Bible Commentaries
Exodus 7

Verses 1-7

D.—Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh. The seemingly mischievouas effect of their divine message, and the discouragment of the people and the messengers themselves. God reverses this effect nu solemnly promising deliverance, revealing his name Jehovah, summoning the heads of the tribes to unite with Moses and Aaron, raising Moses’ faith above Pharaoh’s defiance, and declaring the glorious object and issue of Pharaoh’s obduracy

Exodus 5:1 to Exodus 7:7

1And afterward Moses and Aaron went in [came] and told [said unto] Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, God [the God] of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, neither will I [and moreoverI will not] let Israel go. 3And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with [met] us: let us go, we pray thee, three days1 journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto Jehovah our God, lest he fall upon us with the pestilence, or with the sword. 4And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, Leviticus 5:0; Leviticus 5:0[release] the people from their works? get you unto your burdens [tasks]. And Pharaoh said. Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens [tasks]. 6And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers [overseers], saying, 7Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8And the tale of the bricks which they did make [have been making] heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they be [are] idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9Let there more work be laid upon the men [let the work be heavy for2 the men], that they may labor therein [be busied with it];3 and let them not regard vain [lying] words. 10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers [overseers], and they spake unto the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it; yet [for] not aught 12of your work shall be diminished. So [And] the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of [for] straw. 13And the taskmasters hasted [urged] them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14And the officers [overseers] of the children of Israel, which [whom] Pharaoh had set over them, were beaten, and demanded [were asked], Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday 15and to-day as heretofore? Then [And] the officers [overseers] of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say unto us, Make brick;4 and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people 17[thy people are in fault]. But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle [Id’e are ye, idle]; therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice [and sacrifice] to Jehovah. 18Go therefore now [And now go], and work; for [and] there shall no straw be given you; yet shall ye [and ye shall] deliver the tale of bricks. 19And the officers [overseers] of the children of Israel did see that they were in [saw themselves in] evil case [trouble], after it was said, Ye shall not minish [diminish] aught from your bricks of [bricks,] your daily task. 20And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way [who were standing to meet them], as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21And they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated [thou done evil to] this people? why is it that thou hast [why hast thou] sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Chap. Exodus 6:1 Then [And] Jehovah said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with [through]5 a strong hand shall he let them go, and with 2[through] a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah. 3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of [as]6 God Almighty, but by7 my name Jehovah was I not known to them. 4And I have also [I also] established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage 5[sojourn], wherein they were strangers [sojourners]. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. 6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid [deliver] you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments. 7And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God, which 8[who] bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which [the land which] I did swear to give it [to give] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage [a possession]: I am Jehovah. 9And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish [vexation] of spirit and 10for cruel bondage. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, 11Go in, speak unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 12And Moses spake before Jehovah, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then [and how] shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised 13lips [uncircumcised of lips]? And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel and unto Pharaoh king 14of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These be [are] the heads of their fathers’ houses (their ancestral houses): The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these be [are] the families of Reuben. 15And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Thad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a [the] Canaanitish woman; these are16the families of Simeon. And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations [genealogies]; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an [a] hundred thirty and seven years. 17The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 18And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were an [a] hundred thirty and three years. 19And the sons of Merari: Mahali, and Mushi: These are the families of Levi according to their generations [genealogies].20And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an [a] hundred and thirty and seven years. 21And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nephez, and Zichri. 22And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri [Sithri]. 23And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 25And Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites 26according to their families. These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their 27armies [hosts]. These are they which [who] spake unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron. 28And it came to pass on the day when Jehovah spake unto Moses in the land of 29Egypt, That Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, I am Jehovah: speak thou unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say unto thee. 30And Moses said before Jehovah, Behold I am of uncircumcised lips [uncircumcised of lips], and how shall [will] Pharaoh hearken unto me?

Chap. Exodus 7:1 And Jehovah said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god [God] to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2Thou 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. 3And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and 4 multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall [will] not hearken unto you, that I may [and I will] lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people [my hosts, my people], the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I stretch forth mine [my] hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 6And Moses and Aaron did as 7[did so; as] Jehovah commanded them, so did they. And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Exodus 5:3. This expression is the same as the one in Exodus 3:18 (on which Bee the note), except that here we have נִקְרָא, instead of נִקְרָה. But the interchange of these forms is so frequent that it is most natural to understand the two words as equivalent in sense.—Tr.]

[Exodus 5:9. Literally “upon,” the work being represented as a burden imposed upon the Israelites.—Tr.]

[Exodus 5:9. Literally, “do in it,” i.e. have enough to do in the work given.—Tr.]

[Exodus 5:16. If we retain the order of the words as they stand in the original, we get a much more forcible translation of the first part of this verse: “Straw, none is given to thy servants; and ‘Brick,’ they say to us, ‘make ye.’ ” This brings out forcibly the antithesis between “straw” and “brick.”—Tr.]

[Chap. 6. Exodus 6:1. I.e. by virtue, or in consequence, of Jehovah’s strong hand, not Pharaoh’s, as one might imagine.—Tr.]

[Exodus 6:3. Literally, “I appeared … in God Almighty”—a case of ב essential, meaning “in the capacity of.” Vid Ewald, Ausf. Gr. § 299, b; Ges. Heb. Gr. § 154, 3 a (y).—Tr.]

[Exodus 6:3. The original has no preposition. Literally: “My name Jehovah, I was not known.”—Tr.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Exodus 5:1. Afterward Moses and Aaron went.—Their message is quite in accordance with the philosophical notions of the ancients, and especially with the Israelitish faith. Having accepted the message from Horeb, Israel became Jehovah’s people, Jehovah Israel’s God; and as Israel’s God, He through His ambassadors meets Pharaoh, and demands that the people be released, in order to render Him service in a religious festival. The message accords with the situation. Jehovah, the God of Israel, may seem to Pharaoh chiefly the national deity of Israel; but there is an intimation in the words that He is also the Lord of Pharaoh, of Egypt, and of its worship. Under the petition for a furlough lurks the command to set free; under the recognition of the power of Pharaoh over the people, the declaration that Israel is Jehovah’s free people; under the duty of celebrating a feast of Jehovah in the wilderness, the thought of separating from Egypt and of celebrating the Exodus. The words seemed like a petition which had an echo like a thunder-tone. Perhaps the instinct of the tyrant detected something of this thunder-tone. But even if not, the modest petition was enough to enrage him.

Exodus 5:2.Who is Jehovah?—As the heathen had the notion that the gods governed territorially, the Jews seemed to fall under the dominion of the Egyptian gods. They had no land, had moreover in Pharaoh’s eyes no right to be called a nation; therefore, even if they had a deity, it must have been, in his opinion, an anonymous one. This seemed to him to be proved by the new name, Jehovah (which therefore could not have been of Egyptian origin). But even disregard of a known foreign deity was impiety; still more, disregard of the unknown God who, as such, was the very object towards which all his higher aspirations and conscientious compunctions pointed.8 Thus his obduracy began with an act of impiety, which was at the same time inhumanity, inasmuch as he denied to the people freedom of worship. He was the prototype of all religious tyrants.

Exodus 5:3. He is glorified by us.—[This is Lange’s translation of נִקְרָא עָלֵינוּ].9 The correction : “He hath met us” (קָרָה), weakens the force of a significant word. They appeal to the fact that Jehovah from of old has been their fathers’ God; and also in their calling themselves Hebrews is disclosed the recollection of ancient dignities and the love of freedom growing out of it.—Three days’ journey.—Keil says: “In Egypt offerings may be made to the gods of Egypt, but not to the God of the Hebrews.” But see Exodus 8:26. In the “three days’ journey” also is expressed the hope of freedom.—With the pestilence.—A reference to the power of Jehovah, as able to inflict pestilence and war, and to His jealousy, as able so severely to punish the neglect of the worship due Him. Not without truth, but also not without subtileness, did they say, “lest He fall upon us;” in the background was the thought: “lest He fall upon thee.” Clericus remarks that, according to the belief of the heathen, the gods punish the neglect of their worship.

Exodus 5:4. Wherefore, Moses and Aaron.—He thus declares their allegation about a message from Jehovah to be fictitious. He conceives himself to have to do only with two serfs.—Release the people.—And so introduce anarchy and barbarism. The same objection has been made against propositions to introduce freedom of evangelical religion.—Get you to your burdens.—To all the other traits of the tyrant this trait of ignorance must also be added. As he thinks that Moses and Aaron belong among the serfs, so he also thinks that servile labor is the proper employment of the people.

Exodus 5:5.The people of the land (peasants). The simple notion of countrymen can, according to the parallel passages, Jeremiah 52:25 and Ezekiel 7:27, denote neither bondmen nor Egyptian countrymen as a caste, although both ideas are alluded to in the expression, a people of peasants, who as such must be kept at work, especially as there are becoming too many of them. The perfect sense, “Ye have made them rest,” is to be ascribed to the fancy of the tyrant.

Exodus 5:6.The same day.—Restlessness of the persecuting spirit. The נֹגְשִׂים בָּעָם, or the “drivers over them,” are the Egyptian overseers who were appointed over them; the שֹׁטְרִים, or the scribes belonging to them, were taken from the Jewish people, officers subordinate to the others, in themselves leaders of the people.

Exodus 5:7. “The bricks in the old monuments of Egypt, also in many pyramids, are not burnt, but only dried in the sun, as Herodotus (II. 136) mentions of a pyramid” (Keil). The bricks were made firm by means of the chopped straw, generally gathered from the stubble of the harvested fields, which was mixed with the clay. This too is confirmed by ancient monuments. Hengstenberg, Egypt, etc., p. 80 sq.—Heretofore.—Heb.: “yesterday and the day before yesterday.” The usual Hebrew method of designating past time.

Exodus 5:9. Regard lying words.—דִּבְרֵי שֶׁקֶר.—Thus he calls the words of Moses concerning Jehovah’s revelation.

Exodus 5:10. Even the Jewish scribes yield without opposition. They have become slavish tools of the foreign heathen despotism.

Exodus 5:16. Thy people is in fault (orsinneth).—According to Knobel, the phrase “thy people” refers to Israel; according to Keil, to the Egyptians. The latter view is preferable; it is an indirect complaint concerning the conduct of the king himself, against whom they do not dare to make direct reproaches. “חָטָאת is a rare feminine form for חָטְאָה (see on Genesis 33:11) and עַם is construed as feminine, as in Judges 18:7; Jeremiah 8:5” (Keil).10

Exodus 5:21. Ye have made our savor to be abhorred (Heb. to stink) in the eyes.—The strong figurativeness of the expression is seen in the incongruity between odor and eyes. The meaning is: ye have brought us into ill-repute.

Exodus 5:22. Augustine’s interpretation: Hæc non contumacyiæ verba sunt, vel indignationis sed inquisitionis et orationis, is not a sufficient explanation of the mood in which Moses speaks. It is the mark of the genuineness of the personal relation between the believers and Jehovah, that they may give expression even to their vexation in view of Jehovah’s unsearchable dealings. Expressions of this sort run through the book of Job, the Psalms, and the Prophets, and over into the New Testament, and prove that the ideal religion is not that in which souls stand related to God as selfless creatures to an absolute destiny.

Exodus 6:1-3. Knobel finds here a new account of the call of Moses, and that, by the Elohist. A correct understanding of the connection destroys this hypothesis. Moses is in need of new encouragement. Therefore Jehovah, first, repeats His promise, by vigorous measures to compel Pharaoh to release Israel, in a stronger form (comp. Exodus 3:19; Exodus 4:21); and then follows the declaration that this result is pledged in the name Jehovah, that the name Jehovah, in its significance as the source of promise, surpasses even the name God Almighty. If the fathers, in the experience of His miraculous help, have become acquainted with Him as God Almighty, they are now to get a true knowledge of Him as the God of helpful covenant faithfulness. This is the reason why he recurs to the name Jehohovah. Comp. Keil, p. 467.11

Exodus 6:4. Vid. the promises, Genesis 17:7-8; Genesis 26:3; Genesis 35:11-12.

Exodus 6:6.I am Jehovah. With this name He begins and ends (Exodus 6:8) His promise. With the name Jehovah, then, He pledges Himself to the threefold promise: (1) To deliver the people from bondage; (2) to adopt them as His people; (3) to lead them to Canaan, their future possession.—With a stretched-out arm. A stronger expression than יָד חֲזָקָה. Comp. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 7:19.

Exodus 6:9.For vexation of spirit. Gesenius: Impatience. Keil: Shortness of breath, i.e., anguish, distress.

Exodus 6:10-11. While Moses’ courage quite gives way, Jehovah intensifies the language descriptive of his mission.

Exodus 6:12. On the other hand, Moses intensifies the expression with which he made (Exodus 4:10) his want of eloquence an excuse for declining the commission.—Of uncircumcised lips. Since circumcision was symbolic of renewal or regeneration, this expression involved a new phase of thought. If he was of uncircumcised or unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), then even Aaron’s eloquence could not help him, because in that case Moses could not transmit in its purity the pure word of God. In his strict conscientiousness he sincerely assumes that there must be a moral hinderance in his manner of speaking itself.

Exodus 6:13. This time Jehovah answers with an express command to Moses and Aaron together, and to the children of Israel and Pharaoh together. This comprehensive command alone can beat down Moses’ last feeling of hesitation.

Exodus 6:14-27. But as a sign that the mission of Moses is now determined, that Moses and Aaron, therefore, are constituted these prominent men of God, their genealogy is now inserted, the form of which shows that it is to be regarded as an extract from a genealogy of the twelve tribes, since the genealogy begins with Reuben, but does not go beyond Levi.

Exodus 6:14. בֵּית־אָבוֹת. “Father-houses, not father-house” [Keil]. The compound form has become a simple word. See Keil, p. 469. The father-houses are the ramifications of the tribes. The tribes branch off first into families, or clans, or heads of the father-houses; these again branch off into the father-houses themselves. The Amram of Exodus 6:20 is to be distinguished from the Amram of Exodus 6:18. See the proof of this in Tiele, Chronologie des A. T.; Keil, p. 469.12 The text, to be sure, does not clearly indicate the distinction. “The enumeration of only four generations—Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses—points unmistakably to Genesis 15:16” (Keil).

Exodus 6:20.His father’s sister—That was before the giving of the law in Leviticus 18:12. The LXX. and Vulg. understand the word דּוֹדָה of the daughter of the father’s brother. According to Exodus 7:7, Aaron was three years older than Moses; that Miriam was older than either is seen from the history.

Exodus 6:23. Aaron’s wife was from the tribe of Judah. Vid. Numbers 2:3.

Exodus 6:25.‏‏‏‏‏‏‏רָאשֵׁי אָבוֹת. Abbreviation of בֵית אָבוֹת רָאשֵׁי [“heads of the father-houses”].

Exodus 6:26.These are that Aaron and Moses.—Thus the reason is given for inserting this piece of genealogy in this place.

Exodus 6:28. Resumption of the narrative interrupted at Exodus 6:12. What is there said is here and afterward repeated more fully. In the land of Egypt.—This addition is not a sign of another account, but only gives emphasis to the fact that Jehovah represented Himself in the very midst of Egypt as the Lord of the country, and gave Moses, for the furtherance of his aim, a sort of divine dominion, namely, a theocratic dominion over Pharaoh.

Exodus 7:1. What Moses at first was to be for Aaron as the inspiring Spirit of God, that he is now to be for Aaron as representative of God in His almighty miraculous sway. So far Aaron’s position also is raised. It must not be overlooked that, with this word of divine revelation, Moses’ growing feeling of lofty confidence and assurance of victory corresponds; it was developed in Egypt itself, and from out of his feeling of inability. “For Aaron Moses is God as the revealer, for Pharaoh as the executor, of the divine will” (Keil).

Exodus 7:2.That he send.—Keil’s translation, “and so he will let go,” does not accord with the following verse.

Exodus 7:4.My hosts.—Israel becomes a host of Jehovah. Vid. Exodus 13:18, and the book of Numbers. This is the first definite germ of the later name, God, or Jehovah, of hosts; although the name in that form chiefly refers to heavenly hosts; these under another name have been mentioned in Genesis 32:2.

Footnotes:

[1][Exodus 5:3. This expression is the same as the one in Exodus 3:18 (on which Bee the note), except that here we have נִקְרָא, instead of נִקְרָה. But the interchange of these forms is so frequent that it is most natural to understand the two words as equivalent in sense.—Tr.]

[2][Exodus 5:9. Literally “upon,” the work being represented as a burden imposed upon the Israelites.—Tr.]

[3][Exodus 5:9. Literally, “do in it,” i.e. have enough to do in the work given.—Tr.]

[4][Exodus 5:16. If we retain the order of the words as they stand in the original, we get a much more forcible translation of the first part of this verse: “Straw, none is given to thy servants; and ‘Brick,’ they say to us, ‘make ye.’ ” This brings out forcibly the antithesis between “straw” and “brick.”—Tr.]

[5][Chap. 6. Exodus 6:1. I.e. by virtue, or in consequence, of Jehovah’s strong hand, not Pharaoh’s, as one might imagine.—Tr.]

[6][Exodus 6:3. Literally, “I appeared … in God Almighty”—a case of ב essential, meaning “in the capacity of.” Vid Ewald, Ausf. Gr. § 299, b; Ges. Heb. Gr. § 154, 3 a (y).—Tr.]

[7][Exodus 6:3. The original has no preposition. Literally: “My name Jehovah, I was not known.”—Tr.]

[8][This is putting a rather fine point on Pharaoh’s wickedness. A bad man cannot, as such, be required to have aspirations towards any hitherto unknown god of whom he may chance to hear, and to have such aspirations just because he has never before heard of him. It is enough to say that, as a polytheist, ho ought to have respected the religion of the Hebrews.—Tr.]

[9][See under “Textual and Grammatical.” It is true that נִקְרָה would be the usual form for the meaning “has met;” but on the other hand it is certain that קָרָא sometimes is = קָרָה, and the analogy of Exodus 3:18 points almost unmistakably to such a use. Moreover, even if this were not the case, it is hard to see how the Hebrew can be rendered: “He is glorified by us.” For נִקְרָא does not mean “is glorified,” and עָלֵינוּ does not mean “by us.” If the verb is to be taken in its ordinary sense, the whole expression would read: “He is called upon us,” i.e. we bear his name, though even this would be only imperfectly expressed.—Tr.]

[10][The opinion of Knobel, here rejected, is held also by Glaire, Arnheim, Fürst and others. The meaning, according to this, is: “Thy people (i.e. the Israelites) are treated as if guilty.” The LXX. understood חטאת as a verb in the second person, and rendered ἀδικήσεις τὸν λαόν σου, “thou doest wrong to thy people.” Still other explanations have been resorted to; but the one given by Lange is the most natural, and is quite satisfactory.—Tr.]

[11][Notice should be taken of the fact that from Exodus 6:3 it has been inferred by many that the name Jehovah had actually (or, at least, in the opinion of the writer of this passage) never been known or used before this time; consequently that wherever the name occurs in Genesis or Exodus 1-5, it is a proof that the passage containing it was written after the time here indicated. This is an important element in the theories concerning the authorship of the Pentateuch. Certainly if we press the literal meaning of the last clause of Exodus 6:3, it would seem to follow that the name Jehovah (Yahveh) was now for the first time made known. But, to say nothing of the fact that the name Jehovah is not only familiarly used by the author of the book of Genesis, but is also put into the mouths of the earliest patriarchs (all which might be regarded as a proleptic use of the word, or a careless anachronism), it is perhaps sufficient to reply, that such an inference from the passage before us betrays a very superficial view of the significance of the word “name,” as used in the Bible, and especially in the Hebrew Scriptures. The name of a person was conceived as representing his character, his personality. When Jacob’s name was changed, it was said: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel;” and the reason given for the change is that he has now entered into a new relation with God. Yet, notwithstanding the new appellation, the name Jacob continued to be used, and even more frequently than Israel. In the case before us, then, the statement respecting the names amounts simply to this, that God had not been understood in the character represented by the name Jehovah. The use of the phrase “my name” instead of “the name,” itself points to the previous use of the name.—Tr.]

[12][The proof, as given by Tiele, is this: “According to Numbers 3:27 sq., the Kohathites were divided (at the time of Moses) into the four branches: Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites; these together constituted 8,600 men and boys (women and girls not being reckoned). Of these the Amramites would include about one fourth, or 2,150. Moses himself, according to Exodus 18:3-4, had only two sons. If, therefore, Amram, the son of Kohath, the ancestor of the Amramites, were identical with Amram the father of Moses, then Moses must have had 2,147 brothers and brothers’ sons (the brothers’ daughters, the sisters and sisters’ children not being reckoned). But this being quite an impossible supposition, it must be conceded that it is demonstrated that Amram the son of Kohath is not Moses’ father, but that between the former and his descendant of the same name an indefinitely long list of generations has fallen out.”—Tr.].

Verses 8-25

SECOND SECTION
The miracles of Moses, or the result of the nine Egyptian Plagues, preliminary to the last. Pharaoh’s alternate repentance and obduracy

Exodus 7:8 to Exodus 10:29

A.—Moses’ miraculous rod and the Egyptian magicians. The first plague inflicted with the rod: change of the water into blood

Exodus 7:8-25

8And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 9When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you [yourselves]: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become [let it become] a serpent. 10And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as Jehovah had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and 11before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then [And] Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now [and] the magicians of Egypt, they also did in 12like manner with their enchantments [secret arts]. For [And] they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart [Pharaoh’s heart was hardened]1, that 14[and] he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had said. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened [hard]2, he refuseth to let the people go. 15Get 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 [to meet him]; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine [thy] hand. 16And thou shalt say unto him, Jehovah, God [the 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 17thou wouldest not hear [hast not heard, i.e., obeyed]. Thus saith Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine [my] hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and 19the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of [drink] the water of [from] the river. And Jehovah spake [said] unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine [thy] hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers [canals],3 upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may [and there shall] be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. 20And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah 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. 21And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank; and the Egyptians could not drink of [drink] the water of [from] the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments [secret arts]: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he [and he did not] hearken unto them; as Jehovah had said. 23And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he [and he did not] set his heart to this also [even to this].4 24And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the riExo Exodus 7:25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that Jehovah had smitten the river.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Exodus 7:13. The same form here, יֶחֱזַק, as in Exodus 7:22, where the A. V. correctly renders it intransitively. Literally, “was firm, or strong,” i.e., unyielding, unimpressible.—Tr.].

[Exodus 7:14. The Hebrew has here a different word, כָּבֵד. Literally, ‘heavy’—the same word which Moses used respecting his tongue, Exodus 4:10.—Tr.].

[Exodus 7:19. יְאֹרֵיהֶם, plural of the word which is used almost exclusively of the Nile. Here probably it signifies the artificial canals leading from the Nile—Tr.].

[Exodus 7:23. Or, according to the English idiom: “nor did he lay even this to heart.”—Tr.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

On the whole series of Egyptian plagues, see the Introduction. But we reckon not nine plagues (with Keil), but ten, as a complete number symbolizing the history of the visitation. Moses’ miraculous rod forms the prologue to it; the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, the epilogue.

1. Moses’ miraculous rod in contest with the divining rods of the Egyptian wise men, Exodus 7:8-13.

Exodus 7:8-9. Shew a miracle for yourselves.—It is a general assumption, shared also by the Egyptians, that an ambassador of God must attest his mission by signs, miraculous signs. Take thy rod.—Aaron’s rod is Moses’ rod, which, however, passes over into his hand, as Moses’ word into his mouth.—A serpent. The Hebrew is תַּנִּין. LXX. δράκων. According to Keil the expression is selected with reference to the Egyptian snake-charmers. He says, “Comp. Bochart, Hieroz. III., p. 162 sqq., ed. Rosenmüler; and Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books, etc., p. 100 sqq. Probably the Israelites in Egypt designated by תַּנִּין, which occurs in Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalms 91:13, in parallelism with פֶּתֶן, the snake with which the Egyptian serpent-charmers chiefly carry on their business, the Hayeh of the Arabs.” Of the so-called Psylli it is only known that they are able to put serpents into a rigid state, and in this sense to transform them into sticks. This then is the natural fact in relation and opposition to which the sign, by which Moses attested his mission, stands. The relation between the mysterious miracle of Moses and the symbolical development of it is rather difficult to define.

Exodus 7:11. “These sorcerers (מְכַשְּׁפִים), whom the Apostle Paul, according to the Jewish legend, names Jannes and Jambres (2 Timothy 3:8), were not common jugglers, but חֲכָמִים, wise men,… and חַרְטֻמִּיםἱερογραμματεῖς, belonging to the caste of priests, Genesis 41:8” (Keil).

Exodus 7:12-13.Exodus 7:13; Exodus 7:13 does not stand in direct relation to the close of Exodus 7:12. The hardening of Pharaoh cannot well relate to the fact that Aaron’s rod swallowed up the rods of the sorcerers, although this is probably to be understood metaphorically, but to the fact that the Egyptian sorcerers do the same thing as Aaron does. The essential difference between the acts of God and the demoniacal false miracles is not obvious to the world and the worldly tyrants.

2. The transformation of the water of the Nile into blood, Exodus 7:14-25.

Exodus 7:15. Lo, he goeth out unto the water. To worship the Nile.

Exodus 7:17. “The transformation of the water into blood is, according to Joel 3:4 [2:31], according to which the moon is changed into blood, to be conceived as a blood-red coloring by which it acquired the appearance of blood (2 Kings 3:22), not as a chemical transformation into real blood. According to the reports of many travellers, the Nile water, when lowest, changes its color, becomes greenish and almost undrinkable, whereas, when rising, it becomes red, of an ochre hue, and then begins to be more wholesome. The causes of this change have not yet been properly investigated” (Keil). Two causes are alleged: the red earth in Sennaar, or, according to Ehrenberg, microscopic infusoria. Even the Rhine furnishes a feeble analogue. The heightening of the natural event into a miraculous one lies in the prediction of its sudden occurrence and in its magnitude, so that the red Nile water instead of becoming more wholesome assumes deadly or injurious properties.

Exodus 7:19. That blood should come into all the ramifications of the water, even to the stone and woodeu vessels, is evidently the result of the previous reddening of the Nile. Kurtz exaggerates the miracle by inverting the order of the reddening of the water. His notion is refuted by Keil, p. 479.5

Exodus 7:22. How could the Egyptian sorcerers do the like, when the water had already been all changed to blood? Kurtz says, they took well-water. But see Keil in reply.6 According to the scriptural representation of such miracles of darkness, they knew how, by means of lying tricks, to produce the appearance of having made the water. In this case it was not difficult, if they also used incantations, and the reddening of the water subsequently increased.

Exodus 7:25. Seven days were fulfilled. The duration of the plague. The beginning of the plague is by many placed in June or July, “according to which view all the plagues up to the killing of the first-born, which occurred in the night of the 14th of Abib, i.e., about the middle of April, must have occurred in the course of about nine months. Yet this assumption is very insecure, and only so much is tolerably certain, that the seventh plague (of the hail) took place in February (see on Exodus 9:31 sq.)” (Keil). Clearly, however, the natural basis of the miraculous plagues is a chain of causes and effects.

Footnotes:

[1][Exodus 7:13. The same form here, יֶחֱזַק, as in Exodus 7:22, where the A. V. correctly renders it intransitively. Literally, “was firm, or strong,” i.e., unyielding, unimpressible.—Tr.].

[2][Exodus 7:14. The Hebrew has here a different word, כָּבֵד. Literally, ‘heavy’—the same word which Moses used respecting his tongue, Exodus 4:10.—Tr.].

[3][Exodus 7:19. יְאֹרֵיהֶם, plural of the word which is used almost exclusively of the Nile. Here probably it signifies the artificial canals leading from the Nile—Tr.].

[4][Exodus 7:23. Or, according to the English idiom: “nor did he lay even this to heart.”—Tr.].

[5][The point made by Keil is that, according to Kurtz’s theory, the vessels of wood and of stone ought to have been mentioned immediately after the “pools of water.”—Tr.].

[6][The reply made by Keil (and a very pertinent one) is that if the Egyptians already had well water there would have been no need of their digging wells (Exodus 7:24) in order to obtain drinkable water. Keil understands that the phrases in Exodus 7:19 are not to be interpreted so strictly as to imply that absolutely all water, even what had already been taken from the Nile before the miracle, was turned into blood. Murphy and Kalisch prefer to assume that the magicians dug wells, and practiced their arts on the water drawn from them.—Tr.].