The First Plague: Blood
Background and Printed Text: Exodus 7:8-25
Exodus 7:8 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe] and unto Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] to say, 9 “Because Pharaoh will speak unto you to say, ‘Give ye a wonder for yourselves,’ and thou shalt say unto Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], ‘Take thy rod! And throw to the faces of Pharaoh.’ He will become to a taneen!” 10And Draw [Moshe] came, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto Pharaoh. And they did established—just as Yehovah commanded. And Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] threw his rod to the faces of Pharaoh and to the faces of his slaves. And he became to a ‘taneen’! 11And Pharaoh also called to wise-[ones] and to warlocks. And the diviners of Egypt—they also did via their flames. Established! 12And they threw—a man his rod! And they became to ‘taneeneem’! And the rod of Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] swallowed their rods! 13And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not hearken unto them, just as Yehovah spoke!
14And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy. He refused to send the People. 15Walk unto Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he will exit waterward. And be positioned to meet him upon the lip of the river. And thou shalt take the rod that flipped-over to a serpent in thine hand. 16And thou shalt say unto him, ‘Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews sent me unto thee to say, “Send my People! And he has served me in the desert!” And behold, thou hast not hearkened unto so!’” 17 “So said Yehovah, ‘Thou shalt know that I am Yehovah via this! Behold, I am smiting via the rod that is in my hand upon the waters that are in the river! And they shall be flipped-over to blood! 18The fish that is in the river will die, and the river shall stink! And the Egyptians will loath to drink water from the river!’”
19And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Say unto Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], ‘Take thy rod. And stretch thine hand upon waters of Egypt, upon their rivers, upon their canals and upon their pools, and upon every gathering of their waters. And they shall be blood! And the blood shall be in all the land of Egypt, and in the trees and in the rocks!” 20And Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] did so, just as Yehovah commanded. And he elevated via the rod. And he smote the waters that are in the canal to the eyes of Pharaoh and to the eyes of his slaves. And all the waters that are in the canal flipped-over to blood! 21And the fish that is in the canal died. And the canal stank. And Egyptians were not able to drink water from the canal. And the blood was in all the land of Egypt! 22And the diviners of Egypt did so via their flames. And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not hearken unto them just as Yehovah spoke. 23And Pharaoh turned. And he came unto his house. And he did not put his heart also to this. 24And all Egyptians dug water around the canal to drink, for they were not able to drink from the waters of the canal. 25And He fulfilled seven of the days after Yehovah’s smiting the canal.
I. Serpents (verses 8-13)
Yehovah gave directions to Moshe and Aharon: “Because Pharaoh will speak unto you to say, ‘Give ye a wonder for yourselves…’” He then told them what to do: “…and thou shalt say unto Aharon, ‘Take thy rod! And throw to the faces of Pharaoh.’ He will become to a taneen!” (See the questions to learn what a taneen is.)
Moshe and Aharon came unto Pharaoh. They did exactly what Yehovah commanded. Aaron threw his rod directly in front of Pharaoh and directly in front of his slaves. The rod turned into a taneen!
Pharaoh wasn’t satisfied; he also called to wise ones and to warlocks. These diviners of Egypt also certainly did via their flames! Everyone threw his rod, and they turned into taneeneem! Then something happened: Aharon’s rod swallowed their rods!
Pharaoh’s heart (his mind) gripped. Pharaoh didn’t hearken to them; that was just what Yehovah had spoken.
Questions
1. Why did Yehovah speak unto both Moshe and Aharon?
2. Yehovah knew that Pharaoh would say, “Give ye a wonder for yourselves.” Why would Pharaoh do this?
3. Yehovah then said to Moshe, “Thou shalt say unto Aharon…” Didn’t Aharon hear Yehovah for himself?
4. Yehovah told Aharon to take his rod and throw it in front of Pharaoh. How frightening would this act be?
5. What is a taneen?
6. What are wise ones (verse 11)?
7. What are warlocks?
8. What are diviners?
9. Were the diviners successful in doing the same miracle?
10. Why did Yehovah permit them to be successful in doing the same miracle?
11. What does “via their flames” mean?
12. What does “Established!” mean?
13. What are taneeneem?
14. How many of these diviners were able to cause their rods to become taneeneem?
15. What happened to the rods/taneeneem of the diviners?
16. What does “And the heart of Pharaoh gripped” mean, and why did this happen?
17. Did Yehovah’s knowing that Pharaoh wouldn’t change his mind cause Pharaoh to not change his mind?
II. Blood Warning (verses 14-18)
Yehovah further said to Moshe, “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy. He refused to send the People.”
Yehovah told Moshe to meet him: “Walk unto Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he will exit waterward. And be positioned to meet him upon the lip of the river. And thou shalt take the rod that flipped-over to a serpent in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, ‘Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews sent me unto thee to say, “Send my People! And he has served me in the desert!”’”
Yehovah then began to threaten Pharaoh: “And behold, thou hast not hearkened unto so!” Yehovah continued, “Thou shalt know that I am Yehovah via this! Behold, I am smiting via the rod that is in my hand upon the waters that are in the river! And they shall be flipped-over to blood! The fish that is in the river will die, and the river shall stink! And the Egyptians will loath to drink water from the river!”
Questions
1. What did Yehovah mean by, “The heart of Pharaoh is heavy?
2. Identify this People (verse 14):
3. Yehovah told Moshe to walk unto Pharaoh, telling Moshe where Pharaoh will be located. Didn’t Pharaoh have bodyguards?
4. What is the lip of the river?
5. Why should Moshe take the rod that had become a serpent?
6. Yehovah told Moshe to say to Pharaoh, “Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews sent me unto thee to say, ‘Send my People!’” Was this a nice request?
7. Why didn’t Yehovah request (ask) Pharaoh to send the Israelis? Might Pharaoh have done so, had He asked nicely?
8. Who is he in, “And he has served me in the desert”?
9. Why would Pharaoh desire to send the Israeli people to serve Yehovah (another god) in the desert?
10. Who said, “And behold, thou hast not hearkened unto so,” and to whom did he say this?
11. What was Yehovah doing when He said to Pharaoh, “Thou shalt know that I am Yehovah via this”?
12. Why did Pharaoh tolerate being addressed by to low-ranking persons—one who was still a slave, and the other who was an outsider?
13. Right after Moshe said, “Thou shalt know that I am Yehovah via this,” he said, “Behold, I am smiting via the rod that is in my hand (referring to Moshe’s hand) upon the waters that are in the river.” Was Moshe acting as if he, Moshe, is Yehovah?
14. What does “they shall be flipped-over to blood” mean?
15. Why did Yehovah attack the river?
16. What does “the Egyptians will loath to drink water from the river” mean?
III. The Bloody Act (verses 19-25)
Yehovah continued to command Moshe. This time, the orders were for Aharon: Take thy rod. And stretch thine hand upon waters of Egypt, upon their rivers, upon their canals and upon their pools, and upon every gathering of their waters. And they shall be blood! And the blood shall be in all the land of Egypt, and in the trees and in the rocks!”
Moshe and Aharon did exactly as Yehovah commanded them. He (Aharon) lifted over the water with his rod. He smote the waters in the canal directly in front of Pharaoh and all Pharaoh’s slaves. The waters in the canal immediately turned over, and they became blood!
This resulted in the canal’s fish dying. The smell came next: the canal stank with the smell of dead fish. The Egytians had normally drunk water from the canal, but they just couldn’t drink it; it was blood, and it stank.
The blood wasn’t only in the canal; it was in all the land of Egypt.
The diviners of Egypt obtained water that wasn’t blood, and they did the same miracle using their flames. The heart (mind) of Pharaoh gripped—that is, his mind stood firm. He didn’t hearken to Moshe and to Aharon about sending the Israelis. This was exactly what Yehovah said he would do.
Pharaoh turned from Moshe and Aharon, and he came to his house. He refused to put his heart (mind) to this miracle (as well as the other miracles).
The Egyptians dug for water around the canal in order to drink water; the canal was useless for this.
For a full seven days after Yehovah smote the canal, it was in this condition.
Questions
1. Yehovah again told Moshe to command Aharon to take up the rod and to do the miracle. Why did Yehovah desire Aharon to do this?
2. What places where waters are found in Egypt were attacked, according to verse 19?
3. What is the difference between water and blood? List the distinctions.
4. How can blood be in the trees?
5. How can water be in rocks?
6. Why did Yehovah choose blood to attack the waters (instead of something else, like bitter-tasting liquid, poison, or something of that nature)?
7. Who is he who elevated via the rod?
8. What does smite mean?
9. Why did Aharon have to smite the waters in the canal to the eyes of Pharaoh and his slaves?
10. Why did the fish die?
11. What made the canal stink?
12. What does “the blood was in all the land of Egypt” mean?
13. What does “he did not put his heart also to this” mean?
14. How many of the Egyptians dug water to drink?
15. Who is He in, “And He fulfilled seven of the days…”?
16. Did the Israelis also suffer?
17. Wasn’t the water muddy if they dug for it?