Exodus 7:12

12 Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.

Exodus 7:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 7:12

For they cast down every man his rod, and they became
serpents
That is, they seemed to be so, as Josephus ^F26 expresses it, but not really, in which he is followed by many; though some think that the devil assisted in this affair, and in an instant, as soon as the rods were cast down, removed them and put real serpents in their room:

but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods;
that is, the serpent that Aaron's rod was turned into, swallowed up the rods of the magicians, which never were otherwise than rods only in appearance; or if real serpents were put in the room of them, these were devoured by his serpent called his rod, because it was before turned into a serpent, as Aben Ezra observes; though the Targums of Jonathan, Jarchi, and R. Jeshua, suppose this was done after the serpent became a rod again; which makes the miracle the greater and more wonderful, that a rod should devour other rods; and supposing them real serpents, this was what the magicians could not make their rods do, and in which they were outdone by Aaron.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Antiqu. ut supra. (l. 2. c. 13 sect. 3.)

Exodus 7:12 In-Context

10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.

11 But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers-the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.

12 Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.

13 However, Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh is unresponsive: he refuses to let the people go.