Exodus 7 explained: The Nile Turns to Blood

Moses speaks for God (vv. 1-2)

God tells Moses he will stand before Pharaoh with God's own authority, and Aaron will speak for him the way a prophet speaks for God. This answers Moses' earlier worry that he was a poor speaker.

A stubborn king foretold (vv. 3-7)

God says he will "harden" Pharaoh's heart, meaning make him stubborn, yet the story also describes Pharaoh's heart becoming hard as his own response, and how these fit together is debated. Moses is eighty and Aaron eighty-three, perhaps mentioned to show this is no rash scheme of young men.

Staff becomes a snake (vv. 8-13)

Egyptian officials carried staffs as signs of rank, so Aaron's staff becoming a snake and swallowing the magicians' staffs reads as a contest over whose power is greater. How the court magicians copied the sign is unclear; some think it was a known snake trick, others some kind of dark art.

Warning at the river (vv. 14-18)

Moses meets Pharaoh at the Nile in the morning, possibly when the king went to bathe or perform a rite. The Nile was Egypt's lifeline for water, fish and farming and was tied to Egyptian gods, so many read this plague as a challenge to those gods.

The water becomes blood (vv. 19-21)

The water across Egypt, even what was stored in wooden and stone jars, turns to blood, the fish die, and the river stinks. Some suggest red silt or algae lies behind the story, but the text presents it as a direct act of God, and no explanation is certain.

Pharaoh shrugs it off (vv. 22-25)

The magicians do the same thing with their secret arts, though the text does not explain how or on what scale, and that is enough for Pharaoh to walk back into his palace unmoved. Meanwhile ordinary Egyptians dig beside the river for drinkable water, and the chapter closes by noting that seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Key verse: Exodus 7:5

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on what it means that God "hardened" Pharaoh's heart: some see God directly deciding Pharaoh's response, while others see God confirming a stubbornness Pharaoh had already chosen.

Something to think about

When evidence keeps piling up against something you have already decided, what makes it hard to change your mind?