Exodus 7:20

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֨ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
Aaron	וְאַהֲרֹ֜ן ve.'a.ha.Ron	H175	Aharon · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
did	וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ vai.ya.'a.su-	H6213	to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD	יְהוָ֗ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
commanded	צִוָּ֣ה tzi.Vah	H6680	(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up	וַיָּ֤רֶם vai.Ya.rem	H7311	to be high actively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rod	בַּמַּטֶּה֙ ba.ma.Teh	H4294	a branch (as extending) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
smote	וַיַּ֤ךְ vai.Yakh	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
waters	הַמַּ֙יִם֙ ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
river	בַּיְאֹ֔ר bay.'Or	H2975	a channel · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
sight	לְעֵינֵ֣י le.'ei.Nei	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
Pharaoh	פַרְעֹ֔ה far.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
sight	וּלְעֵינֵ֖י u.le.'ei.Nei	H5869	an eye (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct
servants	עֲבָדָ֑יו 'a.va.Dav	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
waters	הַמַּ֥יִם ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
river	בַּיְאֹ֖ר bay.'Or	H2975	a channel · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
turned	וַיֵּהָֽפְכ֛וּ vai.ye.ha.fe.Khu	H2015	to turn about or over · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
blood	לְדָֽם le.Dam	H1818	blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · 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

Psalms 78:44 And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.
Psalms 105:29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.
Exodus 7:17-18 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters whic…
Exodus 17:5-6 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the r…
Exodus 17:9-12 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of…
Numbers 20:8-12 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall…
John 2:9-11 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew…
Revelation 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 7:14–end

Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood, which was, 1. A dreadful plague, and very grievous. The very sight of such vast rolling streams of blood, pure blood no doubt, florid and high-colored, could not but strike a horror upon people: much more afflictive were the consequences of it. Nothing more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that that which is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life should be cheap, and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Fish was much of their food (Num 11:5), but the changing of the waters was the death of the fish; it was…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 7:17

Aaron lifted up the rod and smote the waters, &c.--Whether the water was changed into real blood, or only the appearance of it (and Omnipotence could effect the one as easily as the other), this was a severe calamity. How great must have been the disappointment and disgust throughout the land when the river became of a blood red color, of which they had a national abhorrence; their favorite beverage became a nauseous draught, and the fish, which formed so large an article of food, were destroyed. [See on Num 11:5.] The immense scale on which the plague was inflicted is seen by its extending to "the streams," or branches of the Nile--to the "rivers," the canals, the "ponds" and "pools," that…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 7:20

All the waters - were turned to blood - Not merely in appearance, but in reality; for these changed waters became corrupt and insalubrious, so that even the fish that were in the river died; and the smell became highly offensive, so that the waters could not be drank; Exo 7:21.

John Gill on Exodus 7:20

And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded,.... Moses delivered the rod to Aaron, who took it and went to the water side: and he lift up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river; or "in that river" (i), the river Nile, on the brink of which Pharaoh then stood: in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; his nobles and courtiers who tended him in his walk to the water; for this was done before he returned to his palace: and all the waters that were in the river were turned into blood; not only the face of the waters looked like blood, but they were really turned into it; and not only the surface of the water, but all the water that was in the river, wherev…

The Church Fathers

Then the plagues are visited upon Egypt. They were carried out corporally among the Egyptians; they are now carried out spiritually in us, for Egypt is the figure of this world. The first plague is the one in which the waters are turned into blood. The waters of Egypt are erratic, just as the dogmas of the philosophers are inconstant. These waters are deservedly turned into blood, because when the philosophers ponder the causes of things they think carnally. But when the cross of Christ shows the light of truth to this world, it will reproach the world with censures of this sort, so that from the kind of punishment it suffers, the world might recognize its errors.
— Isidore of Seville, QUESTIONS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT, EX 14:1-2

Just as we read in the Gospel that water was turned into wine, which denoted that people were changed for the better, so here its transformation into blood announces that sinners interpret the causes of spiritual things in a bodily sense. Blood is introduced here to denote the flesh, and undoubtedly the Jewish people took this materialistic view. He further says that both their rivers and their rain showers were turned into blood, so that in their preoccupation with the thoughts of the flesh they did not understand the heavenly preaching in a spiritual sense. The literal sense of this and of what follows is clear, for the words of the divine history show that these events occurred in Egypt.
— Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 77.44

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

Hornet — Heb. tsir’ah, “stinging”, (Ex. 23:28; Deut. 7:20; Josh. 24:12). The word is used in these passages as referring to some means by which the Canaanites were to be driven out from before the Israelites.…
Plague — A “stroke” of affliction, or disease. Sent as a divine chastisement (Num. 11:33; 14:37; 16:46-49; 2 Sam. 24:21). Painful afflictions or diseases, (Lev. 13:3, 5, 30; 1 Kings 8:37), or severe calamity…
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Anger Of God, The · Exemplified against: Egyptians — Exemplified against: Egyptians
Blood · Plague of — Plague of
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Moses and Aaron: River turned into blood — Moses and Aaron: River turned into blood
Nile, The River · Remarkable events connected with: Its waters turned into blood — Remarkable events connected with: Its waters turned into blood
Plague · .Bloo — .Bloo
Water · Miracles connected with: Turned into blood — Miracles connected with: Turned into blood

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 7:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 7:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 7:17

Adam Clarke on Exodus 7:20

John Gill on Exodus 7:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 7:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 7:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 7:17

Adam Clarke on Exodus 7:20

John Gill on Exodus 7:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 7:14–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 7:14–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 7:14-25

Rashi on Exodus 7:19