Exodus 7:17

17 Thus says Yahweh, "By this you will know that I [am] Yahweh. Look, I [am about to] strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood.

Exodus 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 7:17

Thus saith the Lord, in this thou shalt know that I am the
Lord
By the following instance of his power and vengeance:

behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand;
which though in the hand of Moses, ( Exodus 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

upon the waters which are in the river;
the river Nile, and the canals thereof:

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.

Exodus 7:17 In-Context

15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Look, [he is] going out to the water, and you must wait to meet him on the bank of the Nile, and you must take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.

16 And you must say to him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Release my people that they may serve me in the desert, and, look, you have not listened until now."

17 Thus says Yahweh, "By this you will know that I [am] Yahweh. Look, I [am about to] strike with the staff that is in my hand the water that is in the Nile, and it will be changed to blood.

18 And the fish that [are] in the Nile will die, and the Nile will stink, and [the] Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile." '"

19 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch your hand out over the waters of Egypt and over their rivers, over their canals, and over their pools and over all of their reservoirs of water, so that they become blood,' and blood will be in all the land of Egypt and in [vessels of] wood and of stone."