Exodus 7:12

12 proieceruntque singuli virgas suas quae versae sunt in dracones sed devoravit virga Aaron virgas eorum

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 ingressi itaque Moses et Aaron ad Pharaonem fecerunt sicut praeceperat Dominus tulitque Aaron virgam coram Pharao et servis eius quae versa est in colubrum

11 vocavit autem Pharao sapientes et maleficos et fecerunt etiam ipsi per incantationes aegyptias et arcana quaedam similiter

12 proieceruntque singuli virgas suas quae versae sunt in dracones sed devoravit virga Aaron virgas eorum

13 induratumque est cor Pharaonis et non audivit eos sicut praeceperat Dominus

14 dixit autem Dominus ad Mosen ingravatum est cor Pharaonis non vult dimittere populum