Exodus 7:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.

NIV: Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.

NASB: So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and all the water that was in the Nile was turned into blood.

CSB: Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, he raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood.

NLT: So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood!

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck 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.

God commanded Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh after his rejection of previous commands and miracles (Exodus 5:1–4; 7:10–13). Here, they confront Egypt's ruler as he comes out to the Nile River in the morning (Exodus 7:15). This is the first of ten catastrophic plagues the Lord will bring against Egypt (Exodus 3:20). These supernatural events are primarily meant to prove that the God of Israel has power which the false Egyptian deities do not. They also punish Pharaoh for his stubborn refusal to release the Israelite people (Exodus 1:11–14).

These events also strike at belief in false gods. God's power over the Nile shows that Hapi, an Egyptian river God, has no influence. Neither does Khnum, the river deity also associated with creating unborn children and fertility. Khnum and another idol, Heqet, also acted somewhat like midwives. All of these Egyptian deities are exposed through the Lord's plague. The blood of so many murdered Israelite children (Exodus 1:15–17, 22) comes back to haunt the murderers, through waters supposedly controlled by Egyptian gods.

When the water is ruined, Egypt is devastated (Exodus 7:21). Since the people of Israel live in a neighboring region (Genesis 45:10; Exodus 8:22; 9:26), they were probably spared from this trouble. The situation goes on long enough to become life-threatening (Exodus 7:25). In the meantime, Egyptians are forced to work hard searching for water (Exodus 7:24), much as their slaves were recently forced to work hard searching for raw materials (Exodus 5:6–9).

There is debate as to the exact nature of this plague and its mechanism. God is perfectly capable of using His creation, as designed, to accomplish His will. Some commentators suggest that the water does not become literal blood—the bodily fluid—but that it becomes contaminated and red in color. Proposals for this include everything from a landslide dumping minerals upstream to a sudden increase in algae. That Egyptian magicians seem to create the same result (Exodus 7:22) also suggests some natural process.

A weakness in these theories is that all surface water is affected (Exodus 7:19). To change water held in jars and cisterns, something remarkable would be needed. The next five plagues—frogs (Exodus 8:2), gnats (Exodus 8:16), flies (Exodus 8:21), dead livestock (Exodus 9:3), and boils (Exodus 9:8–9)—might be driven by the natural consequences of this first plague. But no matter the method, it is God's supernatural timing and power which causes them to happen.

God again repeats (Exodus 3:19–20; 4:19–23; 6:6) the basic outline of how Israel will be freed from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 1:11–14). He then commands Moses and Aaron to show Pharaoh one of the miraculous signs given for that purpose (Exodus 4:2–5). Egyptian magicians seem to duplicate the feat, so Pharaoh still refuses to hear Mo-ses' message. This results in the first plague: all water in Egypt, including the Nile river, becomes blood. This lasts seven days. The Lord then tells Moses to repeat the demand for Israel's release.

God commissioned Moses (Exodus 3:10) and commanded him to confront Egypt's ruler, the pharaoh (Exodus 4:19–23). When Moses obeyed (Exodus 5:1–3), the immediate result was even worse oppression for Israel (Exodus 5:19–21). This inspired Moses to doubt (Exodus 5:22–23). The Lord responded with reassurances (Exodus 6:1–8). Chapter 7 completes this declaration and begins the cycle of plagues (Exodus 3:19–20), starting with turning the Nile river into blood. These catastrophes will continue (Exodus 8—11) until Pharaoh finally releases the Israelites (Exodus 12:41).