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Exodus 7:19

in Exodus 7

And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds 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.

KJV

And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.

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This verse in Exodus 7

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
The “streams” mean the natural branches of the Nile in Lower Egypt. The word “rivers” should rather be “canals”; they were of great extent, running parallel to the Nile, and communicating with it by sluices, which were opened at the rise, and closed at the subsidence of the inundation. The word rendered “ponds” refers either to natural fountains, or more probably to cisterns or tanks found in every town and village. The “pools”, literally “gathering of waters,” were the reservoirs, always large and some of enormous extent, containing sufficient water to irrigate the country in the dry season.

This site's exposition

Take your staff and stretch out your hand

The stroke widens past the Nile to their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs, and then to the vessels of wood and stone. Egypt lived on that water, and the verse leaves nothing that holds water untouched.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And the Lord spake unto Moses,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

That which is water to-day may be blood to-morrow; what is always vain may soon become vexatious. A river, at the best, is transient; but divine justice can quickly make it malignant. See what mischievous work sin makes. if the things that have been our comforts prove our crosses, we must thank ourselves: it is sin that turns our waters into blood.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

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 through pots of a kind of white earth, and sometimes through a paste made of almonds, Mr. Harmer supposes that the vessels of wood and stone mentioned above may refer to the process of filtration, which no doubt has been practiced among them from the remotest period. The meaning given above I think to be more natural.

The words behind it

33 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • אֱמֹ֣רsay

    ʾemorH559 →5305 times

  • אֶֽל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַהֲרֹ֡ןAaron

    ʾaharonH175 →347 times

  • קַ֣חtake

    kachH3947 →966 times

  • מַטְּךָ֣staff your

    matekhaH4294 →252 times

  • וּנְטֵֽה־and stretch out

    uneteh-H5186 →214 times

  • יָדְךָ֩hand your

    yadekhaH3027 →1618 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מֵימֵ֨י[the] waters of

    meimeiH4325 →581 times

  • מִצְרַ֜יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4714 →641 times

  • עַֽל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • נַהֲרֹתָ֣ם׀rivers their

    naharotamH5104 →119 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • יְאֹרֵיהֶ֣םcanals their

    yeoreihemH2975 →65 times

  • וְעַל־and over

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • אַגְמֵיהֶ֗םponds their

    ʾagmeihemH98 →

  • וְעַ֛לand over

    vealH5921 →5755 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מִקְוֵ֥ה<the> reservoir of

    mikvehH4723 →

  • מֵימֵיהֶ֖םwater their

    meimeihemH4325 →581 times

  • וְיִֽהְיוּ־so they may become

    veyihyu-H1961 →3559 times

  • דָ֑םblood

    damH1818 →360 times

  • וְהָ֤יָהand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • דָם֙blood

    damH1818 →360 times

  • בְּכָל־in all

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4714 →641 times

  • וּבָעֵצִ֖יםand in the wood<s>

    uvaetzimH6086 →328 times

  • וּבָאֲבָנִֽים׃and in the stone<s>

    uvaavanimH68 →273 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

13 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Exodus 14:21Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were divided,6 worksExodus 14:16And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.6 worksExodus 8:16Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”5 worksExodus 10:21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”5 worksExodus 10:12Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”5 worksExodus 8:5–6And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’”5 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 14:26Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”5 works2 Kings 2:19Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please note, our lord, that the city’s location is good, as you can see. But the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.”5 worksExodus 9:33Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.2 worksGenesis 1:10God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.2 worksExodus 9:22–23Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”2 worksIsaiah 19:10The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the hired workers will be sick at heart.2 worksPsalms 110:2The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”-1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Exodus 14:21

    Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind that turned it into dry land. So the waters were…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 63:12

      who sent His glorious arm to lead them by the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to gain for Himself everlasting renown,

    • Exodus 15:8

      At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

    • Psalms 66:6

      He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the waters on foot; there we rejoiced in Him.

    • Nehemiah 9:11

      You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

    • Psalms 78:13

      He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.

  • Through

    Exodus 8:16

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 8:5

      And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers and canals and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.’”

  • Through

    Exodus 10:21

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Peter 2:4

      For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

    • 2 Peter 2:17

      These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 7 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 7 →