Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 7:14
And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart [is] hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
14. is stubborn ] lit. is heavy, i.e. difficult to move, the word used by J to express the idea of hardening of the heart. See on Exo 7:13.
refuseth ] cf. Exo 4:23, Exo 8:2, Exo 9:2, Exo 10:3-4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14 25. The first plague: the water turned into blood. From J, E, and P. In J and E only the water of the Nile is turned to blood ( vv. 17, 20), in P all the water in Egypt ( vv. 19, 21b). In P, also, as in other cases (p. 55), the wonder is wrought at a signal given by Aaron with his rod ( v. 19); and though the distinction is obscured as the text now stands, it is probable, that when J and E were in their original form, it was described in J as wrought, like the other plagues, by Jehovah, without human intervention, and in E at a signal given by Moses (see on vv. 15, 17, 20b; and cf. p. 56).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Chapters Exo 7:14 to Exo 11:5
The first nine Plagues
The narrative of the Plagues, like that of the preceding chapters, is composite. The details of the analysis depend partly upon literary criteria, partly upon differences in the representation, which are not isolated, but recurrent, and which moreover accompany the literary differences and support the conclusions based upon them, the differences referred to often also agreeing remarkably with corresponding differences in the parts of the preceding narrative, especially in Exo 3:1 to Exo 7:13, which have already, upon independent grounds, been assigned to P, J, and E, respectively. No one source, however, it should be premised, in the parts of it that have been preserved, gives all the plagues.
The parts belonging to P are most readily distinguished, viz. (after Exo 7:8-13) Exo 7:19-20 a, 21b 22, Exo 8:5-7; Exo 8:15 b 19, Exo 9:8-12, Exo 11:9-10: the rest of the narrative belongs in the main to J, the hand of E being hardly traceable beyond Exo 7:15; Exo 7:17 b, 20 b, Exo 9:22-23 a, 31 32 (perhaps), 35a, Exo 10:12-13 a, 14 a, 15 b, 20, 21 23, 27, Exo 11:1-3.
Putting aside for the present purely literary differences, we have thus a threefold representation of the plagues, corresponding to the three literary sources, P, J, and E, of which the narrative is composed. The differences relate to not less than five or six distinct points, the terms of the command addressed to Moses, the part taken by Aaron, the demand made of the Pharaoh, the use made of the rod, the description of the plague, and the formulae used to express the Pharaoh’s obstinacy. Thus in P Aaron co-operates with Moses, and the command is Say unto Aaron (Exo 7:19, Exo 8:5; Exo 8:16; so before in Exo 7:9: even in Exo 9:8, where Moses alone is to act, both are expressly addressed); there is no interview with the Pharaoh, so that no demand is ever made for Israel’s release; the descriptions are brief; except in Exo 9:10, Aaron is the wonder-worker, bringing about the result by stretching out his rod at Moses’ direction (Exo 7:19, Exo 8:5 f., 16 f.; cf. Exo 7:9); the wonders wrought (‘signs and portents,’ Exo 7:3: P does not speak of them as ‘plagues’) are intended less to break down the Pharaoh’s resistance than to accredit Moses as Jehovah’s representative; they thus take substantially the form of a contest with the native magicians, who are mentioned only in this narrative (Exo 7:11 f., 22, Exo 8:7; Exo 8:18 f., Exo 9:11), and who at first do the same things by their arts, but in the end are completely defeated; the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is expressed by za izz ( was strong, made strong), Exo 7:22, Exo 8:19, Exo 9:12, Exo 11:10 (Son 7:13), and the closing formula is, and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken, Exo 7:22, Exo 8:15 b, 19, Exo 9:12 (Son 7:13). In J, on the contrary, Moses one (without Aaron) is told to go in before the Pharaoh, and he addresses the Pharaoh himself (in agreement with Exo 4:10-16, where Aaron is appointed to be Moses’ spokesman not with Pharaoh, as in P, but with the people), Exo 7:14-16, Exo 8:1; Exo 8:9-10; Exo 8:20; Exo 8:26; Exo 8:29, Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13; Exo 9:29, Exo 10:1; Exo 10:9; Exo 10:25, Exo 11:4-10 [116] ; a formal demand is regularly made, Let my people go, that they may serve me, Exo 7:16, Exo 8:1; Exo 8:20, Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13, Exo 10:3 (comp. before, Exo 4:23); the interview with the Pharaoh is prolonged, and described in some detail; Jehovah Himself brings the plague, after it has been announced by Moses, usually on the morrow, Exo 8:23, Exo 9:5 f., 18, Exo 10:4, without any mention of Aaron or his rod; sometimes the king sends for Moses and Aaron to crave their intercession, Exo 8:8; Exo 8:25, Exo 9:27, Exo 10:16; the plague is removed, as it is brought, without any human intervention; the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is expressed by kbd, hikbd ( was heavy, made heavy), Exo 7:14, Exo 8:15; Exo 8:32, Exo 9:7; Exo 9:34, Exo 10:1; and there is no closing formula: J also, unlike both P and E, represents the Israelites as living apart from the Egyptians, in the land of Goshen, Exo 8:22, Exo 9:26 (so before, Gen 45:10; Gen 46:28 f., &c.). The narrative generally is written (just as it is in Genesis, for instance) in a more picturesque and varied style than that of P; there are frequent descriptive touches, and the dialogue is abundant.
[116] Aaron, if he appears at all, is only Moses’ silent companion, Exo 8:8; Exo 8:12 (see vv. 9, 10), 25 (see vv. 26, 29), Exo 9:27 (see v. 29), Exo 10:8 (see v. 9). In Exo 10:3 it is doubtful if the plural, ‘and they said,’ is original: notice in v. 6b ‘and he turned.’
Some other, chiefly literary, characteristics of J may also be here noticed: refuseth ( ), esp. followed by to let the people go, Exo 7:14, Exo 8:2, Exo 9:2, Exo 10:3-4 (so before Exo 4:23); the God of the Heb 7:16 ; Heb 9:1 ; Heb 9:13 ; Heb 10:3 (so Exo 3:18; Exo 5:3); Thus saith Jehovah, said regularly to Pharaoh, Exo 7:17, Exo 8:1; Exo 8:20, Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13, Exo 10:3, Exo 11:4 (so Exo 4:22); behold with the participle (in the Heb.) in the announcement of the plague Exo 7:17, Exo 8:2; Exo 8:21, Exo 9:3; Exo 9:18, Exo 10:4 (so Exo 4:23); border, Exo 8:2, Exo 10:4; Exo 10:14; Exo 10:19; thou, thy people, and thy servants, Exo 8:3, Exodus 4, 9, 11, 21, 29, Exo 9:14 (see the note), cf. Exo 10:6; to intreat, Exo 8:8-9; Exo 8:28-29, Exo 9:28, Exo 10:17; such as hath not been, &c. Exo 9:18 b, 24 b, Exo 11:6 b, cf. Exo 10:6 b, 14 b; to sever, Exo 8:22, Exo 9:4, Exo 11:7; the didactic aim or object of the plague (or circumstance attending it) stated, Exo 7:17 a, Exo 8:10 b, 22 b, Exo 9:14 b, 16 b, 29 c, Exo 10:2 b, Exo 11:7 b.
The narrative of E has been only very partially preserved; so it is not possible to characterize it as fully as those of P or J. Its most distinctive feature is that Moses is the wonder-worker, bringing about the plague by his rod (in agreement with Exo 4:17; Exo 4:20 b, where it is said to have been specially given to him by God), Exo 7:15 b, 17 b, 20 b, Exo 9:23 a, Exo 10:13 a (cf. afterwards, Exo 14:16, Exo 17:5; Exo 17:9); only in the case of the darkness (Exo 10:21 f.) does he use his hand for the purpose. This feature differentiates E from both P (with whom the wonder-working rod is in Aaron’s hand), and J (who mentions no rod, and represents the plague as brought about directly, after Moses’ previous announcement of it, by Jehovah Himself). E uses the same word be or make strong, for ‘harden,’ that P does, but he follows the clause describing the hardening of the Pharaoh’s heart by the words, and he did not let the children of Israel (or them) go, Exo 9:35 (contrast J’s phrase, v. 34b), Exo 10:20; Exo 10:27 (cf. Exo 4:21 E). He also pictures the Israelites, not, as J does, as living apart in Goshen, but as having every one an Egyptian ‘neighbour’ (Exo 3:2, Exo 11:2, Exo 12:35 f.), and consequently as settled promiscuously among the Egyptians.
The scheme, or framework, of the plagues, as described by P, J, and E, is thus suggestively exhibited by Bntsch:
In P we have
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod , and there shall be. And they did so: and Aaron stretched out his rod, and there was. And the magicians did so ( or could not do so) with their secret arts. And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened; and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken.
J’s formula is quite different
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold I will. And Jehovah did so; and there came ( or and he sent, &c.). And Pharaoh called for Moses, and said unto him, Entreat for me, that. And Jehovah did so , and removed. But Pharaoh made his heart heavy, and he did not let the people go.
The formula of E is again different
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch forth thy hand (with thy rod) toward , that there may be. And Moses stretched forth his hand ( or his rod) toward , and there was. But Jehovah made Pharaoh’s heart hard, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
It has long since been remarked by commentators that the plagues stand in close connexion with the actual conditions of Egypt; and were in fact just miraculously intensified forms of the diseases or other natural occurrences to which Egypt is more or less liable (see particulars in the notes on the different plagues). They were of unexampled severity; they came, and in some cases went, at the announcement, or signal, given by one of the Hebrew leaders; one followed another with unprecedented swiftness; in other respects also they are represented as having an evidently miraculous character.
What judgement, however, are we to form with regard to their historical character? The narratives, there are strong reasons for believing, were written long after the time of Moses, and do not do more than acquaint us with the traditions current among the Hebrews at the time when they were written: we consequently have no guarantee that they preserve exact recollections of the actual facts. That there is no basis of fact for the traditions which the narratives incorporate is in the highest degree improbable: we may feel very sure of this, and yet not feel sure that they describe the events exactly as they happened. ‘As the original nucleus of fact,’ writes Dillm. (p. 66 f., ed. 2, p. 77), ‘we may suppose that at the time of Israel’s deliverance Egypt was visited by various adverse natural occurrences, which the Israelites ascribed to the operation of their God, and by which their leaders, Moses and Aaron, sought to prove to the Egyptian court the superiority of their God above the king and gods of Egypt; it must however be admitted that in the Israelitish story ( Sage) these occurrences had for long been invested with a purely miraculous character. And if all had once been lifted up into the sphere of God’s unlimited power, the compiler could feel no scruple in combining the different plagues mentioned in his sources into a series of ten, in such a manner as to depict, in a picture drawn with unfading colours, not only the abundance of resources which God has at His disposal for helping His own people, and humiliating those who resist His will, but also the slow and patient yet sure steps with which He proceeds against His foes, and the growth of evil in men till it becomes at last obstinate and confirmed.’ The real value of the narratives, according to Dillmann, is thus not historical, but moral and religious. And from these points of view their typical and didactic significance cannot be overrated. The traditional story of the contest between Moses and the Pharaoh is applied so as to depict, to use Dillmann’s expression, ‘in unfading colours,’ the impotence of man’s strongest determination when it essays to contend with God, and the fruitlessness of all human efforts to frustrate His purposes.
Dr Sanday, whose historical bias, if he has one, always leads him to conservative conclusions, has expressed himself recently on the subject, in an essay on the Symbolism of the Bible, in words which are well worth quoting: ‘The early chapters of Genesis are not the only portion of the Pentateuchal history to which I think that we may rightly apply the epithet “symbolical.” Indeed I suspect that the greater part of the Pentateuch would be rightly so described in greater or less degree. The narrative of the Pentateuch culminates in two great events, the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai. What are we to say of these? Are they historical in the sense in which the Second Book of Samuel is historical? I think we may say that they are not. If we accept as I at least feel constrained to accept at least in broad outline the critical theory now so widely held as to the composition of the Pentateuch, then there is a long interval, an interval of some four centuries or more, between the events and the main portions of the record as we now have it. In such a case we should expect to happen just what we find has happened. There is an element of folk-lore, of oral tradition insufficiently checked by writing. The imagination has been at work.
‘If we compare, for instance, the narrative of the Ten Plagues with the narrative of the Revolt of Absalom, we shall feel the difference. The one is nature itself, with all the flexibility and easy sequence that we associate with nature. The other is constructed upon a scheme which is so symmetrical that we cannot help seeing that it is really artificial. I do not mean artificial in the sense that the writer, with no materials before him, sat down consciously and deliberately to invent them in the form they now have; but I mean that, as the story passed from mouth to mouth, it gradually and almost imperceptibly assumed its present shape’ ( The Life of Christ in recent Research, 1907, p. 18f.).
The ‘Plagues’ are denoted by the following terms:
(1) maggphh, properly a severe blow, Exo 9:14 J (see the note).
(2) nga‘, a heavy touch or stroke, Exo 11:1 E (see the note).
(3) ngeph (cognate with No. 1), a severe blow, Exo 12:13 P (by implication, of the tenth plague only).
Nos 2 and 3 of these are rendered in LXX. , and Nos. 1, 2, 3 in the Vulg. plaga: hence the Engl. plague.
They are also spoken of as:
(4) ’thth, signs, LXX. (proofs of God’s power), Exo 8:23 J, Exo 10:1-2 J or the compiler of JE, Exo 7:3 P; probably also in Exo 4:17; Exo 4:28 E. Cf. Num 14:11; Num 14:22 (JE); also in the NT.
In Exo 4:8-9; Exo 4:30 (all J) the same word is used, not of the ‘plagues,’ but of ‘signs’ to be wrought, or, in v. 30, actually wrought, before the Pharaoh, to accredit Moses, as Jehovah’s representative. In Exo 4:17; Exo 4:28, the reference might be similarly, not to the ‘plagues,’ but to the antecedent credentials, to be given by Moses.
(5) mphthim, portents, LXX. (unusual phaenomena, arresting attention, and calling for explanation: see on Exo 4:21; and cf. Act 2:43, &c.), Exo 7:3, Exo 11:9-10 (all P); also, probably, Exo 4:21 E.
In Exo 7:9 P the same word is used, not of one of the ‘plagues,’ but of the preliminary portent of Aaron’s rod becoming a serpent, wrought before Pharaoh.
(6) niphl’th, wonders or marvels (extraordinary phaenomena), Exo 3:20 J.
N.B. In EVV., No. 5 is in Ex. confused with No. 6; elsewhere in the OT. it is confused with both No. 4 and No. 6 (cf. on Exo 4:21).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Exo 7:14-25
They shall be turned to blood.
The river which was turned into blood
I. The river. Has received various names. The river of Egypt (Gen 15:18); Sihor (Job 13:3); Shihor (1Ch 13:5). Diodorus Siculus says: The Nile was first called Egypt. Best and longest known by the term Nile, which is derived from the Arabic words Nil, which means blue, and Nileh, which means indigo. Designated, therefore, the dark blue river, on account of its waters assuming at times that appearance.
1. Its sources. These are three branches. The White River, which is the western branch, and takes its rise in the Mountains of the Moon; the Blue River, which is the central branch, and rises in the highlands of the Galla country, south of Abyssinia; the Black River, which is the eastern branch, and rises in the Mountains of Laska. These three required to make the Nile what it is. Owes its abundance and majesty to each of them. Learn the necessity and the advantage of combined efforts in doing good.
2. Its course. Referring here not to the flow of the three rivers just named and their various tributaries; but coming down to the confluence of the last of these, the Nile runs in a directly northern course to a distance of 1,150 miles. During all this way it receives no permanent streams, although in the rainy season it is often swollen by torrents from the mountains which lie between it and the Red Sea Fifteen miles below Cairo it divides into two arms. One of these runs into the Mediterranean Sea below Rosetta, the other flows into it near Damietta. The whole extent of the river from its farthest source is 3,300 miles. Has been pursuing this course for the last 6,000 years. As deep and broad as ever. Why? For the same reason that the rays of the sun are as numerous and powerful as at first. He who has supplied the sun with light has supplied the Nile with water. How thankful we should be to Him.
3. Its uses. It has helped to form the clouds. The sun has visited it every day; has received from it some of the human family in various forms. Above all it has been, and continues to be, the life of Egypt.
II. The river changed. As at the marriage-feast of Cana in Galilee, the waters in the water-pots blushed into wine, because the Lord willed the transformation; so the waters of the Nile blushed into blood for the same reason. The locomotive in the hands of the driver, the ship and the pilot, the horse and the rider; all the elements of nature much more under God. He can do with every one of them just as He pleases. This, great comfort to all that love Him. They are safe, for nothing can harm them, contrary to His mind respecting them. This should deeply impress those who do not love Him. May be conquered at any moment by the lightning, the wind, or the water.
III. The river changed for three reasons.
1. It was changed on account of idolatry. The Egyptians reverenced the Nile; boasted that it made them independent of the rain; believed that all their gods, particularly Vulcan, were born on its banks. In honour of it observed rites, ceremonies, and celebrated festivals.
2. It was changed that the priests of Egypt might be deeply impressed. Nothing which the priests more abhorred than blood. If the slightest stain of blood had been on their persons, even on their sandals or garments, they would have thought themselves deeply polluted. How terrified they must have been when they saw that there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. God meant this, that they might begin to think of Him, and turn from their dumb idols to Him. Events, as well as words, are teachers. May we listen at all times to truth.
3. It was changed to show that God is all-powerful. (A. McAuslane, D. D.)
The river turned into blood; or, mans chief pleasure and pride made the medium of Divine retribution
I. That Divine retributions are sent when other and merciful measures have failed to accomplish the purpose of God in man.
II. Divine retributions often consist in making the source of mans truest pleasure the cause of his greatest misery.
1. Sometimes the religious notions of men are made the medium of retributive pain.
2. Sometimes the commercial enterprises of men are made the medium of retributive pain. He who might have been prosperous, had he obeyed the behest of God, is ruined by his folly.
3. Sometimes all the spheres of a mans life are made the medium of retributive pain. If a man gets wrong with God, it affects the entirety of his life. Moral questions penetrate into every realm and department of being, and affect the whole of them, either gladly or wofully, all being dependant upon the attitude of the soul toward the Eternal. Hence it is wise for men to obey the command of God if they would be prosperous.
4. Thus we see how easily and completely God can make human life a retribution to the evil doer. He can turn our glory into shame.
III. That the Divine retributions are extensive in their effect, and are operative before the impotent presence of the socially great. And Moses and Aaron did, etc.
1. This Divine retribution extended throughout all the land of Egypt.
2. This Divine retribution, in the act of infliction, was witnessed by Pharaoh, and he was unable to prevent it.
IV. That the Divine retributions are not always effectual to the subjugation of the wicked heart. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, etc. And Pharaoh turned, etc.
1. The hardihood of a.disobedient soul.
2. The resistance of a tyrannic will.
3. The effort of men to mitigate the retribution of God. All the Egyptians digged, etc. Vain effort.
V. That the Divine retribution sometimes evokes presumptive conduct on the part of the wicked. Lessons:
1. That Divine retributions are often merited by men.
2. That God can soon turn our joy into pain.
3. That obedience is the wisdom of man. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Opportunity in Christian service
I. That there are favourable times at which to approach men with the messages of God. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning.
II. That there are favourable places in which to approach men with the messages of God. And thou shalt stand, etc.
III. That the servants of God are often Divinely instructed as to the best opportunity of christian service. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning. By a deep conviction, by a holy impression, and by keen moral vision, God unfolds to good men the most favourable opportunity in which to declare His message to the wicked. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The river changed into blood
I. That God can change the scene of life into death.
II. That God can change useful things into useless. All life dependent on His will.
III. That God can change beautiful things into loathsome. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Superstitions respecting the Nile
One of its names was Hapi, or Apis, which is the same as the sacred bull. There is extant a hymn to the Nile, written about the time of the Exodus, beginning thus–Hail, O Nile, thou comest forth over this ]and, thou comest in peace, giving life to Egypt, O hidden God! Plutarch, following the jargon of the priests, calls the Nile the Father and Saviour of Egypt (Symp. 8, 8); and affirms, There is nothing so much honoured among the Egyptians as the river Nile. Even the fish and reptiles which it nourished, and the very reeds and flowers which grew in it, were held sacred. About midsummer every year a great festival was celebrated throughout the country in honour of the Nile. Men and women assembled from all parts of the country in the towns of their respective Nomes; grand festivities were proclaimed, and the religious solemnities which then took place were accompanied with feasting, dancing, and a general rejoicing. A wooden image of the river god was carried by the priests through the villages in solemn procession, appropriate hymns were sung, and the blessings of the anticipated inundation were invoked. By the miraculous change of the waters into blood, a practical rebuke was given to these superstitions. This sacred and beautiful river, the benefactor and preserver of their country, this birthplace of their chief gods, this abode of their lesser deities, this source of all their prosperity, this centre of all their devotion, is turned to blood: the waters stink; the canals and pools, the vessels of wood and vessels of stone, which were replenished from the river, all are alike polluted. (T. S. Millington.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened] cabed, is become heavy or stupid; he receives no conviction, notwithstanding the clearness of the light which shines upon him. We well know the power of prejudice: where persons are determined to think and act after a predetermined plan, arguments, demonstrations, and even miracles themselves, are lost on them, as in the case of Pharaoh here, and that of the obstinate Jews in the days of our Lord and his apostles.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He is obstinate, and resolved in his way, so as neither my word nor my works can make any impression upon him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Pharaoh’s heart ishardenedWhatever might have been his first impressions, theywere soon dispelled; and when he found his magicians making similarattempts, he concluded that Aaron’s affair was a magical deception,the secret of which was not known to his wise men.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened,…. Or “heavy” c, dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, cannot lift up his heart, or find in his heart to obey the will of God:
he refuseth to let the people go; which was an instance and proof of the hardness and heaviness of his heart, on which the above miracle had made no impression, to regard what God by his ambassadors had required of him.
c “grave”, Montanus, Drusius. So Ainsworth.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When Pharaoh hardened his heart against the first sign, notwithstanding the fact that it displayed the supremacy of the messengers of Jehovah over the might of the Egyptian conjurers and their gods, and refused to let the people of Israel go; Moses and Aaron were empowered by God to force the release of Israel from the obdurate king by a series of penal miracles. These were not purely supernatural wonders, or altogether unknown to the Egyptians, but were land-plagues with which Egypt was occasionally visited, and were raised into miraculous deeds of the Almighty God, by the fact that they burst upon the land one after another at an unusual time of the year, in unwonted force, and in close succession. These plagues were selected by God as miraculous signs, because He intended to prove thereby to the king and his servants, that He, Jehovah, was the Lord in the land, and ruled over the powers of nature with unrestricted freedom and omnipotence. For this reason God not only caused them to burst suddenly upon the land according to His word, and then as suddenly to disappear according to His omnipotent will, but caused them to be produced by Moses and Aaron and disappear again at their word and prayer, that Pharaoh might learn that these men were appointed by Him as His messengers, and were endowed by Him with divine power for the accomplishment of His will.
Exo 7:14-21 The Water of the Nile Turned into Blood. – In the morning, when Pharaoh went to the Nile, Moses took his staff at the command of God; went up to him on the bank of the river, with the demand of Jehovah that he would let His people Israel go; and because hitherto ( ) he had not obeyed, announced this first plague, which Aaron immediately brought to pass. Both time and place are of significance here. Pharaoh went out in the morning to the Nile (Exo 7:15; Exo 8:20), not merely to take a refreshing walk, or to bathe in the river, or to see how high the water had risen, but without doubt to present his daily worship to the Nile, which was honoured by the Egyptians as their supreme deity (vid., Exo 2:5). At this very moment the will of God with regard to Israel was declared to him; and for his refusal to comply with the will of the Lord as thus revealed to him, the smiting of the Nile with the staff made known to him the fact, that the God of the Hebrews was the true God, and possessed the power to turn the fertilizing water of this object of their highest worship into blood. The changing of the water into blood is to be interpreted in the same sense as in Joe 3:4, where the moon is said to be turned into blood; that is to say, not as a chemical change into real blood, but as a change in the colour, which caused it to assume the appearance of blood (2Ki 3:22). According to the statements of many travellers, the Nile water changes its colour when the water is lowest, assumes first of all a greenish hue and is almost undrinkable, and then, while it is rising, becomes as red as ochre, when it is more wholesome again. The causes of this change have not been sufficiently investigated. The reddening of the water is attributed by many to the red earth, which the river brings down from Sennaar (cf. Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 104ff. transl.; Laborde, comment. p. 28); but Ehrenberg came to the conclusion, after microscopical examinations, that it was caused by cryptogamic plants and infusoria. This natural phenomenon was here intensified into a miracle, not only by the fact that the change took place immediately in all the branches of the river at Moses’ word and through the smiting of the Nile, but even more by a chemical change in the water, which caused the fishes to die, the stream to stink, and, what seems to indicate putrefaction, the water to become undrinkable; whereas, according to the accounts of travellers, which certainly do not quite agree with one another, and are not entirely trustworthy, the Nile water becomes more drinkable as soon as the natural reddening beings. The change in the water extended to “ the streams, ” or different arms of the Nile; “ the rivers, ” or Nile canals; “ the ponds, ” or large standing lakes formed by the Nile; and all “ the pools of water, ” lit., every collection of their waters, i.e., all the other standing lakes and ponds, left by the overflowings of the Nile, with the water of which those who lived at a distance from the river had to content themselves. “ So that there was blood in all the land of Egypt, both in the wood and in the stone; ” i.e., in the vessels of wood and stone, in which the water taken from the Nile and its branches was kept for daily use. The reference is not merely to the earthen vessels used for filtering and cleansing the water, but to every vessel into which water had been put. The “stone” vessels were the stone reservoirs built up at the corners of the streets and in other places, where fresh water was kept for the poor (cf. Oedmann’s verm. Samml. p. 133). The meaning of this supplementary clause is not that even the water which was in these vessels previous to the smiting of the river was turned into blood, in which Kurtz perceives “the most miraculous part of the whole miracle;” for in that case the “wood and stone” would have been mentioned immediately after the “gatherings of the waters;” but simply that there was no more water to put into these vessels that was not changed into blood. The death of the fishes was a sign, that the smiting had taken away from the river its life-sustaining power, and that its red hue was intended to depict before the eyes of the Egyptians all the terrors of death; but we are not to suppose that there was any reference to the innocent blood which the Egyptians had poured into the river through the drowning of the Hebrew boys, or to their own guilty blood which was afterwards to be shed.
Exo 7:22-25 This miracle was also imitated by the magicians. The question, where they got any water that was still unchanged, is not answered in the biblical text. Kurtz is of opinion that they took spring water for the purpose; but he has overlooked the fact, that if spring water was still to be had, there would be no necessity for the Egyptians to dig wells for the purpose of finding drinkable water. The supposition that the magicians did not try their arts till the miracle wrought by Aaron had passed away, is hardly reconcilable with the text, which places the return of Pharaoh to his house after the work of the magicians. For it can neither be assumed, that the miracle wrought by the messengers of Jehovah lasted only a few hours, so that Pharaoh was able to wait by the Nile till it was over, since in that case the Egyptians would not have thought it necessary to dig wells; nor can it be regarded as probable, that after the miracle was over, and the plague had ceased, the magicians began to imitate it for the purpose of showing the king that they could do the same, and that it was after this that the king went to his house without paying any need to the miracle. We must therefore follow the analogy of Exo 9:25 as compared with Exo 10:5, and not press the expression, “ every collection of water” (Exo 7:19), so as to infer that there was no Nile water at all, not even what had been taken away before the smiting of the river, that was not changed, but rather conclude that the magicians tried their arts upon water that was already drawn, for the purpose of neutralizing the effect of the plague as soon as it had been produced. The fact that the clause, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened,” is linked with the previous clause, “the magicians did so, etc.,” by a vav consecutive, unquestionably implies that the imitation of the miracle by the magicians contributed to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. The expression, “ to this also, ” in Exo 7:23, points back to the first miraculous sign in Exo 7:10. This plague was keenly felt by the Egyptians; for the Nile contains the only good drinking water, and its excellence is unanimously attested by both ancient and modern writers (Hengstenberg ut sup. pp. 108, 109, transl.). As they could not drink of the water of the river from their loathing at its stench (Exo 7:18), they were obliged to dig round about the river for water to drink (Exo 7:24). From this it is evident that the plague lasted a considerable time; according to Exo 7:25, apparently seven days. At least this is the most natural interpretation of the words, “ and seven days were fulfilled after that Jehovah had smitten the river.” It is true, there is still the possibility that this verse may be connected with the following one, “ when seven days were fulfilled…Jehovah said to Moses.” But this is not probable; for the time which intervened between the plagues is not stated anywhere else, nor is the expression, “Jehovah said,” with which the plagues are introduced, connected in any other instance with what precedes. The narrative leaves it quite undecided how rapidly the plagues succeeded one another. On the supposition that the changing of the Nile water took place at the time when the river began to rise, and when the reddening generally occurs, many expositors fix upon the month of June or July for the commencement of the plague; in which case all the plagues down to the death of the first-born, which occurred in the night of the 14th Abib, i.e., about the middle of April, would be confined to the space of about nine months. But this conjecture is a very uncertain one, and all that is tolerably sure is, that the seventh plague (the hail) occurred in February (vid., Exo 9:31-32), and there were (not three weeks, but) eight weeks therefore, or about two months, between the seventh and tenth plagues; so that between each of the last three there would be an interval of fourteen or twenty days. And if we suppose that there was a similar interval in the case of all the others, the first plague would take place in September or October-that is to say, after the yearly overflow of the Nile, which lasts from June to September.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Plagues of Egypt. | B. C. 1491. |
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. 15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. 16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. 17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.
Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood, which was, 1. A dreadful plague, and very grievous. The very sight of such vast rolling streams of blood, pure blood no doubt, florid and high-colored, could not but strike a horror upon people: much more afflictive were the consequences of it. Nothing more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that that which is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life should be cheap, and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Fish was much of their food (Num. xi. 5), but the changing of the waters was the death of the fish; it was a pestilence in that element (v. 21): The fish died. In the general deluge they escaped, because perhaps they had not then contributed so much to the luxury of man as they have since; but in this particular judgment they perished (Ps. cv. 29): He slew their fish; and when another destruction of Egypt, long afterwards, is threatened, the disappointment of those that make sluices and ponds for fish is particularly noticed, Isa. xix. 10. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the noisome stench of dead fish and blood, which by degrees would grow putrid, now rendered it very unpleasant. 2. It was a righteous plague, and justly inflicted upon the Egyptians. For, (1.) Nilus, the river of Egypt, was their idol; they and their land derived so much benefit from it that they served and worshipped it more than the Creator. The true fountain of the Nile being unknown to them, they paid all their devotions to its streams: here therefore God punished them, and turned that into blood which they had turned into a god. Note, That creature which we idolize God justly removes from us, or embitters to us. He makes that a scourge to us which we make a competitor with him. (2.) They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews’ children, and now God made that river all bloody. Thus he gave them blood to drink, for they were worthy, Rev. xvi. 6. Note, Never any thirsted after blood, but, sooner or later, they had enough of it. 3. It was a significant plague. Egypt had a great dependence upon their river (Zech. xiv. 18), so that in smiting the river they were warned of the destruction of all the productions of their country, till it came at last to their firstborn; and this red river proved a direful omen of the ruin of Pharaoh and all his forces in the Red Sea. This plague of Egypt is alluded to in the prediction of the ruin of the enemies of the New-Testament church, Rev 16:3; Rev 16:4. But there the sea, as well as the rivers and fountains of water, is turned into blood; for spiritual judgments reach further, and strike deeper, than temporal judgments do. And, lastly, let me observe in general concerning this plague that one of the first miracles Moses wrought was turning water into blood, but one of the first miracles our Lord Jesus wrought was turning water into wine; for the law was given by Moses, and it was a dispensation of death and terror; but grace and truth, which, like wine, make glad the heart, came by Jesus Christ. Observe,
I. Moses is directed to give Pharaoh warning of this plague. “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened (v. 14), therefore go and try what this will do to soften it,” v. 15. Moses perhaps may not be admitted into Pharaoh’s presence-chamber, or the room of state where he used to give audience to ambassadors; and therefore he is directed to meet him by the river’s brink, whither God foresaw he would come in the morning, either for the pleasure of a morning’s walk or to pay his morning devotions to the river: for thus all people will walk, every one in the name of his god; they will not fail to worship their god every morning. There Moses must be ready to give him a new summons to surrender, and, in case of a refusal, to tell him of the judgment that was coming upon that very river on the banks of which they were now standing. Notice is thus given him of it beforehand, that they might have no colour to say it was a chance, or to attribute it to any other cause, but that it might appear to be done by the power of the God of the Hebrews, and as a punishment upon him for his obstinacy. Moses is expressly ordered to take the rod with him, that Pharaoh might be alarmed at the sight of that rod which had so lately triumphed over the rods of the magicians. Now learn hence, 1. That the judgments of God are all known to himself beforehand. He knows what he will do in wrath as well as in mercy. Every consumption is a consumption determined, Isa. x. 23. 2. That men cannot escape the alarms of God’s wrath, because they cannot go out of the hearing of their own consciences: he that made their hearts can make his sword to approach them. 3. That God warns before he wounds; for he is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
II. Aaron (who carried the mace) is directed to summon the plague by smiting the river with his rod, Exo 7:19; Exo 7:20. It was done in the sight of Pharaoh and his attendants; for God’s true miracles were not performed, as Satan’s lying wonders were, by those that peeped and muttered: truth seeks no corners. An amazing change was immediately wrought; all the waters, not only in the rivers but in all their ponds, were turned into blood. 1. See here the almighty power of God. Every creature is that to us which he makes it to be, water or blood. 2. See the mutability of all things under the sun, and what changes we may meet with in them. That which is water to-day may be blood to-morrow; what is always vain may soon become vexatious. A river, at the best, is transient; but divine justice can quickly make it malignant. 3. See what mischievous work sin makes. if the things that have been our comforts prove our crosses, we must thank ourselves: it is sin that turns our waters into blood.
III. Pharaoh endeavours to confront the miracle, because he resolves not to humble himself under the plague. He sends for the magicians, and, by God’s permission, they ape the miracle with their enchantments (v. 22), and this serves Pharaoh for an excuse not to set his heart to this also (v. 23), and a pitiful excuse it was. Could they have turned the river of blood into water again, this would have been something to the purpose; then they would have proved their power, and Pharaoh would have been obliged to them as his benefactors. But for them, when there was such scarcity of water, to turn more of it into blood, only to show their art, plainly intimates that the design of the devil is only to delude his devotees and amuse them, not to do them any real kindness, but to keep them from doing a real kindness to themselves by repenting and returning to their God.
IV. The Egyptians, in the mean time, are seeking for relief against the plague, digging round about the river for water to drink, v. 24. Probably they found some, with much ado, God remembering mercy in the midst of wrath; for he is full of compassion, and would not let the subjects smart too much for the obstinacy of their prince.
V. The plague continued seven days (v. 25), and, in all that time, Pharaoh’s proud heart would not let him so much as desire Moses to intercede for the removal of it. Thus the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath; they cry not when he binds them (Job xxxvi. 13); and then no wonder that his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 14-18:
“In the morning” may allude to a custom of Egypt, that one of the duties of the Pharaoh was to offer a morning sacrifice to the Nile deity on the river bank. It was on this occasion that Moses and Aaron were to confront the king for the first of the ten plagues.
“Against he come” is literally “to meet him.”
Jehovah instructed Moses and Aaron to announce the “first” of the plagues upon the land of Egypt. This was the turning of the waters of the Nile River to blood, (as Jesus’ first miracle turned water to wine, Joh 2:11). This would kill all the fish in the river. The dead fish, combined with the blood, would produce a terrible stench throughout the land.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. And the Lord said unto Moses. Moses now begins to relate the two plagues which were inflicted upon Egypt before Pharaoh was induced to obey; and although there was something prodigious in the madness which strove against God’s hand so powerfully constraining him, yet in the person of this single reprobate, the picture of human pride and rebellion, when it is not controlled by a spirit of tractableness, is presented to our view. Let the faithful then be admonished by this narrative diligently to beware, lest, by wantonly rebelling against God, they provoke a similar vengeance upon themselves. For the same Being who hardened Pharaoh’s heart is the constant avenger of impiety, and, smiting His enemies with a spirit of confusion, renders them as furious as they are senseless. Moreover, lest Moses, stumbling against this obstacle, should desist from the course he had begun, God encourages him to the combat, as much as to say, that he had to contend with a very hard stone until it should be broken. Hearing that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, he might begin to waver, unless a hope of victory were shewn him from elsewhere. But since the obstinacy of this beast is indomitable, God arms His servant with new weapons, as much as to say, that he must be worn down though he could not be broken. But although to some the analogy may appear far-fetched, between the ten plagues and the ten precepts of the law, yet, in my opinion, it is probable, and agreeable to reason, that before God promulgated the law the wicked were smitten with as many plagues as He was about to give precepts to His people, that in this way He might confirm their authority. First, however, He commands Moses to take up the rod, and reminds him of the recent miracle that he may gird himself to the new conflict with greater confidence. Then, after the Hebrew manner, He more fully lays open what He had briefly touched upon; for, at first, no mention is made of Aaron, but God only announces to Moses what He would have done; then He explains that the hand of Aaron was to be interposed. Where God reminds them that the rod was lately turned into a serpent, He shews that we profit but little by His works, unless our faith gathers strength from them. Besides, when God denounces to Pharaoh what He is going to do, He renders him more inexcusable, because he is not awakened by threats to repentance. God indeed knew that this would be without success; but although he knows the disease to be incurable, He still ceases not to apply the remedies — not indeed such as will restore health, but such as will draw out the secret poison from the mind. Many are here at issue ( litigant) with God, because He not only speaks to the deaf, but even, by admonishing or chastising them in vain, exasperates their malice more and more. But it is for us, when any appearance of unreasonableness perplexes us, reverently to adore the secret judgments of God and to be soberly wise. Meanwhile the event shews that God’s threatenings do not fall ineffectually, but that the contempt of them doubles both the crime and the punishment.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 7:14-25
THE RIVER TURNED INTO BLOOD; OR, MANS CHIEF PLEASURE AND PRIDE MADE THE MEDIUM OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION
I. That Divine Retributions are sent when other and merciful measures have failed to accomplish the purpose of God in man. Moses and Aaron had now more than once communicated the Divine will to the impious monarch of Egypt, and had met with stern and determined rejection, he would not heed their message. The gradation in the appeal of these servants of God is worthy of observation:
1. Moses and Aaron appealed to Pharaoh as men of noble heart and purpose. They came bravely and without ostentation to the king and asked him in the name of Jehovah to give freedom to the Israelitish slaves. They urged the plea of right and manhood. They simply mentioned the name of Jehovah. They wrought the miracle. There are some messages which need no miraculous evidence to confirm them, they are so in harmony with the dictates of an enlightened conscience, and the sympathies of a true soul. When we ask for the liberty of the slaves, we make a request which should win a ready response from the instinctive pity of the human heart. Such was the first appeal made to the King of Egypt. It was an appeal to the natural sentiments of his manhood. It gave him an opportunity to be generous, and to announce the freedom of the slave without any coercive measures being brought to bear upon him. And so it is, generally, the messages of God appeal first to the natural instincts of the human heart, to our pity, we are inspired to duty by the sheer force of natural manhood, awakened by the common ministries around us.
2. Moses and Aaron appealed to Pharaoh with the credentials of heaven to sustain the message. These two men now advance a stage in the method of their address to the Egyptian king, they do not merely try to reach him through the sympathy of his own heart, or by the mere announcement of the Divine will, this has failed, they now render their demand apparent to his reason and judgment, so that escape from it may be intellectually impossible. They wrought a miracle in support of their mission. This ought to have convinced the mind of Pharaoh that they were uttering the Word of God. And so it is now, the human soul has given to it unmistakable proof of all the heavenly messages which come to it, and of all the duties which require its attention. God often strengthens the credential in proportion to the unwillingness of men to accept it. Such is His merciful condescension. Man has no excuse for rejecting the service of heaven.
3. Moses and Aaron now appeal to Pharaoh with the retributive anger of God. They had presented the Divine claim in reference to Israel, to his pity, to his judgment, and now with terrible retribution. And hence when the credentials of heaven are wilfully and continuously rejected, they are not altogether withdrawn, but they become retributive. Thus the retributions of heaven are not wilful, they are for the combined purpose of convincing and punishing the unbelief of men. They are not sent until every other method of appeal has been exhausted.
II. Divine Retributions often consist in making the source of mans truest pleasure into the cause of his greatest misery. And the Lord spake unto Moses, say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. Thus the principal subject of the first great judgment was the river Nile. The River, as it was emphatically called, or the River of Egypt, for the name Nile is not to be found in Holy Scriptures, was the chief source of wealth and prosperity to the Egyptians, by whom it was regarded with superstitious reverence as the birthplace of the gods. Let us endeavour to form some idea of the appearance it presented in the days of the Pharaohs. The source of the Nile was, even at that early period, the subject of much speculation and adventure, and it is only within the last few years that it has been ascertained. It takes its rise from a great lake or basin in central Africa, and traverses a rich and beautiful country on its way northward to the sea. It is the largest river in the world. In some parts of its course it flows gently and peacefully, fertilizing the land upon its banks; at others it rushes with great swiftness between lofty and precipitous rocks; broken here and there by mighty cataracts, or by a series of rapids extending over many miles. In lower Egypt, the Nile flowed through a rich plain, bordered by the desert and extending to the sea. On either side, as far as the eye could reach, luxurious crops of corn or barley grew, and ripened in the sun. Groves of sycamore and palm trees cast their grateful shade over the banks and paths; high rocks or hillocks rising from the plain were crowned with ancient cities, villages or temples, of which a few crumbling ruins alone remain, or whose memorial is altogether perished. Broad dykes, with roads running along them, served to connect those towns or hamlets at all seasons, even when the fields were overflowed. The less frequented parts of the river were lined with reeds and flags, and the far-famed papyrus, while the richly scented and variegated flowers of the sacred lotus floated upon the surface. The waters abounded in fish, some of which were regarded with superstitious awe, while others were in estimation only as articles of food (Num. 11:5). There are but few fish in the river now, and the lotus and papyrus are scarce (Gen. 19:6). In the time of the Pharaohs, the River of Egypt presented a gay and animated scene. Boats, formed for the most part of reeds, arks of bulrushes, were continually passing over its waters, some of them carrying anglers, or groups of sportsmen armed with the bow and arrow, in pursuit of wild fowl; others laden with merchandise. About the middle of August, the river, after a gradual rise of many weeks, poured forth through the channels prepared for it, and covered the lowlands with broad sheets of water, depositing upon them the rich alluvial soil brought down in its course from upper Egypt. As soon as the river has spread itself over the lands, and returned to its bed, each man scatters the seed over his ground, and waits for the harvest. It is not surprising that a river which was the source of such incalculable benefits to the Egyptians, should become an object of their religious veneration. By the miraculous change of the waters into blood, a practical rebuke was given to these superstitions. This sacred and beautiful river, this benefactor of their country, this birthplace of their chief gods, the abode of the lesser deities, this source of all their prosperity, this centre of all their devotion is turned into blood. The Nile, according to Pliny, was the only source from whence the Egyptians obtained water for drinking. This water was considered particularly sweet and refreshing; so much so, that the people were in the habit of provoking thirst in order that they might partake more freely of its soft and pleasant draught. Now it was become abominable to them, and they loathed to drink it. Apart from the suffering occasioned by this plague, there was something awful in the very nature of the miracle: it was not merely a wonder, but a sign. Prodigies of this kind were always looked upon as very fearful, and the Egyptians were addicted, more than any other people, to observing omens. It would remind them of their cruelty in casting their infants into the river (Exodus 1.) (See Plagues of Egypt by Millington). Here we see the method of the Divine retribution which is to make the things to which men obey, and from whence they derive their enterprise and pleasure the channel and medium of pain.
1. Sometimes the religious notions of men are made the medium of retributive pain. It was so in the case of this miracle, when the river regarded with such superstitious reverence was turned into blood. What a shock this would give to the devout sentiments of the Egyptians. Their gods were desecrated, and were unable to vindicate their supremacy. The people were shown that there was a Supreme Being of whom they were ignorant, but with whom they were in conflict. They felt themselves in circumstances in which their fancied religion was of no avail to them. Truly, then, their religious ideas were made the medium of severe pain, yea of terrible retribution to them. And so when men rebel against God, He can make their religious notions the channel through which to pour grief into their hearts. And this occasions pain of the most unbearable character, as it touches man in the most sensitive part of his soul.
2. Sometimes the commercial enterprises of men are made the medium of retributive pain. The river Nile was the chief strength of Egypts commerce, and when its waters were turned into blood, the enterprise of the nation would be largely suspended. It never pays men in a commercial point of view to reject the commands of God, for they are enriched by unwilling slaves, they are impoverished by the river unfit for use, and the river will be of greater service than all the slaves they can possess. But men dare the Divine Being, and so invite His retributions, and how often do these retributions flash their messages of grief along the wires of a mans business or trade. And he who might have been prosperous if he would have obeyed the behest of God, is ruined by his folly. If men will not obey God, He will turn their rivers of enterprise into blood.
3. Sometimes all the spheres of a mans life are made the medium of retributive pain. It was so in the case of the Egyptians, when their river was turned into blood; not merely was this river affected, but their religion was outraged, their commerce was suspended, and a hundred little inconveniences were the result. And so it is with human life to-day. If man gets wrong with God, it affects the entirety of his life. Moral questions penetrate into every realm and department of being, and affect the whole of them, either gladly or woefully, all being dependant upon the attitude of the soul toward the Eternal. Hence it is wise for men to obey the command of God if they would be prosperous.
4. Thus we see how easily and completely God can make human life a retribution to the evil doer. God has access to every avenue of life, and can soon start a messenger of pain along any of them. His word or touch can turn all our rivers of enjoyment, happiness, prosperity, and peace into blood. He can make our chief delights unwelcome. He can turn our glory into shame. One wicked ruler may bring a plague upon a vast nation. Righteousness is the exaltation of national life. Let men not sin against God, for retribution will be certain. He can make the pleasure of men to be bitter to the taste, undesirable to the eye, and offensive to the smell. Thus the retributions of God are effective.
III. That the Divine retributions are extensive in their effect, and are operative before the impotent presence of the socially Great. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
1. Thus the Divine retribution extended throughout all the land of Egypt. Perhaps some may imagine this somewhat unfair, and a token of injustice on the part of God, and that it was making the nation suffer for the disobedience of the king, in which they had taken no active and immediate part. But the whole nation of Egypt were a consenting party to the slavery of the Israelites, and were to a certain extent reaping the temporal advantage of it. And besides if they were not guilty on this score, they were guilty of idolatry, and so were justly punished by the change which had come over their idol. Proud men in a nation often attract the retribution of heaven towards a wicked people, they are the connecting links between heavens wrath and mans sin. They get our national rivers turned into blood.
2. This Divine retribution, in the act of infliction, was witnessed by Pharaoh, and he was unable to prevent it. The proud Monarch beheld these two men before him, and saw his beautiful river as it changed into blood. What a spectacle it would appear to him. He was impotent. He could not prevent it by any means. He could not alter it by any strategy. And so wicked men stand in the very presence of the ills which occasion their retributive pain, and are unable to remove or mitigate them. At such a time the king is one with the pauper in his woe. Men are never more weak than in the presence of the Divine retribution.
IV. That the Divine retributions are not always effectual to the subjugation of the wicked heart. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaohs heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them: as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.
1. Thus we see the hardihood of a disobedient soul. The entire land of Egypt was stricken with one common woe, which it was in the power of Pharaoh by repentance, to have removed. He prefers that it should remain rather than that he should yield to the command of God. He was indeed a man of hardy soul.
2. Thus we see the resistance of a tyrannic will. The will of Pharaohs was as iron. It was not influenced by a trifle. It could resist the utmost moral energy. It was not to be coerced. Even a national woe could not make it yield its pride. It could repel the most awful suffering. Truly man is capable of moral freedom.
3. Thus we see the effort of men to mitigate the retribution of God. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink. Vain is the effort of men to attain relief from the retribution of God, they may dig their holes, but they cannot long fill them with pure water.
V. That Divine retributions sometimes evoke presumptive conduct on the part of the wicked. The Egyptians endeavoured to imitate the miracle wrought by the servants of God; this was the greatest presumption on their part; it would have been more to their credit if they had removed the blood from the river. Sometimes men grow desperate. They are hardened beyond recovery. They work the moral destruction of others. LESSONS:
1. That Divine retributions are often merited by men.
2. That God can soon turn our joy into pain.
3. That obedience is the wisdom of man.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 7:14. God quickly observes what effect His word and work have upon the hearts of men.
God shows the unbelief of men to His servants.
Unbelief renders the hearts of men unwilling to duty, and hastens judgment.
Man has the ability to reject the commands of God:
1. Mysterious.
2. Responsible.
3. Influential to destiny.
Moral obstinacy:
1. Known to God.
2. Unsubdued by reason.
3. Averse to the purpose of God.
4. Prejudicial to the true welfare of man.
OPPORTUNITY IN CHRISTIAN SERVICE
Exo. 7:15. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water, &c.
I. That there are favourable times at which to approach men with the messages of God. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning. There are times when Christian service can be more readily accomplished, and when it is more likely to be successful, when opportunity is favourable, and gives it an advantage. Many ministers would be much more effective in their holy work if they would only be more timely in their appeals to men, and if they would judiciously seek the best time in which to announce the message of God. To everything there is a time. The true worker for the moral good of men will endeavour to render circumstances favourable to his toils. He will be an early riser. He will be always on the outlook for those to whom His mission is addressed.
II. That there are favourable places in which to approach men with the messages of God. And thou shalt stand by the rivers brink. As there is a favourable time for Christian service, so there are places where it may best be accomplished. A wise minister will carefully select the place in which he declares to individuals the message of God. Moses met Pharaoh near the river, alone, and in case the proud monarch should refuse obedience to the will of heaven, he would be able at once to turn the river into blood. His position was favourable to the retribution to be inflicted. It is well to speak to men alone about their sins.
III. That the servants of God are often divinely instructed as to the best opportunity of Christian service Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning. By a deep conviction, by a holy impression, and by keen moral vision, God unfolds to good men the most favourable opportunity in which to declare His message to the wicked. The Divine voice within us, prompting to duty, should always be carefully heeded, and the opportunity willingly embraced.
Exo. 7:16-18. Hard hearts shut all ears against the message of God.
Sinners offended with Gods word and judgment turn from Him unto their own ways.
Unbelief will not allow a man to heed either miracles, persuasion, or vindication.
THE RIVER CHANGED INTO BLOOD
Exo. 7:19-25.
I. That God can change the scene of life into death. The great river of Egypt was considered as the giver of life to the people, its waters were life-preserving and fertilizing. Yet it was turned into blood by the stretching out of a rod. The fish died. God can soon and easily change all our life-inspiring energies and joys into the current of death.
II. That God can change useful things into useless. The river was in manifold ways useful to Egypt. It was refreshing to the taste, and would be used for domestic purposes. It was also the centre of the nations commerce. By the rod of God the most useful things we possess, as nations and individuals, are deprived of their utility. Hence all life is dependant upon the Divine will.
III. That God can change beautiful things into loathsome. The river of Egypt, so beautiful to the eye, was turned into blood. And so the most beautiful things of country, of home, of person, may by the outstretching of the Divine rod be rendered unlovely and hateful.
When necessity comes upon sinners they would rather dig for relief than ask God for it.
The devil may delude into difficulty, but cannot help men out of it.
Moses and Aaron may smite with the rod, but God effects it.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Precursors! Exo. 7:14. Away amid the lovely tropical forests at the foot of the Andes lives a cinnamon brown bird, with head and neck of dark olive. No feathered songster gives forth more sweet and harmonious strains, yet those delicious notes forebode a coming storm. When the traveller, who has amid the excitement of the scene forgotton all about time, is suddenly aroused to reflection by the bird-music of the Organista, he at once looks up to catch a glimpse of the sky between the trees. He sees there signs of the coming stormhurries on! Soon it burststhe wind roarsthe mighty trees rock to and fro, as if they were but reedsthe thunder rattles in deafening peals, and the lightning flashes vividly in every direction. Hark! what a tremendous crash! There goes a tall treeone of the giants of the forestriven from crown to roots. These merciful miracles wrought by Moses and Aaron were so many liquid-voices monishing Pharaoh to hasten on to repentence, before the retributive tempest burst overhead. Their warblings ought to have induced the heedless monarch to look up to the sky of Justice, and mark the dark clouds gathering.
And what if all of animated nature
Be but organic harps diversely framed,
That tremble into thought.
Coleridge.
Omniscience! Exo. 7:14. When Pharaoh turned away into his palace, Moses could guess from the frown upon his brow that the monarchs heart was set against the request; but he could not see it. God alone could gaze upon the darkest, innermost recesses of that despots stubborn will. Had Pharaoh forgotten what even his idol-faith taught him, that the gods know what is in the heart? Gods eye, as a flame of fire, lights up a clear and searching day in his soul, and around his steps; and shows in sunbeams the iniquities he devises, utters, perpetrates. He unfolds the whole state of the despots mind to Moses, and enjoins on him the further execution of judgments. Moses obeys!
The mystic mazes of Thy will,
The shadows of celestial light,
Are past the power of human skill
But what the Eternal acts is right.
Retributive Justice! Exo. 7:15. As that storm roars the loudest which has been the longest gathering, so Gods reckoning day with rebellious sinners, by being long coming, will be the more terrible when it comes Upon the beach, the pilot often pauseswith glance turned upward to that vast expanse, which is slowly darkening into gloom intensebecause well he knows the ominous sign of the terrible tornado soon to burst So Moses often pausedfully conscious that the steadily gathering storm of retributive justice would soon melt down the verge of heaven. But Pharaoh saw not the approaching tempest of successive judgments.
On earth twas yet all calm around,
A pulseless silencedreadprofound,
More awful than the tempests sound.
Moore.
Obduracy! Exo. 7:16; Exo. 7:23. Sinners offended with Gods Word and its requirements betake themselves to their follies. The Indians of South America told the missionaries who went among them proclaiming the truths of the Christian Religion: You say that the God of the Christians knows everything, that nothing is hidden from Him, that He is of almighty power, and can see all that is done; but we do not desire a God so mighty and sharpsighted; we choose to be our own masters, to live with freedom in our woods, without having a perpetual observer of our actions over our heads. Men may disown the Divine Being, but they cannot destroy His attributes. He still rules over them, and still marks out all their ways. This was what Jehovah was teaching the proud and obdurate oppressor in his Egyptian palace, but in vain.
Yon massive mountain-peak
The lightning rends at will;
The rock can melt or break
I am unbroken still.
Bonar.
Nile-God! Exo. 7:17. This river was one of the principal Egyptian deities, and was worshipped under the name of Hapi Mou. There was a temple to this deity; who is generally represented as a fat man, of blue colour, with water-plants growing on his head. A festival was held at the commencement of the rise of the Nile in the middle of June. It was probably on this occasion, when a solemn sacrifice was to be offered by the Egyptian priests that Moses stood by the brink; and as he smote the sacred waters with his mighty rod, so did Jehovah smite
The prince of darkness, couchd
In symbol of the great leviathan,
The dragon of the river-floods of Nile.
Bickersteth
Judgments Exo. 7:18. The Egyptians subsisted, says Cook, to a great extent on the fish of the Nile, though saltwater fish was regarded as impure. A mortality among fish was a plague much dreaded. In a hymn to the Nile, written by the scribe Enmer, it is said that the wrath of Hapi, the Nile-god, is a calamity for the fishes. By Moses avenging rod, this food supply is cut off. And how often does Jehovah turn the very necessaries of life into putridity and deaththat the sense of our want may humble us under the sense of our forgetfulness of Him from whom all goodness flows. When, therefore, we are the subjects of His correcting providence, we must acknowledge the necessity and wisdom.
If in this bosom aught but Thee,
Encroaching, sought a boundless sway,
Omniscience could the danger see,
And mercy took the cause away.
Chatterton.
Divine Transformings! Exo. 7:19-21. A man idolizes his wife. He is proud of her beauty; and when at the ball she is the admiration of both sexes, his heart overflows with self-gratulation. As she stood in the centre of the floor, her beautiful face flushed with a rosy colour, her glossy hair twined with delicate pearls, her tall figure enhanced in its gracefulness by the rich folds of drapery which fell softly round her, more than one admiring voice complimented him upon the beauty of his wife, and pronounced her the loveliest woman, fairest of the fair in all that lovely throng. She was his idol. A few days after, she lies upon her bed, with blotted and disfigured features, loathsome and repulsive as the Syrian leper, for small-pox has swept all trace of beauty from her faceas Moses rod brushed all beauty from the clear, glassy countenance of Nile. The Divine rod had rendered unlovely and loathsome his goddessthe only and supreme object of his adoration. And just as the river was all the more repulsive from its previous loveliness, so
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
Shakespeare.
Vain Effort! Exo. 7:24. As you stood, remarks Guthrie, some stormy day upon a sea cliff, and marked the giant billow rise from the deep to rush on with foaming crest, and throw itself thundering on the trembling shore, did you ever fancy that you could stay its course, and hurl it back to the depths of ocean? Did you ever stand beneath the leaden, louring cloud, and mark the lightnings leap, as it shot and flashed, dazzling athwart the gloom; and think that you could grasp the bolt, and change its path? Still more foolish and vain his thought, who fancies that he can arrest or turn aside the purpose of God Pharaohs folly was the essence of madness. He thought to counteract the retributive agency of Godheedless of the truth taught by his own Egyptian creed that
No wrath of men or rage of seas
Can shake Jehovahs purposes.
Herrick.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE FIRST PLAGUE.
(14-21) The water turned to blood.Moses had already been empowered to turn water into blood on a small scale (Exo. 4:9), and had exhibited his power before his own people (Exo. 4:30). But the present miracle is different. (1) It is to be done on the largest possible scale; (2) in the sight of all the Egyptians; and (3) not as a sign, but as a judgment. All the Nile waterwhether in the main river, or its branches, or the canals derived from it, or the pools formed by its inundation or by percolation through its banks, or in artificial reservoirs, including the tanks of wood or stone attached to houses (Exo. 7:19)is to be turned to blood: i.e., not merely turned of a red colour, either by admixture of earthy matter or of Infusoriae, but made to have all the qualities and appearance of blood, so as to become offensive, horrible, loathsome (Exo. 7:18). The judgment strikes the Egyptians two several blows. (1) It involves an insult to their religion, and brings it into discredit, since the Nile-god, Hapi, was a main object of worship, closely connected with Osiris, and even with Amnion, celebrated in hymns with the most extravagant titles of honour (Records of the Past, vol. iv. pp. 108-110), and a frequent object of public adoration in festivals. (2) It is a great physical affliction. They are accustomed to use the Nile water for drinking, for ablutions, for the washing of their clothes, and for culinary purposes; they have great difficulty in procuring any other; they delight in the Nile water, regard it as the best in the world, are in the habit of drinking deep draughts of it continually. This is all put a stop to. They suffer from thirst, from enforced uncleanliness, from the horror of blood all about them, even in their cisterns. Again, their fish are killed. Fish was one of their principal foods, perhaps the main food of the common people; and the river was the chief source whence the fish supply was obtained, for even the Lake Moeris was an off-shoot from the river (Herod. ii. 149). Their fish supply is stopped. The punishment is retaliatory: for as they had made the Nile the means of destroying Hebrew infants (Exo. 1:22), so that Hebrew parents had loathed to drink of it, as though stained with the blood of their children, so is it now made by means of blood undrinkable for themselves. The plague lasts seven days (Exo. 7:25), a longer time than any other; and if not so destructive as the later ones, was perhaps of all the most nauseous and disgusting.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
FIRST PLAGUE BLOOD, Exo 7:14-25.
15. Lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink Some think that this was the time of the commencement of the annual rise of the river, because that the Nile then assumes a reddish hue produced by the mud of the upper country; but this annual redness of the river is an indication of palatability and wholesomeness . Yet, as all these plagues are found, as far as we understand them, to correspond remarkably with peculiarities of the country, being, as Hengstenberg has shown, specially fitted to the Egyptian geography, climate, soil, vegetable and animal life, it is possible that the very peculiarity of the miracle lay in the fact that the reddish hue, which is usually a sign of wholesomeness in the Nile, then deepened to a bloody tinge, which was the token of loathsomeness and death. The water which is usually drank with such avidity became nauseous and poisonous. If this be so, then the time of the infliction is fixed at about the middle of June. Yet this must be taken as supposition only, the first sure note of time occurring in the account of the hail, (Exo 9:31-32,) which destroyed the barley in the ear and the flax in blossom, which in Egypt must have been in February . The tenth plague occurred about the middle of April . Now the Nile begins to regularly rise in Lower Egypt, which is the scene of this history, about the summer solstice, or toward the end of June; about the end of August it begins to pour through the canals and fall over the valley in sheets of water, and the inundation then properly commences; toward the end of September it reaches its height, and then sinks to its lowest point at about the Vernal Equinox, or the last of March . If now the first of the plagues took place in the middle of June, it will be seen that the ten ran through the whole Nile period, thus cursing every several part of the Egyptian year. This is the view of Hengstenberg in his Egypt and the Books of Moses.
Probably Pharaoh went forth in the morning to worship, since the Nile was regarded as the embodiment of the god Osiris, of whom the bull Apis was considered the living emblem. On the monuments we find it called the “god Nile,” the “Father of the gods,” the “life-giving Father of all things.” At Nilopolis (Nile-city) there was a temple and an order of priests for the worship of the river. Thus was Pharaoh’s god smitten to death before his eyes as he offered him his morning prayer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(For an introduction to the plagues, see the Chapter Comments).
The First Plague – The Nile is Turned Into ‘Blood’ ( Exo 7:14-25 ).
a
b Moses is to go to Pharaoh with his staff and meet him by the Nile (Exodus 15).
c Yahweh had said, ‘let my people go’, but Pharaoh has not listened (Exodus 16)
d Now Pharaoh will know that He is Yahweh because He will smite the waters and they will be turned to blood, the fish will die and the river will smell (Exodus 17-18).
e Aaron told to stretch out his hand that there might be blood throughout all the land of Egypt (Exodus 19).
d Moses and Aaron do so and all the waters turn to blood, and the fish die and the river smells throughout all the land of Egypt (Exodus 20-21).
c The magicians do the same with their enchantments, and Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he does not listen to them as Yahweh has said (Exodus 22 b).
b Pharaoh returned to his house and did not set his heart to consider the matter, but all the Egyptians had to dig about the river for water because they could not drink the river (Exodus 23-24).
a Seven days were fulfilled after Yahweh had smitten the river (Exodus 25).
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh says that Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn so that he will not let the people go, and in the parallel He punishes him by a seven day smiting of the Nile, a great blow to any Egyptian. In ‘b’ Moses meets Pharaoh by the Nile, with his staff which was turned into a snake in his hand, but Pharaoh does not consider the matter and returns to his palace, deserting the Nile. The result in the parallel is that the people receive no help from the Nile and have to dig in the earth round about it. The great comparison in both these parallels is between Yahweh’s authority and power, and His rendering inoperative the sacred Nile because of Pharaoh’s intransigence. In ‘c’ Pharaoh refuses to listen to Yahweh, and in the parallel his heart is hardened and he does not listen to Moses and Aaron. In ‘d’ Yahweh’s name will be revealed by the turning of the Nile and its tributaries into blood with all its consequences, while in the parallel the Nile and its tributaries are turned into blood and all the consequences follow. The overall consequence is found in ‘e’, and that is that there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 7:14
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn (literally ‘heavy’). He refuses to let the people go.”
The account of the ten plagues begins with this criticism by Yahweh which stresses that Pharaoh is to be seen as blameworthy. His heart is proud and stubborn and self-willed. He is not just a tool in the hand of God. It will also end with the same judgment, although there it is attributed to Yahweh (Exo 11:10). So whatever ‘Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart’ later means this initial statement indicates that it does not mean that Pharaoh had no choice. He had a clear choice to make, and he was making it.
Exo 7:15
“You go to Pharaoh in the morning. Lo, he goes to the water. And you will stand by the river’s brink to meet him, and the rod which was turned into a snake you will take in your hand.”
It would appear that Pharaoh went to the Nile frequently in the morning (see Exo 8:20), just as earlier Pharaoh’s daughter had done the same when she found Moses. This was probably in order to venerate the Nile god. Moses was to meet him there with the staff of God which had previously turned into a snake in his hand, and stand by the edge of the river.
The specific continued reference to the snake suggests that it is to be seen as significant in regards to what was to happen. This could well be because God knew how significant the snake was to Pharaoh. When worn as a symbol on his head Pharaoh probably saw it as protecting him from harm. Now he would learn that there was one who could devour his snake and any his people reproduced.
Exo 7:16-18
“And you will say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you saying, “Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness.” And behold, up to now you have not listened. Thus says Yahweh, “In this will you know that I am Yahweh, behold I will smite with the staff that is in my hand on the waters which are in the Nile and they will be turned into blood. And the fish that are in the Nile will die and the Nile will give off a stench and the Egyptians will loathe drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”
Moses is now told that he must make the position crystal clear to Pharaoh. Yahweh’s command is that Pharaoh let His people go so that they may serve Him in the wilderness. This command will be constantly repeated.
But Pharaoh has refused to let the people go to serve Him in the wilderness so Yahweh now tells Pharaoh through Moses that He will turn the Nile red as blood, so that the fish die and the Nile smells, and so that even those who worship the Nile will refuse to drink its waters.
The Nile regularly turned red annually as a result of high flooding bringing red earth down from its sources, but that was common and did not have major effects. It was then still drinkable. However, Moses declares that in this case the water will be so polluted that it will kill the fish and their rotting bodies will pollute the Nile. The major miracle here is that it will appear to happen at the time Yahweh commands, and in great profusion.
“In this will you know that I am Yahweh.” Once again the motif of ‘knowing Yahweh’ comes out, and again as a result of His present action. Pharaoh will know that He is ‘the One Who Is There to act’ (compare on Exo 3:14; Exo 6:3).
“Behold I will smite with the staff that is in my hand.” The staff in the hand of Aaron will be the staff in the hand of Yahweh, for Aaron will stand as representative of Yahweh and of Moses. Aaron will be Yahweh’s hand as he is Moses’ mouth (Exo 4:16). The staff represented the authority of the bearer and represented who he was.
“They will be turned into blood.” That is, they will be turned unusually blood-red and will be unusually ‘thick’. The ancients would readily describe any thick blood-red liquid as blood. There would clearly be a change to the colour of the Nile that day in excess of what was usually known, a change that would be very noticeable as the flood waters swept down bearing excessive quantities of the red earth.
The red earth came from the basins of the Blue Nile and Atbara, and the more earth the flooding Nile carried the redder it became. The flood would further bring down with it flood microcosms known as flagellates and associated bacteria. These would heighten the blood-red colour of the water and create conditions in which the fish would die in large numbers resulting in rotting fish and a great stench. The latter would not, of course, all happen in one day.
Pharaoh and the people were used to the Nile looking somewhat red at this time of the year, thus the intensity of the redness must have been such that it amazed even them.
“The Egyptians will loathe drinking water from the Nile.” To the Egyptians the Nile was a friendly god and to drink its waters was a thing to be desired. Indeed typical of the adoration of the Nile is the famous Hymn to the Nile, “You are the Lord of the poor and the needy. If you were overthrown in the heavens the gods would fall upon their faces and men would perish.” But now they will rather turn against the Nile and refuse to drink its waters.
“Let my people go.” This phrase, which is first found in Exo 5:1 in the first polite request to Pharaoh, comes at the commencement of the first two incidents in each of the three series of plagues (see Exo 7:16; Exo 8:1; Exo 8:20; Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13; Exo 10:3), although in the last it is not under Yahweh’s instruction. Exo 5:1 makes up the seventh. It thus appears seven times, the divinely perfect number. (It is an indication of the intricate pattern in the narrative that a seven can constantly be built into the ten).
Exo 7:19
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, and over their reed pools and over all their ponds of water. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.”
“Take your staff.” Three times Aaron is told to take his staff, in Exo 7:9; Exo 7:15; Exo 7:19. The staff would have special significance for Pharaoh because it had turned into a large snake and eaten the snakes produced by the magicians. It had swallowed his protection and had outmanoeuvred his magicians. It was a symbol of the power of Yahweh and of Moses and Aaron.
Yahweh now tells Moses that Aaron, as Moses’ prophet, is to stretch out the staff of God over the Nile resulting in all water sources being contaminated. This would be inevitable, for all drew their water from the Nile. The Nile was the lifeblood of Egypt on which Egypt depended for its very existence. All its water in the end came from the Nile, and where the Nile and its offshoots did not reach was only desert.
“Over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their canals, and over their reed pools and over all their ponds of water.” This basically covers all water sources, the Nile, its tributaries, the irrigation canals built to irrigate the land, the standing pools and the man made reservoirs. Note the fivefold description of the water sources. In Egypt five was the number of completeness. This may have been a standard Egyptian description for the water sources.
“In vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.” The water in these would not turn red instantaneously, but because water in these was drawn from the Nile, eventually that is all that would be in their vessels. They drew their water and stored it in their vessels, hoping the sediment might fall to the bottom, and then had to pour it away because it was undrinkable and unusable. It is interesting to note that with the five previous water sources this now makes up seven. Now even their vessels are yielding blood at the command of Yahweh.
“Take your staff and stretch out your hand –.” Compare Exo 8:5 – ‘stretch forth your hand with your staff’; Exo 8:16 – ‘stretch out your staff’; Exo 8:24 – no action by Moses; Exo 9:5 – no action by Moses; Exo 9:8 – ‘take handfuls of ashes — sprinkle it towards the heavens’; Exo 9:22 – ‘stretch forth your hand towards the heavens’; Exo 10:12 – ‘stretch forth your hand over the land of Egypt’; Exo 10:21 – ‘stretch out your hand towards heaven’.
We note from this that the command to use the staff comes three times, the command to use the hand comes three times, and with the taking of a handful of ashes (a further use of the hand), overall action is taken seven times in a carefully patterned narrative. Three is the number of completeness, seven the number of divine perfection. We note also that action is made towards the heavens three times
Exo 7:20
‘And Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded, and he lifted up the staff and smote the waters that were in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the Nile were turned to blood, and the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile gave off a stench, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile, and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.’
Aaron acts but it is Moses who is in charge. And at their action the Nile begins to go a deeper red and darken, the fish die, the stench increases and the waters become undrinkable.
During July and August it was normal for a reddish colour to permeate the water as a result of the red earth brought down by its flow which itself, like the Nile, was beneficial to Egypt covering the land as the Nile flooded and providing fertile soil. But normally the fish did not die and the water remained drinkable.
But this year there was excess of the red earth, and living organisms intensified the redness, and all the fish died and the water could not be drunk. For Egypt this was disaster. They depended on the fish for a food source, and on the water for drink, and both failed.
“He lifted up the staff and smote the waters that were in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants.” They made it clear to Pharaoh and his officials that what was to happen was the work of Yahweh by smiting the Nile with the rod of God in full view.
Exo 7:22-23
‘And the magicians of Egypt did the same with their enchantments, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, nor did he lay even this to heart’
The Nile and all its offshoots were now red as blood. Thus the magicians had to find uncontaminated water, either in storage pots or in springs not yet affected by what had happened to the Nile. Once they had done so it would not be hard with their learning and abilities to make it look to Pharaoh and his officials as though they also could then turn it red, which they did, no doubt dramatically. Pharaoh and his officials would be the last to suffer from events. They would be provided with drinking water and with food while the people struggled and went hungry and had to dig for their water. Thus Pharaoh was not prepared to change his mind. He could bravely allow his people to suffer.
“Pharaoh turned and went into his house.” A dramatic description of his refusal to hear. There he was safe from all the problems that would be caused. He could ignore the world outside. He was not willing to heed the message given. ‘Turned and went’ may signify peremptory action. In Exo 10:6 it is Moses who turns and goes.
Exo 7:24
‘And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile.’
For the people it was not so easy. Pharaoh could sit in his house and have his water brought to him, but they had to provide their own water. And they had to find it by digging to find places where the water was not contaminated. The great Nile had failed them. The water they found would not be very drinkable because of the nature of the soil which gave it a bitter taste, but at least it was usable.
We can presumably assume that the children of Israel, having been warned by Moses, had stored up water against this eventuality (note the ‘all the Egyptians’).
Exo 7:25
‘And seven days were fulfilled after Yahweh had smitten the Nile.’
The ‘seven days’ that now passed represented the divinely perfect and complete time, a short time determined by Yahweh, and however long as was necessary. During this time Pharaoh was to be left to think, and then Yahweh would act again. It was only Yahweh Who knew what would come next.
What lessons then can we draw from this passage? There are many. It declares God’s power over creation. It reveals His right to make demands on us. It reveals the arrogance of man’s heart over against God. The people we live among may not be Pharaoh’s, but they are equally rejecting the commands of Yahweh. It tells us that God will bring all sins into account, whether it be soon or in the more distant future, for it reveals a God Who requires obedience to His commandments.
And these lessons will continually be taught in the passages that follow for in this battle between Yahweh’s will and Pharaoh’s we have a picture of the world in contention with God. God has shown man through His word what he must do. But man is continually obstinate like Pharaoh and refuses to obey His will. Thus must God continually work to bring man into submission, with the warning that if he will not submit he can only expect the judgment of God.
Excursus: Further Note On The Plagues (mainly repeated from the introduction).
We have noted in the introduction (see Chapter Comments) the three sets of three plagues, and that in the first plague of each set Moses goes to Pharaoh, either to the river or ‘before Pharaoh’, while in the second in each set Moses goes to the palace, and in the third plague in each set the plague occurs without warning.
We have also noted that God says ‘let my people go’ seven times (although only six times before specific plagues – Exo 5:1; Exo 7:16; Exo 8:1; Exo 8:20; Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13; Exo 10:3).
Now we note again that there is a central core around which each plague is described, although the details vary. This is: a description in detail of what will happen (Exo 7:17-18; Exo 8:2-4; no separate description; Exo 8:21; Exo 9:3-4; Exo 9:9; Exo 9:15; Exo 10:4-6; no separate description), the call to Moses either to instruct Aaron (three times – Exo 7:19; Exo 8:5; Exo 8:16) or to act himself (three times – Exo 9:22; Exo 10:12; Exo 10:21) or for them both to act (once –Exo 9:8), the action taken (Exo 7:20; Exo 8:6; Exo 8:17; no action; no action; Exo 9:10; Exo 9:23; Exo 10:13; Exo 10:22), and an inevitable description of the consequences, which parallels the previous description where given (Exo 7:21; Exo 8:6; Exo 8:17; Exo 8:24; Exo 9:6-7; Exo 9:10-11; Exo 9:23-26; Exo 10:13-15; Exo 10:22-23).
Note that there are seven separate prior descriptions, and as previously noted seven calls to act followed by that action, but the sevens are not for the same plagues. The narrative is carefully built around sevens.
Pharaoh’s initial response to their approach is mentioned three times, for Pharaoh reacts against the people (Exo 5:5-6); calls for his magicians (Exo 7:11); makes a compromise offer and then drives Moses and Aaron from his presence (Exo 10:11).
As might be expected Pharaoh’s final response grows in intensity.
1). Yahweh hardened his heart so that he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said (Exo 7:13) (Yahweh hardening him, and that he would not let the people go had been forecast in Exo 4:21). This was prior to the plagues.
2). His heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said, and he turned and went into his house, ‘nor did he set his heart to this also’ (Exo 7:22-23).
3). He entreated Yahweh to take away the plague and said that he would let the people go to worship Yahweh (Exo 8:8), and later hardened his heart and did not listen to them as Yahweh had said (Exo 8:15).
4). Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said (Exo 8:19).
5). He told Moses and Aaron that they may sacrifice in the land (Exo 8:25), and then, on Moses’ refusing his offer, that they may sacrifice in the wilderness but not go far away (Exo 8:28) which Moses accepts, but later he hardened his heart and would not let the people go (Exo 8:32).
6). He sent to find out what had happened and then his heart was hardened and would not let the people go (Exo 9:7).
7). Yahweh hardened his heart and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had spoken to Moses (Exo 9:12).
8). Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned, asked them to entreat for him, and said ‘I will let you go and you will stay no longer’ (Exo 9:27-28). Then he sinned yet more and hardened his heart, he and his servants (Exo 9:34), and his heart was hardened nor would he let the children of Israel go as Yahweh had spoken to Moses (Exo 9:35).
9). Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned, and asked them to entreat Yahweh for him (Exo 10:17), but later Yahweh hardened his heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go (Exo 10:20).
10). Pharaoh said that they might go apart from their cattle (Exo 10:24), and on Moses refusing ‘Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go’ (Exo 10:27), and he commanded that they leave his presence and not return on pain of death (Exo 10:28).
11). In the summary ‘Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land’ (Exo 11:10).
We note from the above that ‘Pharaoh will not listen to you’ occurs twice (Exo 7:4; Exo 11:9), ‘did not listen to them as Yahweh had said’ occurs four times (Exo 7:13; Exo 7:22; Exo 8:15; Exodus 19); and ‘did not listen to them as Yahweh had spoken to Moses’ occurs once (Exo 9:12) thus his not being willing to listen occurs seven times in all (the phrase ‘as Yahweh had spoken to Moses’ occurs twice (Exo 9:12; Exo 9:35), but not as connected with not listening). In contrast he entreats that Yahweh will show mercy four times (Exo 8:8; Exo 8:28; Exo 9:27; Exo 10:17), and parleys with Moses three times (Exo 8:8; Exo 8:25; Exo 10:24), making seven in all. Yahweh hardened his heart five times (Exo 7:13; Exo 9:12; Exo 10:20; Exo 10:27; Exo 11:10), which with Exo 4:21 and Exo 10:1 makes seven times. (Yahweh also hardened his heart in Exo 14:8, but that was over pursuing the fleeing people). His heart was hardened (by himself?) four times (Exo 7:22; Exo 8:19; Exo 9:7; Exo 9:35), and he hardened his own heart three times (Exo 8:15; Exo 8:32; Exo 9:34), again making seven times. It is said that he would not let the people go five times (Exo 8:32; Exo 9:7; Exo 9:35; Exo 10:20; Exo 11:10). With Exo 4:21; Exo 7:14 that makes not letting the people go seven times. Yahweh told Pharaoh to let His people go seven times (Exo 5:1; Exo 7:16; Exo 8:1; Exo 8:20; Exo 9:1; Exo 9:13; Exo 10:3). Thus the writer would clearly seem to have been deliberately aiming at sevenfold repetition, and this is spread throughout the narrative in different ways, stressing the total unity of the passage.
End of excursus.
The First Plague (The Water is Turned to Blood) We read the story of the first plague in Exo 7:14-25 in which Moses turned the waters of the Nile River into blood. This was the same river in which the Egyptians had thrown the Hebrew babies (Exo 1:22). During the Tribulation Period, the book of Revelation records the vial that the third angel poured forth upon the rivers of the earth and turned them to blood. Then the angel announced that these wicked men would now drink blood for the killing of the saint and prophets of God (Rev 16:4-7). In the same sense, it is possible that the Egyptians were made to drink blood because they had shed the blood of the Hebrew children by throwing them into the same Nile River.
Exo 1:22, “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.”
Rev 16:4-7, “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”
James Breasted says the activity of the sun and the Nile River made the two strongest impressions upon this ancient Egyptian society. He says, “In the Sun-god, Re, Atum, Horus, Khepri, and in the Nile, Osiris, we find the great gods of Egyptian life and thought, who almost from the beginning entered upon a rivalry for the highest place in the religion of Egypt – a rivalry which ceased only with the annihilation of Egyptian religion at the close of the fifth century of the Christian era.” [36] He quotes from ancient Egyptian texts to support the identification of Osiris as the Nile god.
[36] James H. Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 8.
“The clearest statement of the nature of Osiris is that contained in the incident of the finding of the dead god by his son Horus, as narrated in the Pyramid Texts: ‘Horus comes, he recognizes his father in thee, youthful in thy name of “Fresh Water.”’ [Pyramid Text 589] Equally unequivocal are the words of King Ramses IV, who says to the god: ‘Thou art indeed the Nile, great on the fields at the beginning of the seasons; gods and men live by the moisture that is in thee.’ [Mariette, Abydos, II, 54, 1. 7.] ‘The lakes fill, the canals are inundated, by the purification that came forth from Osiris’; [Pyramid Text 848] or ‘Ho this Osiris, king Meniere! Thy water, thy libation is the great inundation that came forth from thee.’” [Pyramid Text 868] [37]
[37] James H. Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 18-9.
Breasted concludes, “It is evident from these earliest sources that Osiris was identified with the waters, especially the inundation, with the soil, and with vegetation.” [38]
[38] James H. Breasted, Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 23.
Petrie tells us that the Nile River was also worshipped as another of Egypt’s nature gods called Hapi.
“Hapi, the Nile, must also be placed with Nature gods. He is figured as a man, or two men for the Upper and Lower Niles, holding a tray of produce of the land, and having large female breasts as being the nourisher of the valley. A favourite group consists of the two Nile figures tying the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt around the emblem of union. He was worshipped at Nilopolis, and also at the shrines which marked the boating stages, about a hundred in number all along the river. Festivals were held at the rising of the Nile, like those still kept up at various stages of the inundation. Hymns in honour of the river attribute all prosperity and good to its benefits.” [39]
[39] W. M. Finders Petrie, The Religion of Ancient Egypt (London: Archibald Constable and Co. Ltd, 1906), 56-7.
Miriam Lichtheim says the ancient Egyptian Hymn to Hapy personifies the Nile River as the god Hapy.
“Hapy, the personified inundating Nile, aroused feelings of thankful exuberance which inspired some fine poetry. Pyramid Text 581 speaks of the “meadows laughing when the riverbanks are flooded,” and the great hymn before us has woven the reactions of the people to the annual miracle of the inundation into a highly effective composition, which was much admired by the Egyptians, as the numerous text copies attest, and which we too can appreciate. The god Hapy did not have a regular temple-cult. But there were festivals in his honor, at which hymns were undoubtedly sung. By its very length and complexity, however, the great hymn gives the impression of being a specifically literary composition.” [40]
[40] Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: Vol. I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973-80), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), 204.
It is interesting to note that the first plague upon Egypt affected the Nile River, while the ninth plague darkened the sun. Thus, the Egyptians felt the strength of the God of Israel over their important deities.
Exo 7:15 “Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water” Comments – Commentators can only speculate as to why Pharaoh was going to the Nile river in the morning. John Gill offers several explanations. He may have been taking a refreshing morning walk (see the Jerusalem Targum), or observing superstitious divinations with the magicians (see the Targum of Jonathan), or during the time of year that the river rises, he may have been observing how much it had risen (see Abraham ibn Ezra). [41]
[41] John Gill, Exodus, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Exodus 7:15.
The Ten Plagues Exo 7:14 to Exo 11:10 records the story of the Ten Plagues that God brought upon the nation of Egypt. The swallowing of the serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians by the serpent of Moses (Exo 7:11-12) foreshadows the fact that the Ten Plagues were a power struggle between the gods of Egypt and the God of Israel. These enchantments by Pharaoh’s sorcerers symbolized the strength of their gods. Yet, the Ten Plagues demonstrated that God’s power extended beyond their gods of enchantment unto all of the gods that were worshipped in the land of Egypt, deities that were designated for every area of their lives. The Egyptians served deities of heaven and deities of the earth, deities of the weather, over their crops and those for diseases. Each deity was believed to have power over a limited aspect of one’s life. The Egyptians knew that their gods were limited in scope of influence and power. With the Ten Plagues, God proved that His power encompassed over all creation and every aspect of human life.
Throughout the Ten Plagues God demonstrated that He was God Almighty. This was God’s way of using judgment to bring men to repentance. In fact, the Scriptures indicate that a number of Egyptians were converted and followed the Israelites out in the Exodus to serve their God.
Exo 12:38, “And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.”
Num 11:4, “And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?”
These converts declared that they would go with the children of Israel because God is with them, as the prophet Zechariah says would happen again later in Israel’s history (Zec 8:3); or, as Ruth clung to Naomi in order to serve her God.
Zec 8:23, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you .”
Rth 1:16, “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”
When God judges a nation as He did Egypt during the time of Moses, He always begins by judging the object of a nation’s trust and confidence. For example, in 2001 to 2003, the Lord judged the United States in three areas. The destruction of the World Trade Center symbolized American’s trust in its wealth. The damage to the Pentagon on the same day represented American’s military might. The explosion of the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia represented American’s technology and ingenuity. None of these three are above God Almighty. In the same way, God judged the deities of Egypt so that these people would know the true and living God, the God of Israel.
The Significance of the Number “Ten” – The Hebrew phrase “ten times” ( ) is made up of two words, “ten” ( ) (H6235), and “times” ( ) (H6471). Although the literal translation is, “ten times,” John Gill understands the phrase “ten times” in Num 14:22 as an idiom to mean a rounded number, which is equivalent to “time after time,” thus “numerous times.” He says that although the Jews counted ten literal occasions when Israel tempted the Lord during the wilderness journeys, Aben Ezra gives this phrase a figurative meaning of “many times.” [34] T. E. Espin adds to the figurative meaning of Num 14:22 by saying that Israel had tempted the Lord to its fullness, so that the Lord would now pass judgment upon them, even denying them access into the Promised Land, which is clearly stated in the next verse. [35]
[34] Gill lists ten literal occasions, “twice at the sea, Exodus 14:11; twice concerning water, Exodus 15:23; twice about manna, Exodus 16:2; twice about quails, Exodus 16:12; once by the calf, Exodus 32:1; and once in the wilderness of Paran, Numbers 14:1, which last and tenth was the present temptation.” John Gill, Numbers, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Numbers 14:22.
[35] E. T. Espin and J. F. Thrupp, Numbers, in The Holy Bible According to the Authorized Version (A.D. 1611), with an Explanation and Critical Commentary and a Revision of the Translation, by Bishops and Clergy of the Anglican Church, vol. 1, part 2, ed. F. C. Cook (London: John Murray, 1871), 702.
The phrase “ten times” is used as an idiom in several passages in the Scriptures to mean countless times (Gen 31:7, Num 14:22, Neh 4:12).
Gen 31:7, “And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.”
Num 14:22, “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;”
Neh 4:12, “And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times , From all places whence ye shall return unto us they will be upon you.”
The NAB translates this phrase in Gen 31:7 as “time after time.”
NAB, “yet your father cheated me and changed my wages time after time . God, however, did not let him do me any harm.”
The number ten represents a counting system that is based on ten units. Thus, the number ten can be interpreted literally to represent the numerical system, or it can be given a figurative meaning to reflect the concept of multiple occurrences.
The Plague of Blood
v. 14. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
v. 15. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water, to the river Nile; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come, v. 16. And thou shalt say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let My people go that they may serve Me in the wilderness, v. 17. Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood, v. 18. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. v. 19. And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, v. 20. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, v. 21. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. v. 22. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, v. 24. and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said.
v. 23. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. His heart was in no manner moved to grant the request of Moses and Aaron.
v. 24. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; v. 25. And seven days were fulfilled, after that the Lord had smitten the river, EXPOSITION
THE FIRST PLAGUE. The first miracle had been exhibited, and had failed. It had been a mere “sign,” and in no respect a “judgment.” Now the “judgments ‘ were to begin. God manifests himself again to Moses, and gives him exact directions what he is to do. He is to meet Pharaoh on the banks of the Nile, and to warn him that a plague is coming upon all Egypt on account of his obstinacy; that the waters of the Nile will be turned to blood, so that the ash will die, and the river stink, and the Egyptians loathe to drink of the water of the river (Exo 7:15-18). Pharaoh not yielding, making no sign, the threat is to be immediately followed by the act. In the sight of Pharaoh and his court, or at any rate of his train of attendants (Exo 7:20), Aaron is to stretch his rod over the Nile, and the water is at once to become blood, the fish to die, and the river in a short time to become offensive, or, in the simple and direct language of the Bible, to stink. The commands given by God are executed, and the result is as declared beforehand by Moses (Exo 7:20, Exo 7:21).
Exo 7:14
Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. Rather, “is hard, is dull.” The adjective used is entirely unconnected with the verb of the preceding verse.
Exo 7:15
In the morning. The expression used both here and again in Exodus:20 seems rather to imply a daily custom of the Pharaoh. It is conjectured; not without reason, that among the recognised duties of the monarch at this time was the offering of a morning sacrifice to the Nile on the banks of the river (Keil and Delitzsch, Kalisch, etc.). Possibly, however, this may not have been the case, and God may have chosen for certain miracles particular days, on which the king was about to proceed to the river in view of some special ceremony connected with the annual inundation. Against he come. Literally, “to meet him.” In their hand. When the time came for smiting the waters, the rod was transferred to Aaron’s hand (verse 19).
Exo 7:16
The Lord God hath sent me unto thee. Rather, “sent me unto thee.” The reference is to the original sending (Exo 5:1). Thou wouldest not hear. Literally, “Thou hast not heard,” i.e. up to this time thou hast not obeyed the command given to thee.
Exo 7:17
In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Pharaoh had declared on the occasion specially referred to, “I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go” (Exo 5:2). He is now told that he shall “know Jehovah” in the coming visitation; he shall know, i.e; that there is a great and truly existent God who controls nature, does as he will even with the Nile, which the Egyptians regarded as a great deity; and can turn, if he see fit, the greatest blessings into curses. Behold, I will smite. God here speaks of the acts of Moses and Aaron as his own acts, and of their hands as his hand, because they were mere instruments through which he worked. The Roman law said: “Qui facit per alium, tacit per se.” The waters shall be turned to blood. Not simply, “shall be of the colour of blood,” as Rosenmuller paraphrases, but shall become and be, to all intents and purposes, blood. It is idle to ask whether the water would have answered to all the modern tests, microscopic and other, by which blood is known. The question cannot be answered. An that we are entitled to conclude from the words of the text is, that the water had all the physical appearance the look, taste, smell, texture of blood: and hence, that it was certainly not merely discoloured by the red soil of Abyssinia, nor by cryptegamic plants and infusoria. Water thus changed would neither kill fish, nor “stink,” nor be utterly undrinkable.
Exo 7:18
The fish shall die. This would increase the greatness of the calamity, for the Egyptians lived to a very large extent upon fish, which was taken in the Nile, in the canals, and the Lake Morris (Herod. 2.149). The river shall stink. As Keil and Delitzsch observe, “this seems to indicate putrefaction.” The Egyptians shall loathe to drink. The expression is stronger in Exo 7:24, where we find that “they could not drink.” We may presume that at first, not supposing that the fluid could really be blood, they tried to drink it, took it into their mouths, and possibly swallowed some, but that very soon they found they could not continue to do so.
Exo 7:19
Say unto Aaron. There is an omission here (and generally throughout the account of the plagues) of the performance by Moses of God’s behest. The Samaritan Pentateuch in each case supplies the omission. It has been argued (Kennicott) that the Hebrew narrative has been contracted; but most critics agree that the incomplete form is the early one, and that, in the Samar. version, the original narrative has been expanded. The waters of Egypt streams rivers ponds pools of water. The waters of Lower Egypt, where this miracle was wrought, consisted of
(1) the various branches of the Nile, natural and artificial, which were seven when Herodotus wrote (Herod. 2.17), whence the Nile was called “septemfluus,” or “septemgeminus;”
(2) the canals derived from each branch to fertilise the lands along its banks;
(3) ponds, marshes, and pools, the results of the overflowing of the Nile, or of its percolation through its banks on either side; and
(4) artificial reservoirs, wherein water was stored for use after the inundation was over. The four terms of the text seem applicable to this four-fold division, and “show an accurate knowledge of Egypt” (Cook), and of its water system. The “streams” are the Nile branches; the” rivers correspond to the canals; the “ponds” are the natural accumulations of waters in permanent lakes or in temporary pools and marshes; while the “pools,” or “gatherings of waters” (margin), are the reservoirs made by art. Aaron was to stretch out his rod over the Nile, but with the intent to smite all the Egyptian waters, and all the waters would at once be smitten, the streams and the canals and the natural lakes and the reservoirs. The miracle would even extend to private dwell-trigs, and the change would take place throughout all the land of Egypt, not only in respect of the open waters spread over the country, but even in respect of that stored, as was usual, in houses, and contained either in vessels of wood or in vessels of stone. With respect to these, it is to be observed that the Nile water was much improved by keeping, since the sediment subsided; and that tanks, sometimes of wood, sometimes of stone, were usual adjuncts of all the better class of houses.
Exo 7:20
He lifted up the rod. “He” must be understood to mean “Aaron” (see Exo 7:19); but the writer is too much engrossed with the general run of his narrative to be careful about minutia. All that he wants to impress upon us is, that the rod was used as an instrument for the working of the miracle. He is not thinking of who it was that used it. In the sight of Pharaoh. See the comment on Exo 7:15. And of his servants. Either “his courtiers generally,” or, at any rate, a large troop of attendants.
Exo 7:21
The fish that was in the river died. It is most natural to understand “all the fish.” There was blood, etc. Literally, “and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.” The exact intention of the phrase is doubtful, since undoubtedly “in numberless instances, the Hebrew terms which imply universality must be understood in a limited sense (Cook). “All the land” may mean no more than “all the Delta.”
HOMILETICS
Exo 7:17-20
God’s punishments appropriate and terrible
(Exo 7:17-20), There was something peculiarly appropriate in the first judgment falling upon the Nile. The Nile had been made the instrument of destruction to the Israelites by the first tyrannical Pharaoh (probably Seti I.). It had been defiled with the blood of thousands of innocent victims. Crocodiles had in its waters crushed the tender limbs of those helpless infants, and had stained them with a gore that in God’s sight could never be forgotten. The king, and the persons who were his instruments, had in so doing polluted their own holy river, transgressed their own law, offered insults to one of the holiest of their own deities. And all for the destruction of God’s people. So, now that destruction was coming upon themselves, now that the firstborn were doomed (Exo 4:23), and the catastrophe of the Red Sea was impending, the appropriate sign, which threatened carnage, was giventhe Nile was made to run with blood. The Egyptians had among their traditions one which said that the Nile had once for eleven days flowed with honey. As this supposed miracle indicated a time of peace and prosperity, so the present actual one boded war and destruction. Again, Pharaoh’s especial crime at this time was, that he despised God. God therefore caused his own chief deity to be despised. There are indications that, about this period, a special Nile-worship had set in. Hapi, the Nile-god, was identified with Phthah and Ammonhe was declared to stand “alone and self-created”to be “the Father of all the gods,” “the Chief on the waters,” “the Creator of all good things,” “the Lord of terrors and of choicest joys.” “Mortals” were said to “extol him, and the cycle of Gods“he stood above them all as the One Unseen and Inscrutable Being. “He is not graven in marble,” it was said; “he is not beheld; he hath neither ministrants nor offerings; he is not adored in sanctuaries; his abode is not known; no shrine of his is found with painted figures; there is no building that can contain him;” and again, “unknown is his name in heaven; he doth not manifest his forms; vain are all representations.” Menephthah was a special devotee of Hapi. Nothing could have seemed to him more terrible and shocking, than the conversion of his pure, clean, refreshing, life-giving, god-like stream, into a mass of revolting putridity. And on the people the judgment was still more terrible. Under ordinary circumstances, the whole nation depended on the Nile for its water supply. There were no streams in the country other than the Nile branches, no brooks, no rills, no springs or fountains. The sudden conversion of all the readily accessible watereven such as was stored in housesinto blood, was sickening, horrible, tremendous. Scarcely could any severer punishment of the people have been devised. If a partial remedy had not been found (Exo 7:24), it would have been impossible for them to endure through the “seven days” (Exo 7:25). So fearful are the judgments of God upon those who offend him I
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 7:14-25
The Nile turned into blood.
The first of the series of plagues which fell on Egypt was of a truly terrific character. At the stretching out of the red of Aaron, the broad, swift-flowing current of. the rising Nile suddenly assumed the hue and qualities of blood. The stroke fell also on the reservoirs, canals, and ponds. Whatever connection may be traced between this plague and natural phenomena (see Hengstenberg) it is plain that it stood on an entirely different footing from changes produced under purely natural conditions.
1. The water was rendered wholly unfit for use.
2. It became deadly in its properties (Exo 7:18).
3. The stroke was instantaneous.
4. It was pre-announced.
5. It descended on the river at the summons of Moses and Aaron.
6. It lasted exactly seven days (Exo 7:25).
An event of this kind was palpably of supernatural origin. Contrast Moses with Christ, the one beginning the series of wonders by turning the river into blood; the other, in his first miracle, turning the water into wine (Joh 2:1-12). The contrast of judgment and mercy, of law and Gospel. Consider
I. THE DEMAND RENEWED WITH THE ACCOMPANIMENT OF THREAT (Exo 7:16-19).
1. The demand was that which Pharaoh had hitherto resisted. It was a demand righteous and reasonable in itself”Let my people go,” etc. It had come to him, moreover, as the command of Jehovah, and proof had been given him that such was its character. Still he had resisted it. This, however, did not dispose of the demand, which now confronts him again.
2. The demand which Pharaoh would not freely grant, he is now to be compelled to grant. If he will not bow to reason, to persuasion, to evidence, he must bow to power. An unprecedented calamity would overtake his land: “In this shalt thou know that I am the Lord; behold, I will smite with the rod,” etc. (Exo 7:17). Note
(1) Reasonable means are exhausted with the sinner before compulsion is resorted to. God is unwilling to proceed to extremities.
(2) Nevertheless, if gentler methods fail, means will be used which will compel submission. “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom 14:11; Php 2:10, Php 2:11).
(3) Excuses are not admitted for wilful unbelief. Pharaoh would probably have pleaded as a ground for his refusal, that he did not believe that the command in question proceeded from Jehovah. No such plea will be admitted in the court of heaven. Every allowance will be made for involuntary ignorance, but none for wilful unbelief. What the sinner is asked to do is righteous and reasonable in itself; is made known to him as God’s will; and is evidenced to be such by many infallible proofs. Refusal to acknowledge the sufficiency of this evidence does not exculpate from the guilt of disobedience. The question is notDoes he, or will he, admit its sufficiency, but is it sufficient? Not, Does it convince him? but, Ought it to convince him? Our errors, follies, and mistakes will not hinder the Almighty from executing his purposes. If we stand in the way of them, and will not bend, we must be crushed.
II. THE PLAGUE AS A SIGN TO EGYPT. The smiting of the Nile was
1. A proof of the power of Jehovah (Exo 7:17). It showed him to be an actually existing Being, demonstrated his supremacy in nature, and made manifest his determination to punish resistance to his will.
2. A blow at Egyptian idolatry. It turned the river Nile, which itself was worshipped as a divinity, into an object of loathsomeness and source of death to its worshippers. They were the chief gods of Egypt, too, who were supposed to be embodied in the river. How clear the proof of the vanity of the idols, and of the unchallengeable superiority of Jehovah! Yet we do net learn that one idol the less was worshipped in Egypt as the result of it.
3. A warning of worse evil to come. The Nile was in a sense symbolical of Egypt, of whose prosperity it was the source. The turning of this river into blood was in fact a prophecy or threat of utter ruin to the state. The succeeding plagues are merely the unfolding of the threat contained in this one.
4. The removal of the plague at the end of seven days betokened the unwillingness of God to proceed to extremities. It is very noticeable that the plague was removed unasked, and while Pharaoh was still hardening his heart. So long-suffering is God that he will try all means with sinners before finally giving them up. The lessons for ourselves from this plague are these
(1) The certainty of God’s threatenings being executed.
(2) The terrible punishments in reserve for disobedience.
(3) The ease with which God can smite a nation, and bring it to the point of ruin. The smiting of the Erie meant the immediate paralysis of all industry, commerce, and agriculture throughout the land of Egypt, while, had the plague lasted a few days longer, the result would have been the death of the whole population. We call this “miracle,” but miracle is only the coming forth into visibility of the hand which is at all times working in the phenomena of nature, and in the affairs of history. By famine, by pestilence, by blight of crops, by clap of war, turning the river of a nation’s life into very literal blood, by the simplest natural agencies, if so it pleased himcould Jehovah speedily reduce our national pride, and smite at the fountain-heads the sources of our national prosperity. A very sensible proof was given of thisof the readiness with which the trade of a whole country could be paralysed, and great cities reduced in no long period to absolute starvation, by a slight change in natural conditionsin the great snowstorm of January 1881. Had the storm lasted but a week or two longer, the effects would have been as serious to cities like London, and to the country as a whole, as this smiting. of the Nile in Egypt.
(4) God’s judgments are anticipative. Judgments in this life forewarn of judgments beyond.
III. THE PUERILE IMITATION OF THE MAGICIANS (Exo 7:22).
1. The magicians could not remove the plague; they could only with the few drops of water at their command produce a feeble imitation of it. How futile is this as a disproof of God’s agency! So it is a pitiable way of disposing of God’s judgments to show that something like them can be produced by undivine means. The savant, e.g; may produce in his laboratory an imitation of rain or thunder, and may think that he has thereby disproved God’s agency in any infliction he may send upon a land through these instrumentalities; but this is small comfort to the country that is being smitten by them.
2. The attempts of the magicians to refute the pretensions of Moses only resulted in making the supernatural character of the plague more manifest. In the same way, the efforts of sceptics to disprove, e.g; the Divine origin of the religion of the Bible, or of the book itself, only end in making its Divinity more apparent. “The more conclusively you demonstrate to the human reason that that which exists ought not to exist, so much the more do you enhance the miracle of its existence. That must be the most astounding of all facts that still exists notwithstanding the gravest objections to its existence.”
IV. THE HARDENING OF PHARAOH (Exo 7:22, Exo 7:23). The hardening of Pharaoh here enters on a new phase. It was
1. Hardening against conviction. Pharaoh must have felt in this case that he was in presence of a true work of God. The puny efforts of his magicians could not possibly impose upon him. But he would not yield. He would not obey conviction.
2. Hardening under punishment. Pharaoh was in the position of one who, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck (Pro 29:1). He had risked, even after this last warning, the chances of the threatening turning out to be untrue. Now, to his utter discomfiture, the stroke descends, and his empire is on the point of ruin. Yet he hardened himself in resistance.
3. Hardening which was deliberate. “Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also” (Exo 7:23). He had reached a point at which he could only stiffen himself in his determination to resist God, by refusing to think, by deliberately turning away from the light and resolving not to face the question of his duty. The monarch knows his duty, and knows that he knows it, yet. he will not obey.
4. Hardening obstinately persevered in. He held out through all the seven days of the duration of the plague. Hardening of this kind speedily robs the soul of its few remaining sparks of susceptibility to truth.J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Exo 7:14-25
The first plague: the water turned to blood.
I. THE PLACE WHERE MOSES WAS TO MEET PHARAOH. Moses was not always to be put to it to find his entrance into the palace. God can arrange things so that Pharaoh shall come to meet him. The instructions given to Moses at once call to our minds how Pharaoh’s daughter, eighty years before, had come down to the river to find and protect a helpless babe, and how that same babehaving passed through many chequered years, and many strange experiences at the hands both of God and menhas to meet with another Pharaoh. We are not told why Pharaoh went down to the water; it may have been to worship, for the Egyptians held the Nile in pious regard. But as the narrative says nothing on this point, we had better not assume it. It is sufficient to observe that Pharaoh was led down to the stream, to see it, the great benefactor of his land, turned into a curse.
II. THE DISTINCT WARNING GIVEN TO PHARAOH OF WHAT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. This warning is not peculiar to the first plague. Warning is mentioned as having been given along with most of the others, and possibly it was given where it is not mentioned. But it is of course a thing to be specially noted that God did not begin this succession of disasters without due and solemn warning. Not that there was any formal appeal to Pharaoh. It rather seems to be taken for granted that an appeal will be of no use. But even though Pharaoh disregarded, it was a good thing to say beforehand what was about to happen. Moses himself, and Aaron, and all devout Israelites who had eyes to perceive, could thus see God’s plan opening out more and more. All information is good that makes us feel how God is working upon an ascertained and settled plan.
III. THE PLAGUE ITSELF, Water is changed to blood. Two of the great elements that belong to life are thus put in sharp contrast. Water is an element scarcely less distributed than the air itself. It is one of those common blessings which are so common that we take them with no manner of doubt that we are perfectly sure of them, come what may. The importance of water is seen by nothing more than by the frequent references to it in Scripture as illustrative of spiritual blessings. There is water to drink; water to cleanse; water to fertilise vegetation. This element God takes, and all at once, over a wide stretch of territory, turns it to blood. Thus we see how he can make mere natural things a blessing or a curse according to his will. Water is a blessing, and blood a blessing, according to circumstances of time and place. There is suffering when blood is where water ought to be; and equally there is suffering if water is where blood ought to be. Here there was great suffering because blood was where water was meant to be. When the people came for water to drink, to cook, to wash, to water plants, they found only blood; and yet that very blood was the same in its composition with the liquid which flowed incessantly through their own bodies. Their health depended on its richness, its purity, and the regularity of its flow. On the other hand, consider the poor man who came to Christ to be cured of the dropsy (Luk 14:2). He had to complain, not that blood was where water ought to be, but that water was where blood ought to be. And here we claim that this miracle is not sufficiently explained by saying that the water was turned into something like blood. We must take it that there was a conversion of the water literally into blood. We are here just at the beginning of a critical and sublime exhibition of signs and wonders. Why, then, needlessly make admissions which will diminish the force of these? Granting the supernatural at all, let us be ready to grant it to the full where the statements of the text require it. The Being who changed a rod to a serpent could change, if need were, the waters of the whole globe into blood. We should be careful not to admit, without sufficient reason, anything to diminish the horrors of this plague. What a poor picture it presents to the imagination to think of streams stained with red earth or microscopic infusoria! How much more impressive in every wayhow much more consistent with high conceptions of the anger of Jehovah, and of the punitive aspect of his powerto think of blood, real blood everywhere, “vast rolling streams, florid and high-coloured,” and becoming after a while, a stagnating, clotting, putrescent mass. Very fitly does Matthew Henry remark on this plague:”One of the first miracles Moses wrought was turning water into blood, but one of the first miracles our Lord Jesus wrought was turning water into wine; for the law was given by Moses, and it was a dispensation of death and terror; but grace and truth, which, like wine, make glad the heart, came by Jesus Christ.”
IV. THE APPARENTLY SUCCESSFUL RIVALRY OF THE MAGICIANS. They also were able, or seemed to be able, to turn water into blood. There are, indeed, some difficulties in understanding the nature of their action herewhether it was mere trickery and deception, or whether God did allow water, as it passed through their hands, to be changed to blood. An understanding of these points is, however, of secondary importance. The thing of moment is to mark how unimpressed the magicians themselves seem to have been with the terrible spectacle presented to them. It was not for Pharaoh only to take heed to this river of blood; the intimation was for them also. But they clung, as privileged men almost always do cling, to their position and influence. Not only was Pharaoh’s kingdom in danger, but their standing as the professed agents of supernatural powers. They went on, vainly contending against this new manifestation of power, though surely in their hearts they must have felt it was destined to prevail And their conduct was made worse by the fact that they were pursuing it in the midst of general suffering.
V. THE INTERVAL TO THE NEXT PLAGUE. What was this interval for? Surely to give Pharaoh timetime to consider the miracle in all its bearings, and get over the rashness and pride which prompted his first thoughts of continued resistance. We know not if, during these seven days, the river slowly returned to its natural state. Perhaps there was no sharp dividing line between the plagues; one may have come on as another faded away. Seven days, then, were given to Pharaoh to change his mind; but it is very hard for a man, even in seven days, to say he has been utterly wrong. And then there is the success of these magicians to keep him astray. Yet what was there in them to give satisfaction? It seemed they could do the same thing which Moses was doing, viz. change water into blood. If only they could have changed blood into water again, then they might have been of some use and comfort to Pharaoh.Y.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 7:14-25
The water turned into blood.
I. THE PUNISHMENT. There were two elements in it.
1. The deprivation: water, one of the most essential of all God’s gifts, was suddenly made useless.
2. The horror. Had all the water of Egypt suddenly disappeared, the punishment had been infinitely less. Instead of water, there was blood and corruption.
3. It was a judgment on Egypt’s idolatry. The things we set in God’s stead will be made an abomination and a horror to us.
4. It was the revelation of Egypt’s guilt; beneath these waters the babes of Israel had sunk in their hopeless struggle with death. The abused gifts of God will be removed, but the horror of their abuse will abide.
I. THE ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT GOD‘S AGENCY IN THE CALAMITY. The magicians could increase the plague, and therefore it was not from the hand of God! The same argument is used still to prevent misfortune being considered as a chastisement and warning from God. Men can see in it chance only, or man’s hand, not the Lord’s.
III. PHARAOH‘S DOGGED REFUSAL TO OBEY. He “turned and went into his house” (Exo 7:23). This would prolong his punishment, but could not conquer God. Instead of bowing to God’s word, we may shut ourselves in with our sin, but we only bind judgment upon us, and tempt God to inflict a heavier blow.U.
Exo 7:14. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened In the Hebrew, is made heavy: i.e. What was designed for his conviction, has proved the means only of aggravating his guilt, and rendering his stoney heart more heavy and obdurate.
This is the first of the ten plagues with which the Lord visited Egypt: and a most awful one it was. I would just make one observation upon it; namely, that it is remarkable, that as the first punishment for the deliverance of the Lord’s people, which Moses wrought, was the converting water into blood: so the first miracle in the work of grace which the Lord Jesus accomplished, was the turning water into wine! All that comes by Moses’ law is terror, but grace and truth come by Jesus Christ.
Exo 7:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart [is] hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Ver. 14. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened.] Heb., Heavy; clogged with corruption, and held down by the devil: as, on the contrary, Jehoshaphat’s “heart was light, and lifted up in the ways of the Lord.” 2Ch 17:6 So were Dr Taylor’s and George Roper’s, the martyrs: the former fetched a frisk, the latter a great leap, when they came to the stake. a
a Ibid., fol. 1386, 1629.
the LORD said. See note on Exo 3:7 with Exo 6:10. hardened. See note on Exo 4:2.
Sign of the Waters Turned to Blood
Exo 7:14-25
Satan will mimic Gods work up to a point. We are told that Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses; but even then Moses rod swallowed their rods. They were defeated in their own realm, that Pharaohs faith in them might be shaken. But it was in their predictions of what was coming that the Hebrew brethren specially attested their superiority. The sky was roseate with the blush of dawn, as Pharaoh, accompanied by his court, came to perform his customary ablutions or to worship at the brink of the Nile. Moses met him with the peremptory summons, Let my people go and in accordance with his prediction the Nile became as blood. But since by their clever legerdemain the magicians appeared able to do as much, his heart was hardened-i.e., he did not set his heart to it. In other words, he would not consider the message sent to him by the hand of Gods accredited messengers.
4. The Nine Plagues and the Tenth Judgment Announced
CHAPTER 7:14-25 The First Plague
1. The plague announced (Exo 7:14-19)
2. The judgment executed (Exo 7:20-25)
Nine judgment plagues follow, and after they had passed, the tenth, the great judgment, fell upon Egypt. There are striking and different characteristics of these plagues. Aaron uses his rod in the beginning of the plagues, while Moses stretches out his rod and hand in the last three, not counting the slaying of the firstborn. Some of them were announced beforehand, others were not announced and came without warning. We give them now in their order:
1. Water turned into blood;
2. Frogs;
3. Lice;
4. Flies;
5. Murrain;
6. Boils;
7. Hail;
8. Locusts;
9. Darkness (see Psa 105:26-36).
The process of the hardening of Pharaohs heart progresses with these judgments till God hardened him completely. After the first plague his heart was hardened (or firm) and deliberately he set himself to do this. Note this process in Exo 8:15; Exo 8:19; Exo 8:31; and Exo 9:7. When this present age closes with the great tribulation and the vials of Gods wrath are poured out upon an unbelieving world, the hearts of the earthdwellers and Christ rejectors will be hardened and thus ripe for the day of wrath. The book of Revelation acquaints us with this solemn fact.
The plagues of Egypt are founded on the natural features which Egypt presents, so that they are unprecedented and extraordinary, not so much in themselves, as on account of their power and extent, and their rapid succession when Moses simply gives the command. As they are, consequently, both natural and supernatural, they afford both to faith and to unbelief the freedom to choose (in Pharaoh, unbelief prevailed); they are, besides, adapted to convince the Egyptians that Jehovah is not merely the national God of the Israelites, but a God above all gods, who holds in his hand all the powers of nature likewise, which Egypt was accustomed to deify (J.H. Kurtz).
The water of the river Nile was turned into blood. The Nile was worshipped by the Egyptians and now this great river was polluted. Strange that even orthodox commentators can state that the change in the water was a change in color produced by red earth or by a certain water plant. But we know a real change took place, for the water stank and the fish died. Thus the Nile , known as Osiris, became an object of abomination and death. The messengers of Satan imitated this miracle also. This plague lasted seven days.
Pharaoh’s: Exo 8:15, Exo 10:1, Exo 10:20, Exo 10:27, Zec 7:12
he refuseth: Exo 4:23, Exo 8:2, Exo 9:2, Exo 10:4, Isa 1:20, Jer 8:5, Jer 9:6, Heb 12:25
Reciprocal: Exo 8:32 – General Exo 9:7 – the heart Exo 9:12 – General Exo 9:34 – and hardened Exo 11:10 – the Lord Exo 14:4 – harden Exo 14:17 – I will
THE HARDENED TYRANT
Pharaohs heart is hardened.
Exo 7:14
I. It is necessary to recognise a change which the R.V. makes. The A.V. renders, I will harden Pharaohs heart (ver. 3); the R.V., simply that his heart was stubborn (ver. 14). In the first stages of this terrible conflict, such was the case. There was no Divine intention in the hardening of the tyrants heart. On the contrary, everything that could be devised was done to show him who Jehovah was, and to turn him from his purpose. That Gods dealings really issued in hardening was not the end of those dealings, but incidental to them.
II. Speaking after the manner of men, what God meant for good, Pharaohs nature transmuted into evil. God sent sunshine to soften, but in Pharaohs condition of mind it only hardened. God sent rain to fertilise, but when it touched the surface of his heart it turned to ice. Gods love showered flowers, but as in Dantes poem, when they entered the atmosphere of his soul, they were changed to hot ashes, like those that cover the top of Vesuvius.
III. There were three processes in Pharaohs case, clearly indicated by the words used. First, his heart was hardened; this was the natural and automatic result of hearing and not doing. Next, he hardened his heart, by deliberately setting his will against his conscience. And, lastly, God hardened his heart, by leaving him to follow his own evil ways.
Illustrations
(1) The hardening of Pharaohs heart is predicted in Exodus 4, but nothing of the kind takes place, until a solemn demand has been made upon him and contumeliously refused. From the beginning of chapter 5 down to chapter Exo 9:34 we have two forms of statement intermixed; the one, that the Lord hardened Pharaohs heart, and the other that he hardened his own heart. From this stage onward, Pharaoh seems to have fallen into an incurable obstinacy; and we are told in another place only that God hardened his heart. And so it is that would not ever passes into could not; that under the stern law of mental habits grounded in nature, the evil we have chosen takes deeper and deeper root, and at last passes beyond our power to recall. There are gradations of impenitence marked; an opportunity of free pardon is offered, and lighter punishments foreshadow the greater. When it is said that Pharaoh hardened his heart, we are viewing the voluntary and human side; when it is said that God hardened his heart, we see the judicial and penal.
W. E. Gladstone.
(2) The Almighty made him a monument of judgment. In that passage of Rom 9:17, the Divine side only appears, whilst the history of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus shows the double picture of human action arousing Divine condemnation. Men are raised up to different elevations; some, like David and Daniel, use their positions for Gods glory; others, like Pharaoh and Saul, use them for their own selfish ends, and falling from their high estate, exhibit the justice of God, after despising and rejecting his long continued goodness and mercy.
(3) It is an awful thing when the human will comes into collision with the Divine. If it will not bend it must break. For once Pharaoh, the child of an imperial race, had met his superior, and had to learn that it were better for a potsherd to strive with potsherds than for a mortal to enter the lists with his Maker. At the same time God is not unreasonable. He sets Himself to show us who He is, who demands our homage.
PLAGUES IN DETAIL
FIRST GROUP (Exo 7:4 – Exo 8:19)
The river turned into blood (Exo 7:14-25). How far did this plague extend over the waters of Egypt (Exo 7:19)? If this were literally so, it may be asked, where did the magicians find material on which to work with their enchantments (Exo 7:22)? Is the answer suggested in Exo 7:24? May they have dug up water from the ground for this purpose? If so, we can imagine the limited scale of their performance in contrast with that of Moses.
In connection with this miracle it should be known that commonly the Nile begins to rise about the end of June and attains its highest point at the end of September. It assumes a greenish hue at first, and becomes disagreeable to the taste and unwholesome. Then it becomes red and turbid for two or three weeks, although fit for use when red. The miraculous is seen here:
(1)because it occurred in the winter, as we have not now time to prove; the water was not merely reddened but turned into blood; the fish died, which was not the case under the other circumstances; the river stank and became offensive, while in the other case it was fit for use when red; the stroke was arrested at the end of seven days, but ordinarily the redness lasted three weeks; and
(2)the change was brought on instantly at the command of Moses before the eyes of Pharaoh.
The frogs (Exo 8:1-15).
Frogs abound in Egypt, but miracles are not the less supernatural because their products are natural objects, previously well known. That this visitation was miraculous is seen in that the frogs came at the word of command, and at an unusual time, and in an unusual degree and magnified form. Frogs are not usually spawned, transformed into tadpoles, and then into frogs and spread over a country in a few moments.
What different effect on Pharaoh has this plague from the previous one (Exo 8:8)? It is difficult to understand the meaning of Moses words, Glory over me (Exo 8:9), unless we take them in the sense of appoint unto me a time, etc. As one of the older commentators suggests, Moses experiences so much joy at Pharaohs apparent relenting that he willingly gives him the honor of appointing the time when he should entreat the Lord for the removal of the plagues.
The lice (Exo 8:16-19).
In other cases the water produced the cause of torture, whence does this arise (Exo 8:16)? What made this plague more aggravating than the former ones (Exo 8:17)? To what conclusion do the magicians come in this case (Exo 8:19)? Do you think they meant it was a judgment from Jehovah, or only a providential event? With which of these two possible opinions does Pharaohs action seem to agree?
SECOND GROUP (Exo 8:29 to Exo 9:12)
The flies (Exo 8:20-32).
What preliminary is omitted here that was observed in the other cases (compare Exo 8:16, first part)? How does this teach that the true wonder-worker is not tied to any particular mode of introducing his wonders? What distinction is now put between the Egyptians and the Hebrews? Why were the first three plagues permitted to fall upon the latter? Was it to help detach them from that land of their birth? How did this division between the two people emphasize the fact that the judgments were coming from the God of the Hebrews?
What further effect has this plague on the king (Exo 8:25)? Which is he willing to concede, the time or the place for sacrifice? Why will not Moses conform to his plan (Exo 8:26)? The Egyptians worshipped animals, like the cow and the sheep, and should the Hebrews offer them in sacrifice it would be an abomination in their eyes and bring serious consequence upon the offerers. Moreover, to do so in Egypt would, in some way, be an abomination to the Lord as well, and hence could not be considered.
What permission is now given the Hebrews (Exo 8:28)? What abomination to Pharaoh (Exo 8:29)? Was the latter heeded (Exo 8:32)?
The Murrain, or Cattle Disease (Exo 9:1-7).
Notice that cattle in the field are specified. Some cattle among the Egyptians were stall-fed, and these seem to have been exempt (compare Exo 9:19). What interesting investigation is the king led to make at this time, and with what confirmatory result (Exo 9:7)?
The boils (Exo 9:8-12).
It is to be noted that the uncleanness resulting from such an attack would be particularly severe on a people who, like the Egyptians, made personal cleanliness a part of their religion.
THIRD GROUP (Exo 9:13 to Exo 10:29)
The hail (Exo 9:13-35).
Read carefully Exo 9:14-17 of the section and observe the insight which God gives into the theory of His administration. It is instructive, corrective and punitive, but never destructive of moral agents. He might have smitten Pharaoh and his people as easily as their cattle, annihilating them and thus removing all opposition to His demands, but such is not His way in dealing with His rational creatures. He approaches them with love, reason and justice, and only when they fail will He have recourse to correction, and finally punishment. Pharaoh will be an example of these things to all succeeding generations. It was for this God raised him up instead of striking him down.
How even yet does God remember mercy and leave an opening for faith (Exo 9:19-21)?
The locusts (Exo 10:1-20).
What effect are the plagues beginning to have on the Egyptian generally (Exo 10:7)? What expression in the verse indicates the terrible devastation that must have already taken place? To what further extent is the king now prepared to yield (Exo 10:8-11)? What in the last verse shows his spirit in the premises? How does this plague finally effect him (Exo 10:16-17) ? But does he yet surrender?
The darkness (10:21-29).
What an object lesson is in Exo 10:23. Not only for Pharaoh and Egypt is this so, but for us in a spiritual sense. The world is in darkness even until now, but Christ is the light of the world, and where He dwells is no darkness at all. What a text for a sermon, especially if treated in the light of its awful context!
How much further is Pharaoh willing to assent to Moses demand (Exo 10:24)? But on what does the latter still insist (Exo 10:25-26)? What reckless madness takes possession of the king? What is there ominous in the reply of Moses to him (Exo 10:29)? Is it not strange in this connection that Pharaoh never attempted to destroy the lives of Moses and Aaron? What better evidence could we have of the divine protection that accompanied them than this? And how it proves also the limitations of Satans power (compare Job 1, 2).
There is an awful significance in the plague of darkness, since the sun was a leading object of adoration with the Egyptians (under the name Osiris), of which the king himself was the representative, entitling him in some sense to divine honors. Thus all the forms of Egyptian will-worship have been covered with shame and confusion in these nine plagues.
QUESTIONS
1.What should the sorcerers have done to demonstrate superiority to Moses?
2.Prove the supernatural character of what Moses did.
3.What spiritual lessons are suggested in this lesson?
4.What light is here thrown on Gods administration of the universe?
5.In what particular was there divine restraint on Pharaoh?
Exo 7:14. Pharaohs heart is hardened , is made heavy.
Neither my word nor works make any impression upon him. He is obdurate and obstinate, and what was designed for his conviction and humiliation only aggravates his guilt, and prepares him for a more signal destruction.
Exo 7:14 to Exo 12:36. The Ten Plagues.How deeply this series of events imprinted itself on the mind and heart of the nation is shown by the fulness with which the three sources report them.
J124578910
E178910
P123610
1, river turned to blood; 2, frogs; 3, fice (gnats); 4, flies; 5, murrain; 6, boils; 7, hail; 8, locusts; 9, darkness; 10, death of firstborn.
A sound historical judgment will conclude, both from this fact and from the nature of the occurrences mentioned, as well as from the need for some such group of causes to account for the escape of the tribes, that the traditions have a firm foothold in real events. But since not less than four centuries intervened between the events and the earliest of our sources, it is not to be expected that the details of the narratives can all be equally correct. And there are not only literary distinctions between the sources, but differing, and in some points contradictory, representations of matters of fact. The Great European War illustrates the difficulty of weighing even contemporary testimony. But it is important to observe that even such a legend as that a force of Russians was brought through England, though it stated what was incorrect, yet would have conveyed to posterity a true reflection of two fundamental features in the European situation of 1914, viz. that Russia was allied with England, and that powerful reinforcements were needed to meet an enemy across the English Channel. So the general situation in Egypt in 1220 B.C., and the contrasted characters of Pharaoh and Moses, may reasonably be taken as rightly given, while the order, details, and precise nature of the events in which they were concerned may have been more or less distorted by tradition. One of the marks of the shaping power of the reporting process is that each source can still be seen to have had its own uniform skeleton of narration in this section. This phenomenon may be concisely exhibited. It should be contrasted with the form of narratives (such as those in 2 S.) which are more nearly contemporary with the events they relate.
a. JEP: and Yahweh said unto Moses,
b. J: Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold I will . . .
E: Stretch forth thy (i.e. Mosess) hand (with thy rod toward . . . that there may be . . .
P: Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and there shall be . . .
c. J: And Yahweh did so, and there came . . . (or and he sent)
E: And Moses stretched forth his hand (or his rod) toward . . . and there was . . .
P: And these did so: and Aaron stretched out his rod, and there was . . .
d. P: And the magicians did so (or, could not do so) with their secret arts . . .
e. J: And Pharaoh called for Moses, and said unto him, Entreat for me, that . . . And Yahweh did so, and removed . . .
f. J: But Pharaoh made his heart heavy.
E: But Yahweh made Pharaohs heart hard.
P: But Yahwehs heart was hardened.
g. J: And he did not let the people go.
E: And he did not let the children of Israel go.
P: and he hearkened not unto them as Yahweh had spoken.
The reader who will mark with letters in the margin of the text the parts assigned to J, E, and P will discern for himself, more fully by the help of the RV references, the points of contrast and resemblance, or he can consult the larger commentaries. In any case he should note that J is fullest and most graphic, and describes the plagues as natural events providentially ordered, Yahweh bringing them after the prophets mere announcement; that E is briefer, has not been so fully preserved by the editor, heightens the miraculous colouring, and makes Moses bring on the plagues with a motion of his wonder-working rod, or a gesture of his hand; and that P makes Aaron the spokesman and wielder of the rod, and introduces the magicians, the supernatural element transcending the historical throughout. Another feature is that in J the Israelites are apart in Goshen, but in E are mixed up with the Egyptians in Egypt. Each source has its own word for plague (Exo 9:14 J, Exo 11:1 E, Exo 12:13 P); and three other words (signs and wonderstwo Heb. words) are also employed. It will appear that the plagues were miraculously intensified forms of the diseases or other natural occurrences to which Egypt is more or less liable (Driver).
The water turned to blood (the first plague) 7:14-25
The first mighty act of God serves in the narrative as a paradigm of the nine plagues that follow. Striking the Nile with the rod suggested dominion over creation and all the gods of Egyptian mythology. The Egyptians linked many of their gods with the life-giving force of the Nile. The tenth plague is unique in that it is both a part of the narrative of Exodus as a whole and is a mighty act of God in itself. [Note: Durham, p. 95.]
Evidently Pharaoh had his morning devotions on the banks of the sacred Nile River. Moses and Aaron met him there as he prepared to honor the gods of the river (Exo 7:15).
We could perhaps interpret the statement that the water turned into blood (Exo 7:20) in the same way we interpret Joel’s prophecy that the moon will turn into blood (Joe 2:31 cf. Rev 6:12). Moses may have meant that the water appeared to be blood. [Note: The New Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Plagues of Egypt," by Kenneth A. Kitchen, p. 1002.] Nevertheless something happened to the water to make the fish die. The Hebrew word translated "blood" means blood, so a literal meaning is possible. [Note: Durham, p. 97.] Furthermore the passage in Joel is poetry and therefore figurative, whereas the passage here in Exodus is narrative and may be understood literally. [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 254.] Note too that this plague affected all the water in pools and reservoirs formed by the overflowing Nile as well as the water of the Nile and its estuaries (Exo 7:19). Understood figuratively or literally a real miracle took place, as is clear from the description of the effects this plague had on the Egyptians and the fish in the Nile. The Egyptian wizards were able to duplicate this wonder, but they could not undo its effects.
"The most that can be said for their miracle-working is that it is a copy of what Moses and Aaron have accomplished and that it actually makes matters worse for their master and their people." [Note: Durham, p. 98.]
"It was appropriate that the first of the plagues should be directed against the Nile River itself, the very lifeline of Egypt and the center of many of its religious ideas. The Nile was considered sacred by the Egyptians. Many of their gods were associated either directly or indirectly with this river and its productivity. For example, the great Khnum was considered the guardian of the Nile sources. Hapi was believed to be the ’spirit of the Nile’ and its ’dynamic essence.’ One of the greatest gods revered in Egypt was the god Osiris who was the god of the underworld. The Egyptians believed that the river Nile was his bloodstream. In the light of this latter expression, it is appropriate indeed that the Lord should turn the Nile to blood! It is not only said that the fish in the river died but that the ’river stank,’ and the Egyptians were not able to use the water of that river. That statement is especially significant in the light of the expressions which occur in the ’Hymn to the Nile’: ’The bringer of food, rich in provisions, creator of all good, lord of majesty, sweet of fragrance’. [Note: James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 272.] With this Egyptian literature in mind, one can well imagine the horror and frustration of the people of Egypt as they looked upon that which was formerly beautiful only to find dead fish lining the shores and an ugly red characterizing what had before provided life and attraction. Crocodiles were forced to leave the Nile. One wonders what worshipers would have thought of Hapi the god of the Nile who was sometimes manifest in the crocodile. Pierre Montet relates the following significant observation:
"’At Sumenu (the modern Rizzeigat) in the Thebes area, and in the central district of the Fayum, the god Sepek took the form of a crocodile. He was worshipped in his temple where his statue was erected, and venerated as a sacred animal as he splashed about in his pool. A lady of high rank would kneel down and, without the slightest trace of disgust, would drink from the pool in which the crocodile wallowed. Ordinary crocodiles were mummified throughout the whole of Egypt and placed in underground caverns, like the one called the Cavern of the Crocodiles in middle Egypt.’ [Note: Pierre Montet, Eternal Egypt, p. 172.]
"Surely the pollution of the Nile would have taken on religious implications for the average Egyptian. Those who venerated Neith, the eloquent warlike goddess who took a special interest in the lates, the largest fish to be found in the Nile, would have had second thoughts about the power of that goddess. Nathor was supposed to have protected the chromis, a slightly smaller fish. Those Egyptians who depended heavily on fish and on the Nile would indeed have found great frustration in a plague of this nature." [Note: Davis, pp. 94-95.]
"Each year, toward the end of June, when the waters of the Nile begin to rise, they are colored a dark red by the silt carried down from the headwaters. This continues for three months, until the waters begin to abate, but the water, meanwhile, is wholesome and drinkable. The miracle of Exo 7:17-21 involved three elements by which it differed from the accustomed phenomenon: the water was changed by the smiting of Moses’ rod; the water became undrinkable; and the condition lasted just seven days (Exo 7:25)." [Note: Johnson, p. 58.]
The commentators have interpreted the reference to blood being throughout all Egypt "in (vessels of) wood and in (vessels of) stone" (Exo 7:19) in various ways. Some believe this refers to water in exterior wooden and stone water containers. Others think it refers to water in all kinds of vessels used for holding water. Still others believe Moses described the water in trees and in wells. However this expression may refer to the water kept in buildings that the Egyptians normally constructed out of wood and stone.
"In the Bible a totality is more often indicated by mentioning two fundamental elements; see e.g., ’milk and honey’ (Ex. iii 8, etc.) and ’flesh and blood’ (Matt. xvi 17)." [Note: C. Houtman, "On the Meaning of Uba’esim Uba’abanim in Exodus VII 19," Vetus Testamentum 36:3 (1968):352.]
This is a synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole or the whole represents a part. The quotation above supports the idea that God changed even the water stored in buildings to blood.
"Each of the first nine of the mighty-act accounts may be said to have the same fundamental point, expressed in much the same way. That point, concisely summarized, is that Yahweh powerfully demonstrates his Presence to a Pharaoh prevented from believing so that Israel may come to full belief." [Note: Durham, p. 99.]
4. The first three plagues 7:14-8:19
Psa 78:43 places the scene of the plagues in northern Egypt near Zoan.
The plagues were penal; God sent them to punish Pharaoh for his refusal to obey God and to move him to obey Yahweh. They involved natural occurrences rather than completely unknown phenomena. At various times of the year gnats, flies, frogs, etc., were a problem to the Egyptians. Even the pollution of the Nile, darkness, and death were common to the Egyptians.
Evidence that the plagues were truly miraculous events is as follows. Some were natural calamities that God supernaturally intensified (frogs, insects, murrain, hail, darkness). Moses set the time for the arrival and departure of some. Some afflicted only the Egyptians. The severity of the plagues increased consistently. They also carried a moral purpose (Exo 9:27; Exo 10:16; Exo 12:12; Exo 14:30). [Note: Free, p. 95.]
"The plagues were a combination of natural phenomena known to both the Egyptians and Israelites alike (due to their long sojourn in Egypt) heightened by the addition of supernatural factors." [Note: Ramm, p. 62.]
God designed them to teach the Egyptians that Yahweh sovereignly controls the forces of nature. [Note: See R. Norman Whybray, Introduction to the Pentateuch, p. 72; and Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., pp. 252-53.] The Egyptians attributed this control to their gods.
"Up to now the dominate [sic] theme has been on preparing the deliverer for the exodus. Now, it will focus on preparing Pharaoh for it. The theological emphasis for exposition of the entire series of plagues may be: The sovereign Lord is fully able to deliver his people from the oppression of the world so that they might worship and serve him alone." [Note: The NET Bible note on 7:14.]
Some writers have given a possible schedule for the plagues based on the times of year some events mentioned in the text would have normally taken place in Egypt. For example, lice and flies normally appeared in the hottest summer months. Barley formed into ears of grain and flax budded (Exo 9:31) in January-February. Locusts were a problem in early spring. The Jews continued to celebrate the Passover in the spring. This schedule suggests that the plagues began in June and ended the following April. [Note: Flinders Petrie, Egypt and Israel, pp. 35-36; and Greta Hort, "The Plagues of Egypt," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 69 (1957):84-103; ibid., 70 (1958):48-59.]
"The Egyptians were just about the most polytheistic people known from the ancient world. Even to this day we are not completely sure of the total number of gods which they worshipped. Most lists include somewhere in the neighborhood of eighty gods . . ." [Note: Davis, p. 86. Cf. Frankfort, p. 4. Other studies have discovered more than 1,200 gods. See E. A. W. Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, pp. ix-x; and B. E. Shafer, ed., Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice, pp. 7-87.]
Many students of the plagues have noticed that they appeared in sets of three. The accounts of the first plague in each set (the first, fourth, and seventh plagues) each contain a purpose statement in which God explained to Moses His reason and aim for that set of plagues (cf. Exo 7:17; Exo 8:22; Exo 9:14). God had announced His overall purpose for the plagues in Exo 7:4-5. [Note: Kaiser, "Exodus," pp. 348-49. Cf. C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, pp. 74-75, 92-94.] The last plague in each set of three came on Pharaoh without warning, but Moses announced the others to him beforehand. The first set of three plagues apparently affected both the Egyptians and the Israelites, whereas the others evidently touched only the Egyptians.
THE PLAGUES.
Exo 7:14.
There are many aspects in which the plagues of Egypt may be contemplated.
We may think of them as ranging through all nature, and asserting the mastery of the Lord alike over the river on which depended the prosperity of the realm, over the minute pests which can make life more wretched than larger and more conspicuous ills (the frogs of the water, the reptiles that disgrace humanity, and the insects that infest the air), over the bodies of animals stricken with murrain, and those of man tortured with boils, over hail in the cloud and blight in the crop, over the breeze that bears the locust and the sun that grows dark at noon, and at last over the secret springs of human life itself.
No pantheistic creed (and the Egyptian religion struck its roots deep into pantheistic speculation) could thus completely exalt God above nature, as a superior and controlling Power, not one with the mighty wheels of the universe, of which the height is terrible, but, as Ezekiel saw Him, enthroned above them in the likeness of fire, and yet in the likeness of humanity.
No idolatrous creed, however powerful be its conception of one god of the hills and another of the valleys, could thus represent a single deity as wielding all the arrows of adverse fortune, able to assail us from earth and sky and water, formidable alike in the least things and in the greatest. And presently the demonstration is completed, when at His bidding the tempest heaps up the sea, and at His frown the waters return to their strength again.
And no philosophic theory condescends to bring the Ideal, the Absolute, and the Unconditioned, into such close and intimate connection with the frog-spawn of the ditch and the blain upon the tortured skin.
We may, with ample warrant from Scripture, make the controversial application still more simple and direct, and think of the plagues as wreaking vengeance, for the worship they had usurped and the cruelties they had sanctioned, upon all the gods of Egypt, which are conceived of for the moment as realities, and as humbled, if not in fact, yet in the sympathies of priest and worshipper (Exo 12:12).
Then we shall see the domain of each impostor invaded, and every vaunted power to inflict evil or to remove it triumphantly wielded by Him Who proves His equal mastery over all, and thus we shall find here the justification of that still bolder personification which says, “Worship Him, all ye gods” (Psa 97:7).
The Nile had a sacred name, and was adored as “Hapee, or Hapee Mu, the Abyss, or the Abyss of Waters, or the Hidden,” and the king was frequently portrayed standing between two images of this god, his throne wreathed with water-lilies. The second plague struck at the goddess HEKT, whose head was that of a frog. The uncleanness of the third plague deranged the whole system of Egyptian worship, with its punctilious and elaborate purifications. In every one there is either a presiding divinity attacked, or a blow dealt upon the priesthood or the sacrifice, or a sphere invaded which some deity should have protected, until the sun himself is darkened, the great god RA, to whom their sacred city was dedicated, and whose name is incorporated in the title of his earthly representative, the Pharaoh or PH-RA. Then at last, after all these premonitions, the deadly blow struck home.
Or we may think of the plagues as retributive, and then we shall discover a wonderful suitability in them all. It was a direful omen that the first should afflict the nation through the river, into which, eighty years before, the Hebrew babes had been cast to die, which now rolled bloody, and seemed to disclose its dead. It was fit that the luxurious homes of the oppressors should become squalid as the huts of the slaves they trampled; that their flesh should suffer torture worse than that of the whips they used so unmercifully; that the loss of crops and cattle should bring home to them the hardships of the poor who toiled for their magnificence; that physical darkness should appal them with vague terrors and undefined apprehensions, such as ever haunt the bosom of the oppressed, whose life is the sport of a caprice; and at last that the aged should learn by the deathbed of the prop and pride of their declining feebleness, and the younger feel beside the cradle of the first blossom and fruit of love, all the agony of such bereavement as they had wantonly inflicted on the innocent.
And since the fear of disadvantage in war had prompted the murder of the Hebrew children, it was right that the retributive blow should destroy first their children and then their men of war.
When we come to examine the plagues in detail, we discover that it is no arbitrary fancy which divides them into three triplets, leading up to the appalling tenth. Thus the first, fourth, and seventh, each of which begins a triplet, are introduced by a command to Moses to warn Pharaoh “in the morning” (Exo 7:15), or “early in the morning” (Exo 8:20, Exo 9:13). The third, sixth and ninth, on the contrary, are inflicted without any warning whatever. The story of the third plague closes with the defeat of the magicians, the sixth with their inability to stand before the king, and the ninth with the final rupture, when Moses declares, “Thou shalt see my face no more” (Exo 8:19, Exo 9:11, Exo 10:29).
The first three are plagues of loathsomeness–blood-stained waters, frogs and lice; the next three bring actual pain and loss with them–stinging flies, murrain which afflicts the beasts, and boils upon all the Egyptians; and the third triplet are “nature-plagues”–hail, locusts and darkness. It is only after the first three plagues that the immunity of Israel is mentioned; and after the next three, when the hail is threatened, instructions are first given by which those Egyptians who fear Jehovah may also obtain protection. Thus, in orderly and solemn procession, marched the avengers of God upon the guilty land.
It has been observed, concerning the miracles of Jesus, that not one of them was creative, and that, whenever it was possible, He wrought by the use of material naturally provided. The waterpots should be filled; the five barley-loaves should be sought out; the nets should be let down for a draught; and the blind man should have his eyes anointed, and go wash in the Pool of Siloam.
And it is easily seen that such miracles were a more natural expression of His errand, which was to repair and purify the existing system of things, and to remove our moral disease and dearth, than any exercise of creative power would have been, however it might have dazzled the spectators.
Now, the same remark applies to the miracles of Moses, to the coming of God in judgment, as to His revelation of Himself in grace; and therefore we need not be surprised to hear that natural phenomena are not unknown which offer a sort of dim hint or foreshadowing of the terrible ten plagues. Either cryptogamic vegetation or the earth borne down from upper Africa is still seen to redden the river, usually dark, but not so as to destroy the fish. Frogs and vermin and stinging insects are the pest of modern travellers. Cattle plagues make ravage there, and hideous diseases of the skin are still as common as when the Lord promised to reward the obedience of Israel to sanitary law by putting upon them none of “the evil diseases of Egypt” which they knew (Deu 7:15).[11] The locust is still dreaded. But some of the other visitations were more direful because not only their intensity but even their existence was almost unprecedented: hail in Egypt was only not quite unknown; and such veiling of the sun as occurs for a few minutes during the storms of sand in the desert ought scarcely to be quoted as even a suggestion of the prolonged horror of the ninth plague.
Now, this accords exactly with the moral effect which was to be produced. The rescued people were not to think of God as one who strikes down into nature from outside, with strange and unwonted powers, superseding utterly its familiar forces. They were to think of Him as the Author of all; and of the common troubles of mortality as being indeed the effects of sin, yet ever controlled and governed by Him, let loose at His will, and capable of mounting to unimagined heights if His restraints be removed from them. By the east wind He brought the locusts, and removed them by the south-west wind. By a storm He divided the sea. The common things of life are in His hands, often for tremendous results. And this is one of the chief lessons of the narrative for us. Let the mind range over the list of the nine which stop short of absolute destruction, and reflect upon the vital importance of immunities for which we are scarcely grateful.
The purity of water is now felt to be among the foremost necessities of life. It is one which asks nothing from us except to refrain from polluting what comes from heaven so limpid. And yet we are half satisfied to go on habitually inflicting on ourselves a plague more foul and noxious than any occasional turning of our rivers into blood. The two plagues which dealt with minute forms of life may well remind us of the vast part which we are now aware that the smallest organisms play in the economy of life, as the agents of the Creator. Who gives thanks aright for the cheap blessing of the unstained light of heaven?
But we are insensible to the every-day teaching of this narrative: we turn our rivers into fluid poison; we spread all around us deleterious influences, which breed by minute forms of parasitical life the germs of cruel disease; we load the atmosphere with fumes which slay our cattle with periodical distempers, and are deadlier to vegetation than the hail-storm or the locust; we charge it with carbon so dense that multitudes have forgotten that the sky is blue, and on our Metropolis comes down at frequent intervals the darkness of the ninth plague, and all the time we fail to see that God, Who enacts and enforces every law of nature, does really plague us whenever these outraged laws avenge themselves. The miraculous use of nature in special emergencies is such as to show the Hand which regularly wields its powers.
At the same time there is no more excuse for the rationalism which would reduce the calamities of Egypt to a coincidence, than for explaining away the manna which fed a nation during its wanderings by the drug which is gathered, in scanty morsels, upon the acacia tree. The awful severity of the judgments, the series which they formed, their advent and removal at the menace and the prayer of Moses, are considerations which make such a theory absurd. The older scepticism, which supposed Moses to have taken advantage of some epidemic, to have learned in the wilderness the fords of the Red Sea,[12] to have discovered water, when the caravan was perishing of thirst, by his knowledge of the habits of wild beasts, and finally to have dazzled the nation at Horeb with some kind of fireworks, is itself almost a miracle in its violation of the laws of mind. The concurrence of countless favourable accidents and strange resources of leadership is like the chance arrangement of a printer’s type to make a poem.
There is a common notion that the ten plagues followed each other with breathless speed, and were completed within a few weeks. But nothing in the narrative asserts or even hints this, and what we do know is in the opposite direction. The seventh plague was wrought in February, for the barley was in the ear and the flax in blossom (Exo 9:31); and the feast of passover was kept on the fourteenth day of the month Abib, so that the destruction of the firstborn was in the middle of April, and there was an interval of about two months between the last four plagues. Now, the same interval throughout would bring back the first plague to September or October. But the natural discoloration of the river, mentioned above, is in the middle of the year, when the river begins to rise; and this, it may possibly be inferred, is the natural period at which to fix the first plague. They would then range over a period of about nine months. During the interval between them, the promises and treacheries of the king excited alternate hope and rage in Israel; the scribes of their own race (once the vassals of their tyrants, but already estranged by their own oppression) began to take rank as officers among the Jews, and to exhibit the rudimentary promise of national order and government; and the growing fears of their enemies fostered that triumphant sense of mastery, out of which national hope and pride are born. When the time came for their departure, it was possible to transmit orders throughout all their tribes, and they came out of Egypt by their armies, which would have been utterly impossible a few months before. It was with them, as it is with every man that breathes: the delay of God’s grace was itself a grace; and the slowly ripening fruit grew mellower than if it had been forced into a speedier maturity.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] To this day, amid squalid surroundings for which nominal Christians are responsible, the immunity of the Jewish race from such suffering is conspicuous, and at least a remarkable coincidence.
[12] But indeed this notion is not yet dead. “A high wind left the shallow sea so low that it became possible to ford it. Moses eagerly accepted the suggestion, and made the venture with success,” etc.–Wellhausen, “Israel,” in Encyc. Brit.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary