Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 7:14-21

"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Pharaoh`s heart is stubborn, he refuseth to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river`s brink to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thy hand. And thou shalt say unto him, Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou hast not hearkened. Thus saith Jehovah, In this thou shalt know that I am Jehovah: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt." — Exodus 7:14-21 (ASV)

THE FIRST PLAGUE.

The water turned to blood. —Moses had already been empowered to turn water into blood on a small scale (Exodus 4:9), and had exhibited his power before his own people (Exodus 4:30).

But the present miracle is different:

1. It is to be done on the largest possible scale.
2. It is to be in the sight of all the Egyptians.
3. It is not to be a sign, but a “judgment.”

All the Nile water—whether in the main river, its branches, the canals derived from it, the pools formed by its inundation or by percolation through its banks, or in artificial reservoirs, including the tanks of wood or stone attached to houses (Exodus 7:19)—is to be “turned to blood.” That is, it was not merely turned a red color, either by an admixture of earthy matter or of Infusoriae, but made to have all the qualities and appearance of blood, so as to become offensive, horrible, and loathsome (Exodus 7:18).

The judgment strikes the Egyptians with two distinct blows:

1. It involves an insult to their religion and brings it into discredit, since the Nile-god, Hapi, was a primary object of worship. Hapi was closely connected with Osiris and even with Amnion, celebrated in hymns with the most extravagant titles of honor (Records of the Past, vol. iv, pp. 108-110), and was a frequent object of public adoration in festivals.
2. It is a great physical affliction.

The Egyptians were accustomed to using the Nile water for drinking, for ablutions, for washing their clothes, and for culinary purposes. They had great difficulty procuring any other water. They delighted in the Nile water, regarded it as the best in the world, and were in the habit of drinking deep drafts of it continually.

This was all stopped. They suffered from thirst, from enforced uncleanliness, and from the horror of blood all around them, even in their cisterns. Furthermore, their fish were killed.

Fish was one of their principal foods, perhaps the main food of the common people. The river was the chief source from which the fish supply was obtained, for even Lake Moeris was an offshoot from the river (Herodotus 2.149).

Their fish supply was stopped. The punishment was retaliatory: just as they had made the Nile the means of destroying Hebrew infants (Exodus 1:22), so that Hebrew parents had loathed to drink from it, as though it were stained with the blood of their children, so now, by means of blood, it was made undrinkable for the Egyptians themselves.

The plague lasted seven days (Exodus 7:25), a longer time than any other. While not as destructive as the later plagues, it was perhaps the most nauseous and disgusting of all.