Exodus 7:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 7:10
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.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Pharaoh
פַּרְעֹ֔הpar.'Oh
H6547
Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
did
וַיַּ֣עַשׂוּvai.Ya.'a.su
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
commanded
צִוָּ֣הtzi.Vah
H6680
(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֜ן'a.ha.Ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
down
וַיַּשְׁלֵ֨ךְvai.yash.Lekh
H7993
to throw out · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rod
מַטֵּ֗הוּma.Te.hu
H4294
a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Pharaoh
פַרְעֹ֛הfar.'Oh
H6547
Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
before
וְלִפְנֵ֥יve.lif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
servants
עֲבָדָ֖יו'a.va.Dav
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
serpent
לְתַנִּֽיןle.ta.Nin
H8577
a marine or land monster · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 4:3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
Amos 9:3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bo…
Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re…
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt y…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 7:8-13
The first time that Moses made his application to Pharaoh, he produced his instructions only; now he is directed to produce his credentials, and does accordingly. 1. It is taken for granted that Pharaoh would challenge these demandants to work a miracle, that, by a performance evidently above the power of nature, they might prove their commission from the God of nature. Pharaoh will say, Show a miracle; not with any desire to be convinced, but with the hope that none will be wrought, and then he would have some colour for his infidelity. 2. Orders are therefore given to turn the rod into a serpent, according to the instructions, Exo 4:3. The same rod that was to give the signal of the other…
Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, &c.--It is to be presumed that Pharaoh had demanded a proof of their divine mission.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 7:10
It became a serpent - תנין tannin. What kind of a serpent is here intended, learned men are not agreed. From the manner in which the original word is used in Psa 74:13; Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9; Job 7:12; some very large creature, either aquatic or amphibious, is probably meant; some have thought that the crocodile, a well-known Egyptian animal, is here intended. In Exo 4:3 it is said that this rod was changed into a serpent, but the original word there is נחש nachash, and here תנין tannin, the same word which we translate whale, Gen 1:21.
As נחש nachash seems to be a term restricted to no one particular meaning, as has already been shown on Genesis 3; See Clarke's note on Gen 3:1. So the words תנ…
And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh,.... Into the palace of Pharaoh boldly, and with intrepidity, clothed with such power and authority, and assured of success:
and they did as the Lord had commanded; they demanded in his name the dismission of the children of Israel, and upon his requiring a miracle to confirm their mission, wrought one as follows:
and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and it became a serpent: or a "dragon", as the Septuagint version; this word is sometimes used of great whales, Genesis 1:21 and of the crocodile, Ezekiel 29:3 and it is very likely the crocodile is meant here, as Dr. Lightfoot (q) thinks; since this was frequent in the Nile, the river of Egypt,…
The Church Fathers
The staff is a sign of the cross. It caused all the plagues when it swallowed the snakes, just as [the cross] would destroy all idols. With [the staff], [Moses] divided the sea and drowned the Egyptians. That prefigured the destruction of the Canaanites.
He cast down his rod, and it became a serpent which devoured the serpents of Egypt. This signified that the Word should become flesh to destroy the poison of the dread serpent by the forgiveness and pardon of sins. For the rod stands for the Word that is true, royal, filled with power and glorious in ruling. As the rod became a serpent, so he who was the Son of God begotten of the Father became the Son of man born of a woman. Like the serpent, he was lifted up on the cross, poured his healing medicine on the wounds of humanity. Wherefore the Lord himself says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
For by the serpent is to be understood death, which was brought about by the serpent in paradise, according to the manner of speech which attributes the effect to the cause. Therefore the rod was turned into a serpent, and the whole Christ, together with his body which is the church, into the resurrection, that will take place at the end of time. This is signified by the tail of the serpent which Moses held, in order that it might be turned again into a rod. But the serpents of the magicians are like those who are dead in the world, for, unless by believing in Christ they have been as it were swallowed up and entered into his body, they will not be able to rise in him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Dragon — (1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps. 44:19; Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 1:8; Mal. 1:3); probably, as…
Jannes — One of the Egyptians who “withstood Moses” (2 Tim. 3:8).
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Egypt · History of Israel in: Moses proves his divine mission by miracles — History of Israel in: Moses proves his divine mission by miracles
Miracles · General references — General references
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Moses and Aaron: Rod turned into a serpent — Moses and Aaron: Rod turned into a serpent
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Exodus 7:8-13
8. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
8. Et dixit Jehova ad Mosen et Aharon, dicendo.
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.
9. Si loquutus fuerit ad vos Pharao, dicendo, Statuite vobis prodigium: tunc dices ad Aharon, Tolle virgam tuam, et projice coram Pharaone, et fiet in serpentem.
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.
10. Venit ergo Moses et Aharon ad Pharaonem, et ita fec…
The negotiations of Moses and Aaron as messengers of Jehovah with the king of Egypt, concerning the departure of Israel from his land, commenced with a sign, by which the messengers of God attested their divine mission in the presence of Pharaoh (Exo 7:8-13), and concluded with the announcement of the last blow that God would inflict upon the hardened king (Exo 11:1-10). The centre of these negotiations, or rather the main point of this lengthened section, which is closely connected throughout, and formally rounded off by Exo 11:9-10 into an inward unity, is found in the nine plagues which the messengers of Jehovah brought upon Pharaoh and his kingdom at the command of Jehovah, to bend the d…
Serpent (Hebrew tannin) is a different word than the word translated “snake” in 4:3. Tannin often refers to a sea monster. Egypt is often portrayed as an ultimately impotent sea monster (Isa 30:7; Ezek 29:3). The image of a cobra’s head was on the pharaoh’s headdress.
