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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 7:14-25

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,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:17

Thus saith the Lord, in this thou shalt know that I am the Lord ,.... By the following instance of his power and vengeance: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand ; which though in the hand of Moses, Exodus 7:18 yet he being his ambassador, and representing him, is said to be in the hand of the Lord; and with this he threatens to smite upon the waters which are in the river ; the river Nile, and the canals thereof: and they shall be turned to blood ; and if this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:17

Behold, I will smite - Here commences the account of the Ten plagues which were inflicted on the Egyptians by Moses and Aaron, by the command and through the power of God. According to Archbishop Usher these ten plagues took place in the course of one month, and in the following order: - The first, the Waters turned into Blood, took place, he supposes, the 18th day of the sixth month; Exodus 7:20 . The second, the plague of Frogs, on the 25th day of the sixth month; Exodus 8:2 . ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:14-25

The Nile turned into blood. The first of the series of plagues which fell on Egypt was of a truly terrific character. At the stretching out of the red of Aaron, the broad, swift-flowing current of. the rising Nile suddenly assumed the hue and qualities of blood. The stroke fell also on the reservoirs, canals, and ponds. Whatever connection may be traced between this plague and natural phenomena (see Hengstenberg) it is plain that it stood on an entirely different footing from changes... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:14-25

The first plague: the water turned to blood. I. THE PLACE WHERE MOSES WAS TO MEET PHARAOH . Moses was not always to be put to it to find his entrance into the palace. God can arrange things so that Pharaoh shall come to meet him. The instructions given to Moses at once call to our minds how Pharaoh's daughter, eighty years before, had come down to the river to find and protect a helpless babe, and how that same babe—having passed through many chequered years, and many... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:14-25

The water turned into blood. I. THE PUNISHMENT . There were two elements in it. 1. The deprivation: water, one of the most essential of all God's gifts, was suddenly made useless. 2 . The horror. Had all the water of Egypt suddenly disappeared, the punishment had been infinitely less. Instead of water, there was blood and corruption. 3 . It was a judgment on Egypt's idolatry. The things we set in God's stead will be made an abomination and a horror to us. 4 . It was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:17

In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord . Pharaoh had declared on the occasion specially referred to, " I know not Jehovah , neither will I let Israel go" ( Exodus 5:2 ). He is now told that he shall "know Jehovah" in the coming visitation; he shall know, i.e ; that there is a great and truly existent God who controls nature, does as he will even with the Nile, which the Egyptians regarded as a great deity; and can turn, if he see fit, the greatest blessings into curses. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:17-20

God's punishments appropriate and terrible ( Exodus 7:17-20 ), There was something peculiarly appropriate in the first judgment falling upon the Nile. The Nile had been made the instrument of destruction to the Israelites by the first tyrannical Pharaoh (probably Seti I .). It had been defiled with the blood of thousands of innocent victims. Crocodiles had in its waters crushed the tender limbs of those helpless infants, and had stained them with a gore that in God's sight could never... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 7:17

Turned to blood - This miracle would bear a certain resemblance to natural phenomena, and therefore be one which Pharaoh might see with amazement and dismay, yet without complete conviction. It is well known that before the rise the water of the Nile is green and unfit to drink. About the 25th of June it becomes clear, and then yellow, and gradually reddish like ochre; an effect due to the presence of microscopic cryptogams and infusoria. The supernatural character of the visitation was tested... read more

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