Exodus 7 King James Version (KJV)
7 And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
6 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.
7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
8 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
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.
10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
13 And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
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 lothe 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.
Commentary
Nine plagues (7:14-10:29)
The timing, intensity and extent of these plagues show clearly that they were sent by God. It also seems fairly clear that God used the physical characteristics of the Nile valley to produce them.
When the first plague struck, it polluted all the water in the Nile and in the irrigation canals and reservoirs connected with it, resulting in all the fish dying. As the dead fish floated to the banks they would force the frogs out of the water, thereby producing the second plague. Egypt’s magicians were able to copy Moses in these two plagues, though in view of the abundance of red water and frogs, their achievements were hardly impressive. They would have helped Pharaoh more by removing the plagues.
God alone was in control, and Moses proved this to Pharaoh by removing the plagues at the time he had announced (7:14-8:15).
As God intensified his display of power in the successive plagues, the Egyptian magicians were forced to admit defeat. They saw that Moses and Aaron were not just a couple of sorcerers or magicians who could foresee events then perform tricks to make it appear they had produced the events. This was the direct activity of God, and the protection of Israel through the plagues confirmed the fact. The favourable breeding conditions created by the first two plagues may have been the causes God used to produce successive plagues of gnats and flies (8:16-32).
With piles of dead frogs rotting in the sun and swarms of flies spreading the germs, there was soon a deadly plague of cattle disease throughout the land (Israel’s cattle excepted). This was followed by an outbreak of painful skin diseases among the Egyptian people (9:1-12).
Before he announced the seventh plague, God reminded Pharaoh of his mercy towards him in the previous plagues. God could have destroyed him and his people in one mighty plague, but instead he sent these lesser plagues, each time giving Pharaoh an opportunity to repent. The longer Pharaoh delayed, the greater would be his downfall, and the greater would be God’s glory when he finally overthrew him. God gave good warning before the coming destruction by hail and lightning, so that people could escape the judgment if they wished. Many of Pharaoh’s courtiers, fearful of Israel’s God, heeded Moses’ warnings and so were not affected by the disaster (9:13-35).
A clear division now existed among Pharaoh’s courtiers. Some stubbornly supported Pharaoh but others tried to persuade him to release the Israelites. Pharaoh offered Moses a compromise that was unacceptable and disaster struck again. Only the flax and barley had been destroyed in the seventh plague. The wheat, which grew up later in the season, was now destroyed by locusts in the eighth plague (10:1- 20).
The ninth plague was probably a dust storm so intense that the sun was blotted out and the land left as dark as night. So thick was the dust that the darkness could literally be felt. Pharaoh would still not release the Israelites unconditionally. Moses saw that the time for reasoning with Pharaoh had come to an end (10:21-29).