Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 7:9
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast [it] before Pharaoh, [and] it shall become a serpent.
9. shall speak unto you ] when you come before him, as directed (Exo 6:11; Exo 6:13, Exo 7:2).
Give (Deu 6:22, Joe 2:30 Heb.) a portent ( v. 3) for you ] Or, ‘ Give for yourselves a portent’: the pronoun is reflexive, according to very common Heb. idiom, Gen 6:14 ‘make thee,’ v. 21 ‘take thee,’ Deu 1:13 ‘give you,’ &c. ( Lex. p. 515 b ).
thy rod ] the rod, which in P Aaron regularly bears, v. 19, Exo 8:5; Exo 8:16-17.
a serpent ] The marg. is added to shew that the word here, and vv. 10, 12, is different from the one below, v. 15, and in Exo 4:3 (which is the ordinary one for ‘serpent’). Tannin is a large reptile, generally used of a sea-or river-monster (Gen 1:21, Psa 74:13), but occasionally also of a land-reptile (Deu 32:33 EVV. ‘dragon,’ Psa 91:13 b ‘serpent’). Here the writer will mean either a land-reptile, or possibly a young crocodile.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy rod – Apparently the rod before described Exo 4:2, which Moses on this occasion gives to Aaron as his representative.
A serpent – A word different from that in Exo 4:3. Here a more general term, tannyn, is employed, which in other passages includes all sea or river monsters, and is more specially applied to the crocodile as a symbol of Egypt. It occurs in the Egyptian ritual, nearly in the same form, Tanem, as a synonym of the monster serpent which represents the principle of antagonism to light and life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Show a miracle for you] A miracle, mopheth, signifies an effect produced in nature which is opposed to its laws, or such as its powers are inadequate to produce. As Moses and Aaron professed to have a Divine mission, and to come to Pharaoh on the most extraordinary occasion, making a most singular and unprecedented demand, it was natural to suppose, if Pharaoh should even give them an audience, that he would require them to give him some proof by an extraordinary sign that their pretensions to such a Divine mission were well founded and incontestable. For it appears to have ever been the sense of mankind, that he who has a Divine mission to effect some extraordinary purpose can give a supernatural proof that he has got this extraordinary commission.
Take thy rod] This rod, whether a common staff, an ensign of office, or a shepherd’s crook, was now consecrated for the purpose of working miracles; and is indifferently called the rod of God, the rod of Moses, and the rod of Aaron. God gave it the miraculous power, and Moses and Aaron used it indifferently.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Say unto Aaron, by whose hands this and other miracles were to be done, and not by Moses immediately; partly to take off the some suspicion that these miracles were wrought by magical artifice of Moses; and partly for the greater honour of Moses, that he might be what God had said, Exo 7:1, a god to Pharaoh, who not only could work wonders himself, but also give power to others to do so.
Take thy rod: the same rod is called the rod of God, and of Moses, and of Aaron, here and Exo 7:12, because it was appointed, and as it were consecrated by God, and used both by Moses and Aaron in their great works. And this rod Moses ordinarily held in his hand, and delivered it to Aaron upon occasion for the execution of his commands.
A serpent; Heb. a dragon, which is a great serpent. Others, a crocodile, to whose jaws he had exposed the Israelitish infants.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. When Pharaoh shall speak untoyou, c.The king would naturally demand some evidence of theirhaving been sent from God and as he would expect the ministers of hisown gods to do the same works, the contest, in the nature of thecase, would be one of miracles. Notice has already been taken of therod of Moses (Ex 4:2), but rodswere carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court ofPharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were symbols ofauthority or rank. Hence God commanded His servants to use a rod.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, show a miracle for you,…. To prove that they came from God, the Jehovah they said they did, and that they were his ambassadors, and came in his name, and made the demand for him; which when he seriously reflected on things, he would be ready to require, hoping they would not be able to show any, and then he should have somewhat against them, and treat them as impostors:
then thou shalt say unto Aaron, take thy rod; the same that Moses had in his hand at Horeb, and brought with him to Egypt; this he had delivered into the hand of Aaron, who was to be his agent, and with this rod do signs and wonders as he did, and on account of them it is sometimes called the rod of God:
and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent; as it became one before at Horeb, when Moses by the order of God cast it on the ground, and afterwards became a rod again, as it now was, Ex 4:2 Hence Mercury, the messenger of the gods with the Heathens, is represented as having a “caduceus”, a rod or wand twisted about with snakes p.
p Vid. Chartar. de Imag. Deorum, p. 136. imag. 48.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Shew a miracle for you.Pharaoh had perhaps heard of the miracles wrought by Aaron before the people of Israel (Exo. 4:30), and was curious to be an eye-witness of one, as was Herod Antipas (Luk. 23:8). Or he may have thought that if Moses and Aaron shewed a miracle, his own magicians would be able to show greater ones, and he would then dismiss the brothers as charlatans and impostors. He certainly did hot intend to be influenced by any miracle which they might show, or to accept it as evidence that their message to him was a command from God.
Thy rod.The rod is now called Aarons, because Moses had entrusted him with it. (Comp. Exo. 7:19, and Exo. 8:5; Exo. 8:16-17.)
A serpent.Or, a snake. The word is not the same as that used in Exo. 4:3, but appears to be a synonym.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 7:9. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle Hence it appears evidently, that miracles were judged, by the common sense of mankind, a proper and sufficient proof of a commission from God. Our Saviour constantly made this appeal: believe me for the work’s sake:the works which I do, they witness for me, &c. Grotius has an ingenious conjecture on this place, that the custom of ambassadors bearing a caduceus or rod in their hands, was first derived from this event to the neighbouring nations; and from them to the Greeks and Romans: and it is remarkable, that the caduceus of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, was formed of two serpents twined round a rod.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you.” Exo 7:9 .
The world has certain rights in reference to the Church. The world is at liberty to call upon the Church to prove its inspiration. -It is not enough for any Church to say that it can work miracles; it must prove the saying by the action. Christianity is the great miracle-working power. Christianity never does anything but miracles. The mischief is that we have affixed to the term miracle a narrow signification, and have declared that miracles have ceased. This is a profound misconception. The presence of Christianity in the world is itself a miracle. Every man who is turned from darkness to light is a living miracle. Every life that is turned round from going in one direction to going in another direction illustrates the miraculous energy of Christian inspiration. It is better to show living miracles than to be clever in logical arguments. The world is not to be convinced by controversy, but by the higher kind of miracles, change of spirit, temper, disposition, purpose; that change is known by the Scriptural name regeneration or the new birth a name which ought never to be surrendered; there is none like it for range and expressiveness. Even if the world can show miracles of its own, there must be a point of superiority in Christian miracles which will instantly and finally decide the competition. Never disallow the power of education or of social custom to work certain wonders in human character and purpose. Nothing is to be gained by such denial. Such denial would, indeed, be unjust. The power of Christianity is to transcend such wonders by sublimer miracles.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Exo 7:9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast [it] before Pharaoh, [and] it shall become a serpent.
Ver. 9. Show a miracle for you. ] A persuading wonder, an admirable work, above the power of nature, as being a kind of creation, and such as requires omnipotency. But Pharaoh’s heart was such a nether millstone, as neither miracle, nor ministry, nor misery, nor mercy could possibly mollify. At the burning of Bainham the martyr, when his arms and legs were half consumed, he cried out to the bystanders and said, O ye Papists, behold you look for miracles! here now you may see a miracle: for in this fire I feel no more pain than if I were in a bed of down, or of roses. a Thus he: sed surdis fabulam.
a Act. and Mon., fol. 940.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Shew a miracle for you = show us a sign.
serpent. Hebrew. thaunin = a crocodile.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Show: Isa 7:11, Mat 12:39, Joh 2:18, Joh 6:30, Joh 10:38
Take: Exo 7:10-12, Exo 4:2, Exo 4:17, Exo 4:20, Exo 9:23, Exo 10:13
a serpent: Psa 74:12, Psa 74:13, Eze 29:3
Reciprocal: Exo 14:16 – lift Num 16:28 – Hereby
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 7:9. Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod This Moses ordinarily held in his hand, and delivered to Aaron, upon occasion, for the execution of his commands. For this and some other miracles were to be done, not by Moses immediately, but by Aaron, partly, perhaps, to preclude or take off the suspicion that these miracles were wrought by some magic arts of Moses, and partly for the greater honour of Moses, that he might be what God had said, (Exo 7:1,) a god to Pharaoh, who not only could work miracles himself, but also give power to others to do so. Perhaps the conjecture of Grotius upon this place may be worth mentioning here, which is, that the custom of ambassadors bearing a caduceus, or rod, in their hands, had its origin in this event, being taken up first by the neighbouring nations, and from them communicated to the Greeks and Romans. And it is remarkable that the caduceus of Mercury, the messenger of the gods of Greece and Rome, was formed of two serpents twisted round a rod.