English Standard Version
Exodus 7:9
9"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.'"
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.”
- 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.’ ”
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”
Context of Exodus 7:9
7Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. 8Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "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.'" 10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- When Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- shall speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- unto you, sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Shewנָתַןnâthan · to give: makeH5414
- a miracleמוֹפֵתmôphêth môphêth · wonderH4159
- unto Aaronאַהֲרֹן'ahărôn · AaronH175
- Takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- thy rodמַטֶּהmaţţeh maţţâh · tribe: rodH4294
- and castשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- it shall become a serpentתַּנִּיןtannîyn tannîym · serpent: snakeH8577
Cross-references for Exodus 7:9
- Isaiah 7:11"Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven."
- Matthew 12:39But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
- John 2:18So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?"
- John 6:30So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
- John 10:38but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, 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 commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
- Exodus 4:2The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."
- Exodus 9:23Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 10:13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts.
- Psalms 74:12Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
- Ezekiel 29:3speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, 'My Nile is my own; I made it for 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
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
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