Exodus 7:17

Exodus 7:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord, In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
• New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord: “By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.

Context of Exodus 7:17

15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. 16Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. 18The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.” 19So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt — over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs — and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

Exodus 7:17 word by word

כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה בְּזֹ֣את תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֖י אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֑ה הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י מַכֶּ֣ה׀ בַּמַּטֶּ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־בְּיָדִ֗י עַל־הַמַּ֛יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּיְאֹ֖ר וְנֶהֶפְכ֥וּ לְדָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• In this thou shalt knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• behold, I will smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
• with the rodמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: rodH4294
• in mine handיָדyâd · handH3027
• upon the watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• in the riverיְאֹרye'ôr · NileH2975
• and they shall be turnedהָפַךְhâphak · to overturnH2015
• to bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818

Cross-references for Exodus 7:17

• Exodus 7:5The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.”
• Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
• Exodus 6:7I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the forced labor of the Egyptians.
• 1 Samuel 17:46Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,
• 1 Kings 20:28Then the man of God approached and said to the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans have said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,” I will hand over all this whole huge army to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
• 2 Kings 19:19Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God — you alone.
• Psalms 9:16The Lord has made himself known; he has executed justice, snaring the wicked by the work of their hands.Higgaion. Selah
• Psalms 83:18May they know that you alone — whose name is the Lord — are the Most High over the whole earth.
• Ezekiel 29:9The land of Egypt will be a desolate ruin. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Because you said, “The Nile is my own; I made it,”
• Ezekiel 30:8They will know that I am the Lord when I set fire to Egypt and all its allies are shattered.
• Ezekiel 32:15When I make the land of Egypt a desolation, so that it is emptied of everything in it, when I strike down all who live there, then they will know that I am the Lord.
• Ezekiel 38:23I will display my greatness and holiness, and I will reveal myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
• Ezekiel 39:28They will know that I am the Lord their God when I regather them to their own land after having exiled them among the nations. I will leave none of them behind.
• Daniel 4:17This word is by decree of the watchers, and the decision is by command from the holy ones. This is so that the living will know that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He gives them to anyone he wants and sets the lowliest of people over them.
• Daniel 5:21He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over human kingdoms and sets anyone he wants over them.
• Exodus 1:22Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”

Commentaries on Exodus 7:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Behold, I will smite - Here commences the account of the Ten plagues which were inflicted on the Egyptians by Moses and Aaron, by the command and through the power of God. According to Archbishop Usher these ten plagues took place in the course of one month, and in the following order: - The first, the Waters turned into Blood, took place, he supposes, the 18th day of the sixth month; Exodus 7:20. The second, the plague of Frogs, on the 25th day of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Turned to blood - This miracle would bear a certain resemblance to natural phenomena, and therefore be one which Pharaoh might see with amazement and dismay, yet without complete conviction. It is well known that before the rise the water of the Nile is green and unfit to drink. About the 25th of June it becomes clear, and then yellow, and gradually reddish like ochre; an effect due to the presence of microscopic cryptogams and infusoria. The supernatural…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-25Verses 14-25 Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-25The first plague was the plague on the Nile, when the whole river turned to blood (7:20). The Egyptians correctly understood that without the Nile there would be no life in Egypt. They worshiped the Nile as the Mother of Egypt, but God showed that life is his to give or withhold.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2117-21. Aaron lifted up the rod and smote the waters, &c.--Whether the water was changed into real blood, or only the appearance of it (and Omnipotence could effect the one as easily as the other), this was a severe calamity. How great must have been the disappointment and disgust throughout the land when the river became of a blood red color, of which they had a national abhorrence; their favorite beverage became a nauseous draught, and the fish, which…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 7:17

• Blood
• Miracles
• Plague

In the dictionaries

• Euphrates River, the River
• Die
• Enchantment
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• Plague
• Prophet
• Criticism
• Divorce in the Old Testament
• Exodus, the Book of
• Ezekiel

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