Exodus 7:10-12
New English Translation
10 When[a] Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them—Aaron threw down[b] his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake.[c] 11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers,[d] and the magicians[e] of Egypt by their secret arts[f] did the same thing. 12 Each man[g] threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
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- Exodus 7:10 tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.
- Exodus 7:10 tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”
- Exodus 7:10 tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.
- Exodus 7:11 sn For information on this Egyptian material, see D. B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (VTSup), 203-4.
- Exodus 7:11 tn The חַרְטֻמִּים (khartummim) seem to have been the keepers of Egypt’s religious and magical texts, the sacred scribes.
- Exodus 7:11 tn The term בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם (belahatehem) means “by their secret arts”; it is from לוּט (lut, “to enwrap”). The Greek renders the word “by their magic”; Tg. Onq. uses “murmurings” and “whispers,” and other Jewish sources “dazzling display” or “demons” (see further B. Jacob, Exodus, 253-54). They may have done this by clever tricks, manipulation of the animals, or demonic power. Many have suggested that Aaron and the magicians were familiar with an old trick in which they could temporarily paralyze a serpent and then revive it. But here Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes.
- Exodus 7:12 tn The verb is plural, but the subject is singular, “a man—his staff.” This noun can be given a distributive sense: “each man threw down his staff.”
Exodus 7:22
New English Translation
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same[a] by their secret arts, and so[b] Pharaoh’s heart remained hard,[c] and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron[d]—just as the Lord had predicted.
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- Exodus 7:22 tn Heb “thus, so.”
- Exodus 7:22 tn The vav consecutive on the preterite introduces the outcome or result of the matter—Pharaoh was hardened.
- Exodus 7:22 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
- Exodus 7:22 tn Heb “to them”; the referents (Moses and Aaron) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
Exodus 8:7
New English Translation
7 The magicians did the same[a] with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too.[b]
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- Exodus 8:7 tn Heb “thus, so.”
- Exodus 8:7 sn In these first two plagues the fact that the Egyptians could and did duplicate them is ironic. By duplicating the experience, they added to the misery of Egypt. One wonders why they did not use their skills to rid the land of the pests instead, and the implication of course is that they could not.
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