Exodus 7:24

_AND ALL THE EGYPTIANS DIGGED ROUND ABOUT THE RIVER FOR WATER TO DRINK; FOR THEY COULD NOT DRINK OF THE WATER OF THE RIVER._ All the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink. The polluted state of their river was a severe calamity, as the want of their favourite beverage, the Nile water, was a grievous privation. The only drinkable water that could be obtained during the continuance of the plague was dug out from subterranean springs among the sands....

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...

EXPOSITION Necessity is the mother of invention. Finding the Nile water continue utterly undrinkable, the Egyptians bethought themselves of a means of obtaining water to which they never had recourse in ordinary times. This was to dig pits or wells at some distance from the river, and so obtain the moisture that lay in the ground, no doubt derived from the river originally, but already there before the change of the water into blood took place. This, it appears, remained water, and was drinkable, though probably not very agreeable, since, owing to the nitrous quality of the soil in Egypt, well-water has always a bitter and brackish taste. It sufficed, however, for drinking and culinary purposes during the "seven_ _days" that the plague continued (Exodus 7:25). Exodus 7:24

AND ALL THE EGYPTIANS DIGGED ROUND ABOUT THE RIVER,.... On each side of it, in order to get clear water; and Aben Ezra thinks the Hebrews also, who were affected with this, and the two following plagues, the frogs and lice: but it is much more reasonable to conclude that they were free from them all. This they did FOR WATER TO DRINK: for there was none in the river, streams, ponds and pools, or in vessels, in which they used to reserve it, and therefore could come at none but by digging; and whether they obtained any in that way is not said: FOR THEY COULD NOT DRINK OF THE WATERS OF THE RIVER; it being turned into blood, and stunk so exceedingly; and though they might strain it, and make it in some measure, drinkable, and might make use of the juice of herbs, and other things, to extinguish their thirst, and the better sort might have a stock of wine, yet multitudes must be greatly dis...

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 -...

ROUND ABOUT: i.e. on either side of....

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

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 7 AND JE-HO-VAH SAID UNTO MO-SES. SEE, I HAVE MADE THEE AS GOD TO PHA-RAOH; AND AAR-ON THY BROTHER SHALL BE THY PROPHET. (2) THOU SHALT SPEAK ALL THAT I COMMAND THEE; AND AAR-ON THY BROTHER SHALL SPEAK UNTO PHA-RAOH, THAT HE LET THE CHILDREN OF IS-RA-EL GO OUT OF HIS LAND. (3) AND I WILL HARDEN PHA-RAOH'S HEART, AND MULTIPLY MY SIGNS AND MY WONDERS IN THE LAND OF E-GYPT. (4) BUT PHA-RAOH WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO YOU, AND I WILL LAY MY HAND UPON E-GYPT, AND BRING FORTH MY HOSTS, MY PEOPLE THE CHILDREN OF IS-RA-EL, OUT OF THE LAND OF E-GYPT BY GREAT JUDGMENTS. (5) AND THE E-GYP-TIANS SHALL KNOW THAT I AM JE-HO-VAH, WHEN I STRETCH FORTH MY HAND UPON E-GYPT, AND BRING OUT THE CHILDREN OF IS-RA-EL FROM AMONG THEM. (6) AND MO-SES AND AAR-ON DID SO; AS JE-HO-VAH COMMANDED THEM, SO DID THEY. (7) AND MO-SES WAS FOURSCORE YEARS OLD, AND AAR-ON FOURSCORE AND THREE YEARS...

THE ROD OF MOSES TURNED INTO A SERPENT. THE FIRST PLAGUE 1. A god to Pharaoh] see on Exodus 4:16. THY PROPHET] A prophet is a spokesman. The prophets of God are those who declare His will. In doing this they may foretell His judgments and predict the future; but prediction is a secondary feature of prophecy, and is not contained in the original and proper sense of the word in which it is used here, where Aaron is called the prophet or mouthpiece of Moses. To prophesy sometimes means to declare God's praise in song. Thus Miriam is called a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, Eldad and Medad are said to have prophesied in Numbers 11:25 (see note there), Deborah was a prophetess ...