3 And I will harden H7185 Pharaoh's H6547 heart, H3820 and multiply H7235 my signs H226 and my wonders H4159 in the land H776 of Egypt. H4714
They shewed H7760 his signs H226 H1697 among them, and wonders H4159 in the land H776 of Ham. H2526 He sent H7971 darkness, H2822 and made it dark; H2821 and they rebelled H4784 not against his word. H1697 He turned H2015 their waters H4325 into blood, H1818 and slew H4191 their fish. H1710 Their land H776 brought forth H8317 frogs H6854 in abundance, H8317 in the chambers H2315 of their kings. H4428 He spake, H559 and there came H935 divers sorts of flies, H6157 and lice H3654 in all their coasts. H1366 He gave H5414 them hail H1259 for rain, H1653 and flaming H3852 fire H784 in their land. H776 He smote H5221 their vines H1612 also and their fig trees; H8384 and brake H7665 the trees H6086 of their coasts. H1366 He spake, H559 and the locusts H697 came, H935 and caterpillers, H3218 and that without number, H4557 And did eat up H398 all the herbs H6212 in their land, H776 and devoured H398 the fruit H6529 of their ground. H127 He smote H5221 also all the firstborn H1060 in their land, H776 the chief H7225 of all their strength. H202
How he had wrought H7760 his signs H226 in Egypt, H4714 and his wonders H4159 in the field H7704 of Zoan: H6814 And had turned H2015 their rivers H2975 into blood; H1818 and their floods, H5140 that they could not drink. H8354 He sent H7971 divers sorts of flies H6157 among them, which devoured H398 them; and frogs, H6854 which destroyed H7843 them. He gave H5414 also their increase H2981 unto the caterpiller, H2625 and their labour H3018 unto the locust. H697 He destroyed H2026 their vines H1612 with hail, H1259 and their sycomore trees H8256 with frost. H2602 He gave up H5462 their cattle H1165 also to the hail, H1259 and their flocks H4735 to hot thunderbolts. H7565 He cast H7971 upon them the fierceness H2740 of his anger, H639 wrath, H5678 and indignation, H2195 and trouble, H6869 by sending H4917 evil H7451 angels H4397 among them. He made H6424 a way H5410 to his anger; H639 he spared H2820 not their soul H5315 from death, H4194 but gave H5462 their life H2416 over H5462 to the pestilence; H1698 And smote H5221 all the firstborn H1060 in Egypt; H4714 the chief H7225 of their strength H202 in the tabernacles H168 of Ham: H2526
Which hast set H7760 signs H226 and wonders H4159 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 even unto this day, H3117 and in Israel, H3478 and among other men; H120 and hast made H6213 thee a name, H8034 as at this day; H3117 And hast brought forth H3318 thy people H5971 Israel H3478 out of the land H776 of Egypt H4714 with signs, H226 and with wonders, H4159 and with a strong H2389 hand, H3027 and with a stretched out H5186 arm, H248 and with great H1419 terror; H4172
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 7
Commentary on Exodus 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Ex 7:1-25. Second Interview with Pharaoh.
1. the Lord said unto Moses—He is here encouraged to wait again on the king—not, however, as formerly, in the attitude of a humble suppliant, but now armed with credentials as God's ambassador, and to make his demand in a tone and manner which no earthly monarch or court ever witnessed.
I have made thee a god—"made," that is, set, appointed; "a god"; that is, he was to act in this business as God's representative, to act and speak in His name and to perform things beyond the ordinary course of nature. The Orientals familiarly say of a man who is eminently great or wise, "he is a god" among men.
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet—that is, "interpreter" or "spokesman." The one was to be the vicegerent of God, and the other must be considered the speaker throughout all the ensuing scenes, even though his name is not expressly mentioned.
3. I will harden Pharaoh's heart—This would be the result. But the divine message would be the occasion, not the cause of the king's impenitent obduracy.
4, 5. I may lay mine hand upon Egypt, &c.—The succession of terrible judgments with which the country was about to be scourged would fully demonstrate the supremacy of Israel's God.
7. Moses was fourscore years old—This advanced age was a pledge that they had not been readily betrayed into a rash or hazardous enterprise, and that under its attendant infirmities they could not have carried through the work on which they were entering had they not been supported by a divine hand.
9. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, &c.—The king would naturally demand some evidence of their having been sent from God; and as he would expect the ministers of his own gods to do the same works, the contest, in the nature of the case, would be one of miracles. Notice has already been taken of the rod of Moses (Ex 4:2), but rods were carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court of Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were symbols of authority or rank. Hence God commanded His servants to use a rod.
10. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, &c.—It is to be presumed that Pharaoh had demanded a proof of their divine mission.
11. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, &c.—His object in calling them was to ascertain whether this doing of Aaron's was really a work of divine power or merely a feat of magical art. The magicians of Egypt in modern times have been long celebrated adepts in charming serpents, and particularly by pressing the nape of the neck, they throw them into a kind of catalepsy, which renders them stiff and immovable—thus seeming to change them into a rod. They conceal the serpent about their persons, and by acts of legerdemain produce it from their dress, stiff and straight as a rod. Just the same trick was played off by their ancient predecessors, the most renowned of whom, Jannes and Jambres (2Ti 3:8), were called in on this occasion. They had time after the summons to make suitable preparations—and so it appears they succeeded by their "enchantments" in practising an illusion on the senses.
12. but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods—This was what they could not be prepared for, and the discomfiture appeared in the loss of their rods, which were probably real serpents.
14. Pharaoh's heart is hardened—Whatever might have been his first impressions, they were soon dispelled; and when he found his magicians making similar attempts, he concluded that Aaron's affair was a magical deception, the secret of which was not known to his wise men.
15. Get thee unto Pharaoh—Now began those appalling miracles of judgment by which the God of Israel, through His ambassadors, proved His sole and unchallengeable supremacy over all the gods of Egypt, and which were the natural phenomena of Egypt, at an unusual season, and in a miraculous degree of intensity. The court of Egypt, whether held at Rameses, or Memphis, or Tanis in the field of Zoan (Ps 78:12), was the scene of those extraordinary transactions, and Moses must have resided during that terrible period in the immediate neighborhood.
in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water—for the purpose of ablutions or devotions perhaps; for the Nile was an object of superstitious reverence, the patron deity of the country. It might be that Moses had been denied admission into the palace; but be that as it may, the river was to be the subject of the first plague, and therefore, he was ordered to repair to its banks with the miracle-working rod, now to be raised, not in demonstration, but in judgment, if the refractory spirit of the king should still refuse consent to Israel's departure for their sacred rites.
17-21. Aaron lifted up the rod and smote the waters, &c.—Whether the water was changed into real blood, or only the appearance of it (and Omnipotence could effect the one as easily as the other), this was a severe calamity. How great must have been the disappointment and disgust throughout the land when the river became of a blood red color, of which they had a national abhorrence; their favorite beverage became a nauseous draught, and the fish, which formed so large an article of food, were destroyed. [See on Nu 11:5.] The immense scale on which the plague was inflicted is seen by its extending to "the streams," or branches of the Nile—to the "rivers," the canals, the "ponds" and "pools," that which is left after an overflow, the reservoirs, and the many domestic vessels in which the Nile water was kept to filter. And accordingly the sufferings of the people from thirst must have been severe. Nothing could more humble the pride of Egypt than this dishonor brought on their national god.
22. And the magicians … did so with their enchantments, &c.—Little or no pure water could be procured, and therefore their imitation must have been on a small scale—the only drinkable water available being dug among the sands. It must have been on a sample or specimen of water dyed red with some coloring matter. But it was sufficient to serve as a pretext or command for the king to turn unmoved and go to his house.