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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:8-13
The first sign to Pharaoh: the rod becomes a serpent. I. NOTICE THE REMARKABLE REQUEST WHICH JEHOVAH INDICATES THAT PHARAOH MAY MAKE. Perhaps we might even say, will make. "When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, She…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:9
When Pharaoh shall speak to you, saying, Shew a miracle. It is obvious that there would have been an impropriety in Moses and Aaron offering a sign to Pharaoh until he asked for one. They claimed to be ambassadors of Je…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:9
Miracles the credentials of an ambassador from God. It is not easy to see any way in which God could authenticate a message as coming from him, except by giving the messenger supernatural powers. Conceivably, he might p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:10
Aaron cast down his rod. The rod is called indifferently "Aaron's rod" and "Moses' rod," because, though properly the rod of Moses (Exodus 4:2), yet ordinarily it was placed in the hands of Aaron (Exodus 7:19, Exodus 7:…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:10-12
False imitations of things Divine not difficult of detection. It is Satan's wont, in all ages and on all possible occasions, to set up counterfeits of things Divine, in order to confuse men's minds, and make them mistak…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:10-13
EXPOSITION THE FIRST SIGN, AND ITS FAILURE TO CONVINCE. Obeying the command given them (Exodus 7:2, Exodus 7:9), Moses and Aaron went to the court a second time, and entering into the royal presence, probably repeated t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:11
Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. That magic was an object of much attention and study in Egypt is abundantly evident from "The tale of Setnau", "The Magic Papyrus", and many other writings. It consist…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:12
But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. Aaron's serpent turned upon its rivals and devoured them, thus exhibiting a marked superiority.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:13
And he hardened Pharaoh's heart. Rather, "But Pharaoh's heart was hard." The verb employed is not active, but neuter; and "his heart" is not the accusative, but the nominative. Pharaoh's heart was too hard for the sign…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:14-21
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, an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 sudde…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 Egyp…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 ti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:16
The Lord God … hath sent me unto thee. Rather, "sent me unto thee." The reference is to the original sending (Exodus 5:1). Thou wouldest not hear. Literally, "Thou hast not heard," i.e. up to this time thou hast not obe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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" (Exodus 5:2). He is now told that he shall "know Jehovah" in the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:17-20
God's punishments appropriate and terrible (Exodus 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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 rive…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 argue…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:20
He lifted up the rod. "He" must be understood to mean "Aaron" (see Exodus 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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:22-23
EXPOSITION On the occurrence of the second sign and first plague, the magicians were again consulted; and, by means which it is impossible to do more the. conjecture, they produced a seeming transformation into blood of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 7:22
The magicians of Egypt did so. They could not do what Moses and Aaron had done—stretch out, that is, a rod over the Nile, and turn it and all its branches, and ponds, and pools, into blood, for this was already done. Th…