Berean Standard Bible
Exodus 7:9
9“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.1”
Exodus 7:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
- New International Version (NIV)“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'"
- New King James Version (NKJV)“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ”
Context of Exodus 7:9
7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. 8The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.” 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. 11But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
Read all of Exodus 7Exodus 7:9 word by word
כִּי֩ יְדַבֵּ֨ר אֲלֵכֶ֤ם פַּרְעֹה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר תְּנ֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם מוֹפֵ֑ת וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן קַ֧ח אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֛ וְהַשְׁלֵ֥ךְ לִפְנֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה יְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין׃Read the interlinear
- Whenכִּיkîy · forH3588
- Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- tells youדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- tells youאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
- ·אָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Performנָתַןnâthan · to give: makeH5414
- a miracleמוֹפֵתmôphêth môphêth · wonderH4159
- to Aaronאַהֲרֹן'ahărôn · AaronH175
- Takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- your staffמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: rodH4294
- and throw it downשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- it will becomeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
- a serpentתַּנִּיןtannîyn tannîym · serpent: snakeH8577
Cross-references for Exodus 7:9
- Isaiah 7:11“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
- Matthew 12:39Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
- John 2:18On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”
- John 6:30So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?
- John 10:38But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
- Exodus 7:10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
- Exodus 4:2And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
- Exodus 9:23So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 10:13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
- Psalms 74:12Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.
- Ezekiel 29:3Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’
Commentaries on Exodus 7:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Show a miracle for you - A miracle, מופת mopheth, signifies an effect produced in nature which is opposed to its laws, or such as its powers are inadequate to produce. As Moses and Aaron professed to have a Divine mission, and to come to Pharaoh on the most extraordinary occasion, making a most singular and unprecedented demand, it was natural to suppose, if Pharaoh should even give them an audience, that he would require them to give him some proof by an…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Thy rod - Apparently the rod before described Exodus 4:2, which Moses on this occasion gives to Aaron as his representative. A serpent - A word different from that in Exodus 4:3. Here a more general term, תנין tannı̂yn is employed, which in other passages includes all sea or river monsters, and is more specially applied to the crocodile as a symbol of Egypt. It occurs in the Egyptian ritual, nearly in the same form, “Tanem,” as a synonym of the monster…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-13Verses 8-13 What men dislike, because it opposes their pride and lusts, they will not be convinced of; but it is easy to cause them to believe things they wish to be true. God always sends with his word full proofs of its Divine authority; but when men are bent to disobey, and willing to object, he often permits a snare to be laid wherein they are entangled. The magicians were cheats, trying to copy the real miracles of Moses by secret sleights or…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9serpent: The Hebrew word tannin is different from the word translated "snake" in 4:3. Tannin often refers to a sea monster. The Bible often describes Egypt as a powerless sea monster (Isaiah 30:7; Ezekiel 29:3). The image of a cobra’s head was on the pharaoh’s headdress.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, &c.--The king would naturally demand some evidence of their having been sent from God; and as he would expect the ministers of his own gods to do the same works, the contest, in the nature of the case, would be one of miracles. Notice has already been taken of the rod of Moses (Ex 4:2), but rods were carried also by all nobles and official persons in the court of Pharaoh. It was an Egyptian custom, and the rods were…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 7:9
In the dictionaries
Notes
- 1. Exodus 7:9 Hebrew tannin; here and in verse 10, in contrast to Moses’ staff, which became a nachash in Exodus 4:3 and was noted again in Exodus 7:15 ↩
Commentaries on Exodus 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries