Year of the Bible

Access your family's weekly resource for the Year of the Bible HERE

Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Chapter 7: 

As a preface of what is to come, the Lord explains that Moses will speak the Lord’s words to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh's heart will be hard and will resist the request to let the people go to worship. In response, the Lord will stretch out His hand, bringing signs, wonders, and acts of judgments against Egypt. He will then lead His people out of the land not just to worship but to a new life of freedom from Egyptian oppression. Through a fairly simple sign, God offers Pharaoh an opportunity to do the right thing. When Pharaoh refuses out of a hard heart, the stakes immediately increase, and what we know as the first plague occurs. The Nile River is the source of life, both literally for agriculture and religiously within Egyptian mythology. When Pharaoh goes to pray at the River, Moses and Aaron speak on the Lord’s behalf, strike the Nile with Moses’ rod, and watch the River turn from life-giving water to death-bringing blood. Although this event should help Pharaoh come to know the Lord, the hardness of Pharaoh's heart is on display as he ignores the impact of this event and returns to his palace. Meanwhile, his subjects are forced to dig wells in futile attempts to find fresh water.

The Book of Exodus, Chapter 7:

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you; then I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth my hosts, my people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgement. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from among them.” 6 And Moses and Aaron did so; they did as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Miraculous Rod

8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord commanded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts. 12 For every man cast down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the Lord had said.

The First Plague: Water of the Nile Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; wait for him by the river’s brink, and take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not yet obeyed.” 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood, 18 and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall become foul, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the Nile.” ’” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not lay even this to heart. 2And all the Egyptians dug round about the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

The Second Plague: Frogs

25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. 

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

Lord, as I meditate on this passage, help me receive what you want to stand out to me. The signs and wonders...Pharaoh not listening to God...the Plague...(something else)?

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc or online.

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.