Exodus 7:14-25

Plague One: Blood

14 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart [is] {insensitive}; he refuses to release the people.
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."
20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh had commanded, and he raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all of the water that was in the Nile was changed to blood.
21 And the fish that [were] in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, and [the] Egyptians were not able to drink water from the Nile, and the blood was in all the land of Egypt.
22 And the magicians of Egypt did likewise with their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
23 And Pharaoh turned and went to his house, and {he did not take also this to heart}.
24 And all of [the] Egyptians dug around the Nile [for] water to drink, because they were unable to drink from the water of the Nile.
25 And seven days passed after Yahweh struck the Nile.

Exodus 7:14-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 7

Moses and Aaron are ordered to go to Pharaoh, and require the dismission of the people of Israel, but they are told before hand that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened, and would refuse to let them go, until the hand of the Lord was stretched out, and great judgments were brought down upon, Egypt, and then they should come forth, Ex 7:1-5, which orders Moses and Aaron obeyed, and their age is observed, when this was done, Ex 7:6,7 and they are bid to work a miracle, when Pharaoh should demand one, by turning a rod into a serpent, which they did; but Pharaoh's magicians doing the same in appearance, his heart was hardened, Ex 7:8-14 and then they are directed to meet him at the river, and require the same as before; and if he refused, to smite the waters of the river with the rod, and turn them into blood, which they did, Ex 7:15-21, but Pharaoh's magicians doing the same by enchantments, he did not regard it, though the plague lasted seven days, Ex 7:22-25.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Literally "heavy"
  • [b]. Literally "he did not put his heart also to this"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.