1I řekl Hospodin Mojžíšovi: Aj, ustanovil jsem tě za Boha Faraonovi; Aron pak bratr tvůj bude prorokem tvým. 2Ty mluviti budeš všecko, což tobě přikáži; Aron pak bratr tvůj mluviti bude k Faraonovi, aby propustil syny Izraelské z země své. 3Ale jáť zatvrdím srdce Faraonovo, a množiti budu znamení svá a zázraky své v zemi Egyptské. 4Aniž poslechne vás Farao. I vzložím ruku svou na Egypt, a vyvedu vojska svá, lid svůj, syny Izraelské, z země Egyptské skrze soudy veliké. 5I zvědíť Egyptští, že já jsem Hospodin, když vztáhnu ruku svou na Egypt; a vyvedu syny Izraelské z prostředku jich. 6Tedy učinil Mojžíš a Aron tak; jakž přikázal jim Hospodin, tak učinili. 7A byl Mojžíš v osmdesáti, Aron pak v osmdesáti a třech letech, když mluvili s Faraonem. 8I řekl Hospodin Mojžíšovi a Aronovi takto: 9Když mluviti k vám bude Farao, řka: Ukažte od sebe zázrak, tedy díš Aronovi: Vezmi hůl svou, a povrz před Faraonem, i obrátí se v hada. 10Tedy všel Mojžíš s Aronem k Faraonovi, a učinili tak, jakž přikázal Hospodin; a povrhl Aron hůl svou před Faraonem i před služebníky jeho, a obrácena jest v hada. 11Povolal pak také Farao mudrců a čarodějníků; a učinili i ti čarodějníci Egyptští skrze čáry své tolikéž. 12Nebo povrhl každý z nich hůl svou, a obráceny jsou v hady; ale požřela hůl Aronova hole jejich. 13I posililo se srdce Faraonovo, a neuposlechl jich, tak jakž byl mluvil Hospodin. 14Protož řekl Hospodin Mojžíšovi: Obtížilo se srdce Faraonovo; nechce propustiti lidu toho. 15Jdi k Faraonovi ráno, aj, půjde ven k vodě, a stůj naproti němu při břehu řeky; a hůl, kteráž obrácena byla v hada, vezmeš do ruky své. 16A díš mu: Hospodin Bůh Hebrejský poslal mne k tobě, aťbych řekl: Propusť lid můj, aby sloužili mi na poušti; a aj, neuposlechls až dosavad. 17Protož takto praví Hospodin: Po tomto poznáš, že já jsem Hospodin: Aj, já udeřím holí, kteráž jest v ruce mé, na vody, kteréž jsou v řece, a obráceny budou v krev. 18A ryby, kteréž jsou v řece, pomrou; i nasmradí se řeka, a ustávati budou Egyptští, hledajíce vody, kterouž by pili z řeky. 19Protož řekl Hospodin Mojžíšovi: Rci Aronovi: Vezmi hůl svou, a vztáhni ruku svou na vody Egyptské, na řeky jejich, na potoky jejich, i na jezera jejich, a na všecka shromáždění vod jejich, aby se obrátily v krev; i bude krev po vší zemi Egyptské, tak v nádobách dřevěných, jako kamenných. 20Tedy učinili tak Mojžíš a Aron, jakž byl přikázal Hospodin; a zdvihna hůl, udeřil v vodu, kteráž byla v řece, před očima Faraonovýma a před očima služebníků jeho; i obráceny jsou všecky vody, kteréž byly v řece, v krev. 21Ryby pak, kteréž byly v řece, pomřely, a nasmradila se řeka, tak že nemohli Egyptští píti vody z řeky; a byla krev po vší zemi Egyptské. 22To též učinili i čarodějníci Egyptští skrze čáry své. I zsililo se srdce Faraonovo, aby neuposlechl jich, tak jakž byl mluvil Hospodin. 23A odvrátiv se Farao, přišel do domu svého; a ani k tomu nepřiložil srdce svého. 24Kopali pak všickni Egyptští vůkol řeky, hledajíce vody ku pití; nebo nemohli píti vody z řeky. 25A vyplnilo se dní sedm, jakž ranil Hospodin řeku.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 SECOND INTERVIEW WITH PHARAOH. (Exo. 7:1-25)
the Lord said unto Moses--He is here encouraged to wait again on the king--not, however, as formerly, in the attitude of a humble suppliant, but now armed with credentials as God's ambassador, and to make his demand in a tone and manner which no earthly monarch or court ever witnessed.
I have made thee a god--"made," that is, set, appointed; "a god"; that is, he was to act in this business as God's representative, to act and speak in His name and to perform things beyond the ordinary course of nature. The Orientals familiarly say of a man who is eminently great or wise, "he is a god" among men.
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet--that is, "interpreter" or "spokesman." The one was to be the vicegerent of God, and the other must be considered the speaker throughout all the ensuing scenes, even though his name is not expressly mentioned.
3 I will harden Pharaoh's heart--This would be the result. But the divine message would be the occasion, not the cause of the king's impenitent obduracy.
4 I may lay mine hand upon Egypt, &c.--The succession of terrible judgments with which the country was about to be scourged would fully demonstrate the supremacy of Israel's God.
7 Moses was fourscore years old--This advanced age was a pledge that they had not been readily betrayed into a rash or hazardous enterprise, and that under its attendant infirmities they could not have carried through the work on which they were entering had they not been supported by a divine hand.
9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, &c.--The king would naturally demand some evidence of their having been sent from God; and as he would expect the ministers of his own gods to do the same works, the contest, in the nature of the case, would be one of miracles. Notice has already been taken of the rod of Moses (
Έξ. 4:2), but rods were carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court of Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were symbols of authority or rank. Hence God commanded His servants to use a rod.
10 Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, &c.--It is to be presumed that Pharaoh had demanded a proof of their divine mission.
11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, &c.--His object in calling them was to ascertain whether this doing of Aaron's was really a work of divine power or merely a feat of magical art. The magicians of Egypt in modern times have been long celebrated adepts in charming serpents, and particularly by pressing the nape of the neck, they throw them into a kind of catalepsy, which renders them stiff and immovable--thus seeming to change them into a rod. They conceal the serpent about their persons, and by acts of legerdemain produce it from their dress, stiff and straight as a rod. Just the same trick was played off by their ancient predecessors, the most renowned of whom, Jannes and Jambres (
2Τιμ. 3:8), were called in on this occasion. They had time after the summons to make suitable preparations--and so it appears they succeeded by their "enchantments" in practising an illusion on the senses.
12 but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods--This was what they could not be prepared for, and the discomfiture appeared in the loss of their rods, which were probably real serpents.
14 Pharaoh's heart is hardened--Whatever might have been his first impressions, they were soon dispelled; and when he found his magicians making similar attempts, he concluded that Aaron's affair was a magical deception, the secret of which was not known to his wise men.
15 Get thee unto Pharaoh--Now began those appalling miracles of judgment by which the God of Israel, through His ambassadors, proved His sole and unchallengeable supremacy over all the gods of Egypt, and which were the natural phenomena of Egypt, at an unusual season, and in a miraculous degree of intensity. The court of Egypt, whether held at Rameses, or Memphis, or Tanis in the field of Zoan (
Ψαλ. 78:12), was the scene of those extraordinary transactions, and Moses must have resided during that terrible period in the immediate neighborhood.
in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water--for the purpose of ablutions or devotions perhaps; for the Nile was an object of superstitious reverence, the patron deity of the country. It might be that Moses had been denied admission into the palace; but be that as it may, the river was to be the subject of the first plague, and therefore, he was ordered to repair to its banks with the miracle-working rod, now to be raised, not in demonstration, but in judgment, if the refractory spirit of the king should still refuse consent to Israel's departure for their sacred rites.
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
Αρ. 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 which is left after an overflow, the reservoirs, and the many domestic vessels in which the Nile water was kept to filter. And accordingly the sufferings of the people from thirst must have been severe. Nothing could more humble the pride of Egypt than this dishonor brought on their national god.
22 And the magicians . . . did so with their enchantments, &c.--Little or no pure water could be procured, and therefore their imitation must have been on a small scale --the only drinkable water available being dug among the sands. It must have been on a sample or specimen of water dyed red with some coloring matter. But it was sufficient to serve as a pretext or command for the king to turn unmoved and go to his house.