s obstinacy was either caused or permitted in mercy to the Egyptians, that he and his magicians being suffered to oppose Moses and Aaron to the uttermost of their power, the Israelites might be brought out of Egypt in so signal a manner, in spite of all the opposition of the Egyptians, their king, and their gods, that Jehovah might appear to be All-mighty and All-sufficient.

Exo 7:6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them - After this they never showed any reluctance, or made any objection to any message they were sent with, or any work they were ordered to do, but went about it at once, and performed it with all readiness and cheerfulness: which is not a superfluous and redundant expression, but very emphatic, showing with what care and diligence they did every thing, and how exactly they conformed in all things to the divine will.

Exo 7:7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

Moses was fourscore years old - He was forty years old when he went to Midian, and he had tarried forty years in Midian; (see Exo_2:11, and Act_7:30); and from this verse it appears that Aaron was three years older than Moses. We have already seen that Miriam their sister was older than either, Exo_2:4.

And Moses was eighty years old - At this time, which is observed partly to show how long Israel had been afflicted in Egypt; for their great troubles and miseries began about the time of the birth of Moses, or a little before, as appears from the above history; and partly to show the patience and forbearance of God with the Egyptians, and how just and righteous were his judgments on them; with this perfectly agrees Stephen's account of the age of Moses, Act_7:23 and Aaron eighty three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh; so that they were men that had had a large experience of things, and had been long training up for the service designed to be done by them;

Exo 7:8 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

If we carefully examine the account of these nine penal miracles, we shall find that they are arranged in three groups of three plagues each. For the first and second, the fourth and fifth, and the seventh and eighth were announced beforehand by Moses to the king (Exo_7:15; Exo_8:1, Exo_8:20; Exo_9:1, Exo_9:13; Exo_10:1), whilst the third, sixth, and ninth were sent without any such announcement (Exo_8:16; Exo_9:8; Exo_10:21). Again, the first, fourth, and seventh were announced to Pharaoh in the morning, and the first and fourth by the side of the Nile (Exo_7:15; Exo_8:20), both of them being connected with the overflowing of the river; whilst the place of announcement is not mentioned in the case of the seventh (the hail, Exo_9:13), because hail, as coming from heaven, was not connected with any particular locality. This grouping is not a merely external arrangement, adopted by the writer for the sake of greater distinctness, but is founded in the facts themselves, and the effect which God intended the plagues to produce, as we may gather from these circumstances - that the Egyptian magicians, who had imitated the first plagues, were put to shame with their arts by the third, and were compelled to see in it the finger of God (Exo_8:19), - that they were smitten themselves by the sixth, and were unable to stand before Moses (Exo_9:11), - and that after the ninth, Pharaoh broke off all further negotiation with Moses and Aaron (Exo_10:28-29).

The last plague, commonly known as the tenth, which Moses also announced to the king before his departure (Exo_11:4.), differed from the nine former ones both in purpose and form. It was the first beginning of the judgment that was coming upon the hardened king, and was inflicted directly by God Himself, for Jehovah “went out through the midst of Egypt, and smote the first-born of the Egyptians both of man and beast” (Exo_11:4; Exo_12:29); whereas seven of the previous plagues were brought by Moses and Aaron, and of the two that are not expressly said to have been brought by them, one, that of the dog-flies, was simply sent by Jehovah (Exo_8:21, Exo_8:24), and the other, the murrain of beasts, simply came from His hand (Exo_9:3, Exo_9:6). The last blow (נגע Exo_11:1), which brought about the release of Israel, was also distinguished from the nine plagues, as the direct judgment of God, by the fact that it was not effected through the medium of any natural occurrence, as was the case with all the others, which were based upon the natural phenomena of Egypt, and became signs and wonders through their vast excess above the natural measure of such natural occurrences and their supernatural accumulation, blow after blow following one another in less than a year, and also through the peculiar circumstances under which they were brought about.

In this respect also the triple division is unmistakeable. The first three plagues covered the whole land, and fell upon the Israelites as well as the Egyptians; with the fourth the separation commenced between Egyptians and Israelites, so that only the Egyptians suffered from the last six, the Israelites in Goshen being entirely exempted. The last three, again, were distinguished from the others by the fact, that they were far more dreadful than any of the previous ones, and bore visible marks of being the forerunners of the judgment which would inevitably fall upon Pharaoh, if he continued his opposition to the will of the Almighty God.

In this graduated series of plagues, the judgment of hardening was inflicted upon Pharaoh in the manner explained above. In the first three plagues God showed him, that He, the God of Israel, was Jehovah (Exo_7:17), i.e., that He ruled as Lord and King over the occurrences and powers of nature, which the Egyptians for the most part honored as divine; and before His power the magicians of Egypt with their secret arts were put to shame. These three wonders made no impression upon the king. The plague of frogs, indeed, became so troublesome to him, that he begged Moses and Aaron to intercede with their God to deliver him from them, and promised to let the people go (Exo_8:8). But as soon as they were taken away, he hardened his heart, and would not listen to the messengers of God.

Of the three following plagues, the first (i.e., the fourth in the entire series), viz., the plague of swarming creatures or dog-flies, with which the distinction between the Egyptians and Israelites commenced, proving to Pharaoh that the God of Israel was Jehovah in the midst of the land (Exo_8:22), made such an impression upon the hardened king, that he promised to allow the Israelites to sacrifice to their God, first of all in the land, and when Moses refused this condition, even outside the land, if they would not go far away, and Moses and Aaron would pray to God for him, that this plague might be taken away by God from him and from his people (Exo_8:25.). But this concession was only forced out of him by suffering; so that as soon as the plague ceased he withdrew it again, and his hard heart was not changed by the two following plagues. Hence still heavier plagues were sent, and he had to learn from the last three that there was no god in the whole earth like Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews (Heb_9:14).

The terrible character of these last plagues so affected the proud heart of Pharaoh, that twice he acknowledged he had sinned (Exo_9:27; Exo_10:16), and gave a promise that he would let the Israelites go, restricting his promise first of all to the men, and then including their families also (Exo_10:11, Exo_10:24). But when this plague was withdrawn, he resumed his old sinful defiance once more (Exo_9:34-35; Exo_10:20), and finally was altogether hardened, and so enraged at Moses persisting in his demand that they should take their flocks as well, that he drove away the messengers of Jehovah and broke off all further negotiations, with the threat that he would kill them if ever they came into his presence again (Exo_10:28-29).

Exo 7:9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

The miraculous sign mentioned here is distinctly related to the art of snake-charming, which was carried to such an extent by the Psylli in ancient Egypt. What the magi and conjurers of Egypt boasted that they could perform by their secret or magical arts, Moses was to effect in reality in Pharaoh's presence, and thus manifest himself to the king as Elohim (Exo_7:1), i.e., as endowed with divine authority and power. For these magicians, whom the Apostle Paul calls Jannes and Jambres, according to the Jewish tradition 2Ti_3:8 But as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so these also resist the truth, men of corrupt mind, reprobate concerning the faith, were not common jugglers, but “wise men,” men educated in human and divine wisdom, and belonging to the priestly caste (Gen_41:8); so that the power of their gods was manifested in their secret arts, and in the defeat of their enchantments by Moses the gods of Egypt were overcome by Jehovah (Exo_12:12). The supremacy of Jehovah over the demoniacal powers of Egypt manifested itself in the very first miraculous sign, in the fact that Aaron's staff swallowed those of the magicians; though this miracle made no impression upon Pharaoh (Exo_7:13).

Thy rod - Apparently the rod before described Exo_4:2-3, which Moses on this occasion gives to Aaron as his representative. Exo_4:2-3 And the LORD said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff. And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground. And it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it. Sometimes called the rod of God, rod of Moses and rod of Aaron.

Take thy rod - Notice has already been taken of the rod of Moses (Exo_4:2), but rods were carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court of Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were symbols of authority or rank. Hence God commanded His servants to use a rod.

A serpent - A word different from that in Exo_4:2-3. Here a more general term is employed, which in other passages includes all sea or river monsters, and is more specially applied to the crocodile as a symbol of Egypt. It occurs in the Egyptian ritual, nearly in the same form, “Tanem,” as a synonym of the monster serpent which represents the principle of antagonism to light and life.

Show a miracle for you - A miracle, mopheth, signifies an effect produced in nature which is opposed to its laws, or such as its powers are inadequate to produce. As Moses and Aaron professed to have a Divine mission, and to come to Pharaoh on the most extraordinary occasion, making a most singular and unprecedented demand, it was natural to suppose, if Pharaoh should even give them an audience, that he would require them to give him some proof by an extraordinary sign that their pretensions to such a Divine mission were well founded and incontestable. To prove that they came from God, the Jehovah they said they did, and that they were his ambassadors, and came in his name, and made the demand for him.

Exo 7:10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

It became a serpent - tannin. What kind of a serpent is here intended, learned men are not agreed. From the manner in which the original word is used in Psa 74:13 You divide the sea by Your strength; You break the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters. Isa 27:1 In that day Jehovah with His great and fierce and strong sword shall punish the sea-monster, the darting serpent, the sea-monster, that twisting serpent; and He shall kill the monster in the sea. Isa 51:9 Awake! awake! Put on strength, O arm of Jehovah. Awake! as in the days of old, in the generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab into pieces, piercing the sea-monster? Job 7:12 Am I like the sea, or a whale, that You set a watch over me? some very large creature, either aquatic or amphibious, is probably meant; some have thought that the crocodile, a well-known Egyptian animal, is here intended. In Exo 4:3 And He said, Throw it on the ground. And he threw it on the ground. And it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it, it is said that this rod was changed into a serpent, but the original word there is nachash, and here tannin, the same word which we translate whale, Gen 1:21 And God created great sea-animals, and every living soul that creeps with which the waters swarmed after their kind; and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

It became a serpent - The words tannin, tanninim, tannim, and tannoth, are used to signify different kinds of animals in the Scriptures. The word is supposed to signify the jackal in Job_30:29; Psa_44:19; Isa_13:22; Isa_34:13; Isa_35:7; Isa_43:20; Jer_9:11, etc., etc.; and also a dragon, serpent, or whale, Job_7:12; Psa_91:13; Isa_27:1; Isa_51:9; Jer_51:34; Eze_29:3; Eze_32:2; and is termed, in our translation, a sea-monster, Lam_4:3. As it was a rod or staff that was changed into the tannim in the cases mentioned here, it has been supposed that an ordinary serpent is what is intended by the word, because the size of both might be then pretty nearly equal: but as a miracle was wrought on the occasion, this circumstance is of no weight; it was as easy for God to change the rod into a crocodile, or any other creature, as to change it into an adder or common snake.

Exo 7:11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

Three names for the magicians of Egypt are given in this verse. The “wise men” are men who know occult arts. The “sorcerers” are they who “mutter magic formulae,” especially when driving away crocodiles, snakes, asps, etc. It was natural that Pharaoh should have sent for such persons. The “magicians” are the “bearers of sacred words,” scribes and interpreters of hieroglyphic writings. Books containing magic formulae belonged exclusively to the king; no one was permitted to consult them but the priests and wise men, who formed a council or college, and were called in by the Pharaoh on all occasions of difficulty.

The names of the two principal magicians, Jannes and Jambres, who “withstood Moses,” are preserved by Paul, 2Ti_3:8. Both names are Egyptian.

Enchantments - The original expression implies a deceptive appearance, an illusion, a juggler’s trick, not an actual putting forth of magic power. Pharaoh may or may not have believed in a real transformation; but in either case he would naturally consider that if the portent performed by Aaron differed from that of the magicians, it was a difference of degree only, implying merely superiority in a common art. The miracle which followed Exo_7:12 was sufficient to convince him had he been open to conviction. It was a miracle which showed the truth and power of Yahweh in contrast with that of others.

Exo 7:12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

Exo 7:13 And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

And he harden'd Pharaoh's heart - That is, permitted it to be hardened.

Exo 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.

Pharaoh’s heart is hardened - Or "heavy", dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, cannot lift up his heart, or find in his heart to obey the will of God:

Exo 7:15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

He goeth out unto the water - Probably for the purpose of performing some religious ablution. Some suppose he went out to pay adoration to the river Nile, which was an object of religious worship among the ancient Egyptians. The Nile was worshipped under various names and symbols; at Memphis especially, as Hapi, i. e. Apis, the sacred bull, or living representation of Osiris, of whom the river was regarded as the embodiment or manifestation. If, as is probable, the king went to offer his devotions, the miracle would have special force and suitableness. It was also the season of the yearly overflowing, about the middle of June; and the daily rise of the water was accurately recorded, under the personal superintendence of the king. In early inscriptions the Nilometer is the symbol of stability and providential care.

He goeth out unto the water - In the Talmud it is said, that the Pharaoh in the days of Moses was a magician. So he would be at the river in the morning as part of his rites. To worship the rising sun, or the Nile, to pay his morning devotions to it. Or, as one scholar thinks, a custom of the kings of Egypt, to go out in the months of Tammuz and Ab, i.e. June, and July, when the river increases, to observe how many degrees it has ascended, by which the fruitfulness of the ensuing season was judged of.

he goeth out unto the water-- the river was to be the subject of the first plague, and therefore, Moses was ordered to repair to its banks with the miracle-working rod, now to be raised, not in demonstration, but in judgment, if the refractory spirit of the king should still refuse consent to Israel's departure for their sacred rites.

Exo 7:16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

the Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee - still appearing in the character of the ambassador of Jehovah, the God of the children of Israel:

let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness - the demand is once more renewed, before any punishment is inflicted for refusal, that the patience and forbearance of God might be the more visible, and his judgments appear the more righteous when inflicted, as well as Pharaoh be left more inexcusable.

and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear - upbraiding him with his disobedience, and the hardness of his heart; but signifying it was not now too late, though it was advisable to be quick, or the blow would be given, and the plagues inflicted.

Exo 7:17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

and they shall be turned to blood - and if this river was their god, it would abundantly appear that the God of the Hebrews was Jehovah, and above all gods, and particularly above theirs.

Turned to blood - Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the dead fish and blood now rendered it very unpleasant. It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for Nile, the river of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews' children, and now God made that river all blood. Aaron is to summon the plague by smiting the river with his rod. It was done in the sight of Pharaoh and his attendants. The plague continued seven days; and in all that time Pharaoh's proud heart would not let him desire Moses to pray for the removal of it. Thus the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath.

Turned to blood - This miracle would bear a certain resemblance to natural phenomena, and therefore be one which Pharaoh might see with amazement and dismay, yet without complete conviction. It is well known that before the rise the water of the Nile is green and unfit to drink. About the 25th of June it becomes clear, and then yellow, and gradually reddish like ochre; an effect due to the presence of microscopic cryptogams and infusoria. The supernatural character of the visitation was tested by the suddenness of the change, by its immediate connection with the words and act of Moses, and by its effects. It killed the fish, and made the water unfit for use, neither of which results follows the annual discoloration. The death of the fishes was a sign, that the smiting had taken away from the river its life-sustaining power.

behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand - which though in the hand of Moses, Exo_7:18 yet he being his ambassador, and representing him, is said to be in the hand of the Lord; and with this he threatens to smite

Exo 7:18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

Shall lothe - The water of the Nile has always been regarded by the Egyptians as a blessing unique to their land. The water is considered highly desirable and refreshing, its good taste often remarked on by travelers. That the Egyptians hate to drink of the Nile was a fearsome calamity.

Exo 7:19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

Upon the waters of Egypt - The “streams” mean the natural branches of the Nile in Lower Egypt. The word “rivers” should rather be “canals”; they were of great extent, running parallel to the Nile, and communicating with it by sluices, which were opened at the rise, and closed at the subsidence of the inundation. The word rendered “ponds” refers either to natural fountains, or more probably to cisterns or tanks found in every town and village. The “pools”, literally “gathering of waters,” were the reservoirs, always large and some of enormous extent, containing sufficient water to irrigate the country in the dry season.

That there may be blood - Not only the Nile itself was to be thus changed into blood in all its branches, and the canals issuing from it, but all the water of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, was to undergo a similar change. And this was to extend even to the water already brought into their houses for culinary and other domestic purposes. As the water of the Nile is known to be very thick and muddy, and the Egyptians historically filtered it through pots of a kind of white earth, and sometimes through a paste made of almonds, it is supposed that the vessels of wood and stone mentioned above may refer to the process of filtration. Or they may have simply been storage vessels in the home.

Exo 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

Compare this verse to the following verses in Revelation:

Rev_8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. And the third part of the sea became blood.

Rev_16:6 since they have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets; and You gave them blood to drink, for they were deserving.

Revelation 22: 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the water of life freely.

all the waters - As the Nile was held sacred by the Egyptians, as well as the animals it contained, to which they annually sacrificed a girl, or as others say, both a boy and girl, God might have designed this plague as a punishment for such idolatry and cruelty; and to show them the baseness of those elements which they reverenced, and the insufficiency of the gods in which they trusted. All the punishments brought upon them bore a strict analogy to their crimes. This event is referred to later in Psalms Psa_78:44, Psa_105:29

Exo 7:21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

And the fish that was in the river died - The Egyptians subsisted to a great extent on the fish of the Nile, though salt-water fish were regarded as impure. A mortality among the fish was a plague that was much dreaded. Which was a full proof that the conversion of it into blood was real; for had it been only in appearance, or the water of the river had only the color of blood, but was not really so, it would not have affected the fishes.

This is the first plague executed on the Egyptians, and a very righteous one by the law of retaliation for shedding the blood of innocent babes, through casting them into this river; and this will be the second and third vials of God's wrath, which will be poured on antichrist, or mystical Egypt, who will have blood given to drink Rev_16:3-4 And the second angel poured out his vial on the sea. And it became like the blood of a dead one, and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood.

The first miracle of Christ turned water into wine, the first plague upon Egypt turned all their water into blood.

Exo 7:22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.

And the magicians of Egypt did so - But if all the water in Egypt was turned into blood by Moses, where did the magicians get the water which they changed into blood? This question is answered in Exo_7:24. The Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, and it seems that the water obtained by this means was not bloody like that in the river: on this water therefore the magicians might operate. Again, though a general commission was given to Moses, not only to turn the waters of the river (Nile) into blood, but also those of their streams, rivers, ponds, and pools; yet it seems pretty clear from Exo_7:20 that he did not proceed thus far, at least in the first instance; for it is there stated that only the waters of the river were turned into blood. Afterwards the plague doubtless became general. At the commencement therefore of this plague, the magicians might obtain other water to imitate the miracle; and it would not be difficult for them, by juggling tricks or the assistance of a familiar spirit, (for we must not abandon the possibility of this use), to give it a bloody appearance, a fetid smell, and a bad taste.

And the magicians did so - Little or no pure water could be procured, and therefore their imitation must have been on a small scale --the only drinkable water available being dug among the sands. It must have been on a sample or specimen of water dyed red with some coloring matter. But it was sufficient to serve as a pretext or command for the king to turn unmoved and go to his house.

Exo 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.

neither did he set his heart to this also - had no regard to this miracle of turning the waters into blood, as well as he had none to the rod being turned into a serpent, and devouring the rods of the magicians; he neither considered the one nor the other, or seriously and closely thought of this, any more than of the other.

Exo 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

And all the Egyptians digged round about the river - On each side of it, in order to get clear water.

Exo 7:25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

Seven days - This marks the duration of the plague. The natural discoloration of the Nile water lasts generally much longer, about 20 days.