Exodus 7:3-18

3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment.

5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD .”

6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them.

7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.

8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

9 “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent. ’”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the LORD had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent!

11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic.

12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go.

15 So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake.

16 Then announce to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him.

17 So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD .” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood.

18 The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”

Exodus 7:3-18 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

• [a]. Hebrew tannin, which elsewhere refers to a sea monster. Greek version translates it “dragon.”
• [b]. Hebrew heavy.