Exodus 7:18

ESV The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile."’"

NIV The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ "

NASB Then the fish that are in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will no longer be able to drink water from the Nile.'?’?'

CSB The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it."

NLT The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’'

KJV 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.

NKJV And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.” ’ ”

What does Exodus 7:18 mean?

Through Moses (Exodus 7:14–15), the Lord is declaring a judgment on Egypt and its stubborn ruler, Pharaoh (Exodus 7:16). God will turn the water of the Nile river into blood, as a way of proving his power and authority. This will result in exactly the sort of consequences one would expect. Blood decomposes. Fish cannot breathe blood. The entire Nile system will become a reeking, rotting sludge. This would also apply to all the surface waters and reservoirs of the land (Exodus 7:19).

Crops cannot survive without water—and neither can people. This explains the comment about how the Egyptians will "grow weary" of the situation. This applies a Hebrew root word implying struggle, frustration, exhaustion, and impatience. To live (Exodus 7:25), Egyptians will be forced to dig for underground springs and pools (Exodus 7:24). This is a not-so-subtle response to Pharaoh's earlier cruelty. When first refusing to release the Israelites (Exodus 5:4), Pharaoh spitefully made their work even harder (Exodus 5:6–9). He forced them to search for something which had once been provided (Exodus 5:10–12). Now, the people of Egypt will be forced into harsh, desperate labor to replace the water which was once so easy to find. Further, the river where Hebrew children were slaughtered (Exodus 1:22) now brings blood back to Egypt.

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