Keluaran 7:12

7:12 Each man ¹  threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

Keluaran 4:3

4:3 The Lord ²  said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, ³  and Moses ran from it.

Keluaran 7:9-10

7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do ⁴  a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down ⁵  before Pharaoh,’ it will become ⁶  a snake.” 7:10 When ⁷  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw ⁸  down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ⁹ 

Keluaran 7:15

7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when ¹⁰  he goes out to the water. Position yourself ¹¹  to meet him by the edge of the Nile, ¹²  and take ¹³  in your hand the staff ¹⁴  that was turned into a snake.

Keluaran 4:4

4:4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand ¹⁵  –

[7:12]  ¹ tn The verb is plural, but the subject is singular, “a man – his staff.” This noun can be given a distributive sense: “each man threw down his staff.”

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:3]  ³ sn The details of the verse are designed to show that there was a staff that became a snake. The question is used to affirm that there truly was a staff, and then the report of Moses running from it shows it was a genuine snake. Using the serpent as a sign would have had an impact on the religious ideas of Egypt, for the sacred cobra was one of their symbols.

[7:9]  ⁴ tn The verb is תְּנוּ (tÿnu), literally “give.” The imperative is followed by an ethical dative that strengthens the subject of the imperative: “you give a miracle.”

[7:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and throw it.” The direct object, “it,” is implied.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn The form is the jussive יְהִי ( yÿhi). Gesenius notes that frequently in a conditional clause, a sentence with a protasis and apodosis, the jussive will be used. Here it is in the apodosis (GKC 323 §109.h).

[7:10]  ⁷ tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.

[7:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”

[7:10]  ⁹ tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.

[7:15]  ¹⁰ tn The clause begins with הִנֵּה (hinneh); here it provides the circumstances for the instruction for Moses – he is going out to the water so go meet him. A temporal clause translation captures the connection between the clauses.

[7:15]  ¹¹ tn The instruction to Moses continues with this perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive following the imperative. The verb means “to take a stand, station oneself.” It seems that Pharaoh’s going out to the water was a regular feature of his day and that Moses could be there waiting to meet him.

[7:15]  ¹² sn The Nile, the source of fertility for the country, was deified by the Egyptians. There were religious festivals held to the god of the Nile, especially when the Nile was flooding. The Talmud suggests that Pharaoh in this passage went out to the Nile to make observations as a magician about its level. Others suggest he went out simply to bathe or to check the water level – but that would not change the view of the Nile that was prevalent in the land.

[7:15]  ¹³ tn The verb תִּקַּח (tiqqakh), the Qal imperfect of לָקַח (laqakh), functions here as the imperfect of instruction, or injunction perhaps, given the word order of the clause.

[7:15]  ¹⁴ tn The final clause begins with the noun and vav disjunctive, which singles this instruction out for special attention – “now the staff…you are to take.”

[4:4]  ¹⁵ sn The signs authenticated Moses’ ministry as the Lord’s emissary. This sign will show that the Lord had control over Egypt and its stability, over life and death. But first Moses has to be convinced that he can turn it into a dead stick again.