Exodus 7:18-20 NIV

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 7:18

And the fish that is in the river shall die ,.... Their element being changed, and they not able to live in any other but water: and the river shall stink ; with the blood, into which it should be congealed, and with the putrefied bodies of fishes floating in it: and the Egyptians shall loath to drink of the water of the river ; the very colour of it, looking like blood, would set them against it, and create a nausea in them; or "shall be weary" F8 נלאו "delassabuntur",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:19

And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... Pharaoh still being obstinate, and refusing to let the people go: say unto Aaron, take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt ; upon all of them in general, what were in the river Nile, or derived from it, as follows: upon their streams ; the seven streams of the river Nile; see Gill on Isaiah 11:15 . upon their rivers ; the canals that were cut out of the river Nile, for the watering of their fields and gardens, for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:20

And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded ,.... Moses delivered the rod to Aaron, who took it and went to the water side: and he lift up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river ; or "in that river" F9 ביאר εν τω ποταμω Sept. "in eo rivo", Junius and Tremellius, Piscator. , the river Nile, on the brink of which Pharaoh then stood: in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants ; his nobles and courtiers who tended him in his walk to the water;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:18

The Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water - The force of this expression cannot be well felt without taking into consideration the peculiar pleasantness and great salubrity of the waters of the Nile. "The water of Egypt," says the Abbe Mascrier, "is so delicious, that one would not wish the heat to be less, or to be delivered from the sensation of thirst. The Turks find it so exquisite that they excite themselves to drink of it by eating salt. It is a common saying among them, that if... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:19

That there may be blood - both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone - Not only the Nile itself was to be thus changed into blood in all its branches, and the canals issuing from it, but all the water of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, was to undergo a similar change. And this was to extend even to the water already brought into their houses for culinary and other domestic purposes. As the water of the Nile is known to be very thick and muddy, and the Egyptians are obliged to filter it... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:20

All the waters - were turned to blood - Not merely in appearance, but in reality; for these changed waters became corrupt and insalubrious, so that even the fish that were in the river died; and the smell became highly offensive, so that the waters could not be drank; Exodus 7:21 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:19

Verse 19 19.And the Lord spake unto Moses. This is the more extended narrative of which I spoke; for Moses mentions nothing different from what went before, but explains more distinctly his mode of action in the performance of the miracle, namely, that what God had commanded was completed by the instrumentality of Aaron. There was a reason for commencing with this miracle, that the Egyptians might know that there was no safeguard for them in the resources upon which they prided themselves the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:20

Verse 20 20.And Moses and Aaron did so. He repeats that what God threatened as to the death of the fish, and the stinking of the Nile, actually took place; that he may aggravate the sin of the king, who was unaffected by the manifold power of God. Still he immediately adds that his counsellors witnessed it also. Hence we may conjecture, that the same infatuation had pervaded the whole court. It was also proper that so memorable a circumstance should not only be known generally, but that its... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:19

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 7:20

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:20

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:19

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 7:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 7:14-21

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