What does Pharao do after the rod sign and the river turning to blood?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

He does not listen or let Israel go. After the water turns to blood, he goes into his house without taking it to heart, while the Egyptians dig around the river for drinking water.

Chapter breakdown

What does Pharao do after the rod sign and the river turning to blood? He does not listen or let Israel go. After the water turns to blood, he goes into his house without taking it to heart, while the Egyptians dig around the river for drinking water.

The Lord tells Moses that he has appointed him “the god of Pharao,” and that Aaron, his brother, will be his prophet. Challoner explains the first phrase as being Pharao’s judge and exercising divine power as God’s instrument over him and his people. Moses must speak all that God commands him, and Aaron must speak to Pharao so that the king lets Israel leave his land.

God says he will harden Pharao’s heart and multiply his signs and wonders in Egypt. Challoner’s note explains this as permitting the hardening and withdrawing grace in punishment of Pharao’s malice. The note says that malice is the cause of his hardening, rather than God causing it. God says the king will not listen. He will lay his hand on Egypt and bring out his army and people, the children of Israel, by very great judgments. The Egyptians will know that he is the Lord who stretched out his hand on Egypt and brought Israel out from among them.

Moses and Aaron do as the Lord commands. Moses is 80 years old and Aaron is 83 when they speak to Pharao.

The Lord tells Moses and Aaron what to do when Pharao asks them to show signs: Moses is to tell Aaron to take his rod and throw it before Pharao, and it will become a serpent. They go to Pharao and follow the command. Aaron takes the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it becomes a serpent.

Pharao calls the wise men and magicians. By Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets they do the same: each throws down his rod, and the rods become serpents. Aaron’s rod devours their rods. Pharao’s heart is hardened and he does not listen, as the Lord had commanded. Challoner’s note identifies the magicians as Jannes and Mambres, or Jambres, and cites 2 Timothy 3:8.

God tells Moses that Pharao’s heart is hardened and that he will not let the people go. Moses must meet him in the morning on the riverbank when the king goes out to the waters, taking the rod that became a serpent. He must say that the Lord God of the Hebrews sent him with the demand to let his people go to sacrifice in the desert, but the king has not listened. The Lord says that by this the king will know he is the Lord: the river water will be struck with the rod and become blood. Its fish will die, its water will be corrupted, and the Egyptians will suffer when they drink from it.

God tells Moses to have Aaron take his rod and stretch out his hand over Egypt’s waters: rivers, streams, pools and all the ponds, so that they become blood. There is to be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden and stone vessels. Moses and Aaron do as commanded. The rod is lifted and the river water is struck before Pharao and his servants; it becomes blood. The fish die, the river is corrupted, the Egyptians cannot drink its water, and there is blood throughout Egypt. The verse says “he struck” after naming Moses and Aaron; it does not name that person again.

The Egyptian magicians do the same by their enchantments. Pharao’s heart is hardened and he does not listen, as the Lord had commanded. He turns away and goes into his house without taking this to heart either. All the Egyptians dig around the river for drinking water because they cannot drink the river water. Seven full days pass after the Lord strikes the river.

The story inside

The two signs in this chapter are followed by the same refusal to listen. Aaron’s rod becomes a serpent; the magicians’ rods do too, but Aaron’s rod devours theirs. Pharao still does not listen. God then tells Moses to meet him at the river and announce what will happen to the water. The water turns to blood, the fish die and the river becomes undrinkable. The magicians again do the same by enchantments, and Pharao again does not listen. His turning away contrasts with the Egyptians’ need to dig for water. The chapter records seven days after the river is struck without recording Israel’s departure. (Exodus 7:8–25.)

Lessons worth keeping

1
The roles are stated before the signs. God appoints Moses and Aaron, tells Moses what to speak and says Aaron will speak to Pharao. Challoner explains Moses’ appointment as acting as God’s instrument and judge over Pharao and his people. (7:1–2 and note.)
2
The magicians’ acts do not end the king’s refusal. Their rods become serpents but are devoured by Aaron’s rod. They also do the same when the water becomes blood. After each episode the king’s heart is hardened and he does not listen. (7:10–13, 20–22.)
3
The water change has stated consequences. Fish die, the river is corrupted, and the Egyptians cannot drink it. That inability explains why they dig around it for drinking water. The passage gives seven days after the strike, without describing a later return to normal water. (7:20–25.)

Test your recall

Why do the Egyptians dig around the river? They cannot drink its water after it turns to blood. What happens to the magicians’ rods, and does Pharao then listen? Aaron’s rod devours theirs, but Pharao does not listen. How does Challoner explain the hardening God announces?

Show answer

God permits it and withdraws grace in punishment of Pharao’s malice; the note identifies that malice as the cause. (7:3 and note, 12–13, 21–24.)

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 6579–6584
Exodus Chapter 7 Moses and Aaron go into Pharao: they turn the rod into a serpent; and the waters of Egypt into blood, which was the first plague. The magicians do the like, and Pharao’s heart is hardened.
Lines 6585–6593
7:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I have appointed thee the god of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet. The god of Pharao.... Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine power, as God’s instrument, over him and his people. 7:2. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Lines 6594–6609
7:3. But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. I shall harden, etc.... not by being the efficient cause of his hardness of heart, but by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in punishment of his malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being hardened. 7:4. And he will not hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments. 7:5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them.
Lines 6610–6614
7:6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did they. 7:7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.
Lines 6615–6624
7:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 7:9. When Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs; thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent. 7:10. So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent.
Lines 6625–6635
7:11. And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner. Magicians.... Jannes, and Mambres, or Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8. 7:12. And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron’s rod devoured their rods. 7:13. And Pharao’s heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.
Lines 6636–6654
7:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Pharao’s heart is hardened, he will not let the people go. 7:15. Go to him in the morning, behold he will go out to the waters: and thou shalt stand to meet him on the bank of the river: and thou shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent. 7:16. And thou shalt say to him: The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to thee, saying: Let my people go to sacrifice to me in the desert: and hitherto thou wouldst not hear. 7:17. Thus therefore saith the Lord: In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold I will strike with the rod, that is in my hand, the water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood. 7:18. And the fishes that are in the river, shall die, and the waters shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be afflicted when they drink the water of the river.
Lines 6655–6668
7:19. The Lord also said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take thy rod; and stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers, and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be turned into blood: and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and of stone. 7:20. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded: and lifting up the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his servants: and it was turned into blood. 7:21. And the fishes that were in the river died; and the river corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and there was blood in all the land of Egypt.
Lines 6669–6682
7:22. And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in like manner; and Pharao’s heart was hardened, neither did he hear them, as the Lord had commanded. 7:23. And he turned himself away, and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to it this time also. 7:24. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. 7:25. And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the river.