Exodus 7:14

_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, PHARAOH'S HEART IS HARDENED, HE REFUSETH TO LET THE PEOPLE GO._ 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. The achievements of the magicians may appear surprising to us, who are not accustomed to juggling performances; but in the East it is far from uncommon to witness transformations as marvelous as those which the Egyptian sorcerers effected before Pharaoh by their enchantments. Snake-charming, as an art, has been practiced in Egypt from the earliest times until now; and the preparatory processes by which the magicians not only render innocuous, but obtain such marvelous command over one species of venomous reptiles, without deprivi...

14._And the Lord said unto Moses. _Moses now begins to relate the two plagues which were inflicted upon Egypt before Pharaoh was induced to obey; and although there was something prodigious in the madness which strove against God’s hand so powerfully constraining him, yet in the person of this single reprobate, the picture of human pride and rebellion, when it is not controlled by a spirit of tractableness, is presented to our view. Let the faithful then be admonished by this narrative diligently to beware, lest, by wantonly rebelling against God, they provoke a similar vengeance upon themselves. For the same Being who hardened Pharaoh’s heart is the constant avenger of impiety, and, smiting His enemies with a spirit of confusion, renders them as furious as they are senseless. Moreover, lest Moses, stumbling against this obstacle, should desist from the course he had begun, God encourage...

14-25 Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what 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. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the dead fish and blood now rendered it very unpleasant. It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for Nile, the river of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews' children, and now God made that river all blood. Never any thirsted after blood, but sooner or later they...

Verse Exodus 7:14. _PHARAOH'S HEART IS HARDENED_] כבד _cabed_, is become _heavy_ or _stupid_; he receives no conviction, notwithstanding the clearness of the light which shines upon him. We well know the power of _prejudice_: where persons are determined to think and act after a predetermined plan, arguments, demonstrations, and even miracles themselves, are lost on them, as in the case of Pharaoh here, and that of the obstinate Jews in the days of our Lord and his apostles....

EXPOSITION THE FIRST PLAGUE. The first miracle had been exhibited, and had failed. It had been a mere "sign,'' and in no respect a "judgment." Now the "judgments ' were to begin. God manifests himself again to Moses, and gives him exact directions what he is to do. He is to meet Pharaoh on the banks of the Nile, and to warn him that a plague is coming upon all Egypt on account of his obstinacy; that the waters of the Nile will be turned to blood, so that the ash will die, and the river stink, and the Egyptians loathe to drink of the water of the river (Exodus 7:15-2). Pharaoh not yielding, making no sign, the threat is to be immediately followed by the act. In the sight of Pharaoh and his court, or at any rate of his train of attendants (Exodus 7:20

AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, PHARAOH'S HEART IS HARDENED,.... Or "heavy" c, dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, cannot lift up his heart, or find in his heart to obey the will of God: HE REFUSETH TO LET THE PEOPLE GO; which was an instance and proof of the hardness and heaviness of his heart, on which the above miracle had made no impression, to regard what God by his ambassadors had required of him. c כבד "grave", Montanus, Drusius. So Ainsworth....

4. THE NINE PLAGUES AND THE TENTH JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED CHAPTER 7:14-25 The First Plague _ 1. The plague announced (Exodus 7:14)_ 2. The judgment executed (Exodus 7:20) Nine judgment plagues follow, and after they had passed, the tenth, the great judgment, fell upon Egypt. There are striking and different characteristics of these plagues. Aaron uses his rod in the beginning of the plagues, while Moses stretches out his rod and hand in the last three, not counting the slaying of the firstborn. Some of them were announced beforehand, others were not announced and came without warning. We give them now in their order: 1. Water turned into blood; 2. Frogs; 3. Lice; 4. Flies; 5. Murrain; 6. Boils; 7. Hail; 8. Locusts; 9. Darkness (see

1°. WATER TURNED INTO BLOOD (Exodus 7:14 a J; Exodus 7:15 b E_ r_; Exodus 7:16 a J; Exodus 7:17 b, with the rod. hand, E; Exodus 7:17 c - Exodus 7:18 J; Exodus 7:19 a, commanded, P; Exodus 7:20 b, to servants, E; Exodus 7:20 c -...

THE LORD SAID. See note on Exodus 3:7 with Exodus 6:10. hardened. See note on Exodus 4:2....

Exodus 7:14 to Exodus 11:5 _The first nine Plagues_ The narrative of the Plagues, like that of the preceding Chapter s, is composite. The details of the analysis depend partly upon literary criteria, partly upon differences in the representation, which are not isolated, but recurrent, and which moreover _accompany_the literary differences and support the conclusions based upon them, the differences referred to often also agreeing remarkably with corresponding differences in the parts of the preceding narrative, especially in Exodus 3:1 to Exodus 7:13, which have already, upon independent grounds, been assigned to P, J, and E, respectively. N