Verse 9: Pharaoh demands a \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e4\u05b5\u05ea \u201cwonder, sign, portent\u201d from Moses and Aaron, or as the Hebrew puts it more literally, \u201cset for yourself a sign.\u201d This demand for a sign is perhaps indicative of how the cults of the gods and their sorcerer priests justified their service to pharaoh and all of Egypt. It also calls to mind the ostentatious use of signs by the false prophets to lead away the elect which Christ warns his disciples about in the New Testament (Matt. 24:24). Therefore, to confirm the divine origin of Moses\u2019 demands Pharoah required the customary miracle. God anticipated this and commanded Moses to respond by casting down the staff which would turn into some sort of creature. The noun \u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05df may be translated as \u201cserpent, dragon, sea monster\u201d depending on the context (BDB). It is interesting that the word is used in Ps. 74:13 \u201cYou divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters\u201d describing the passing of Israel through the Red Sea which is a strong Egyptian connection. This seems confirmed by Is. 27:1 and 51:9-10 where the monster is named \u2018Rahab,\u2019 a nickname for Egypt in Ps. 87:4 and Is. 30:7. Too keep us from making a quick jump to the \u2018sea dragon\u2019 translation is the fact that the above mentioned references highlight the piercing of the creature in the sea instead of its being devoured by a greater creature of its same type on dry land as in pharaoh\u2019s court. The LXX translates the word as \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd which could mean either dragon or snake depending on the context. According to BDAG the term is often synonymous in Greek literature with \u03cc\u03c6\u03b9\u03c2 which was technically considered a species under the larger genus \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd. This might push us firmly toward the \u201csnake\u201d translation if decide to take the lead of the Greek translators if we didn\u2019t also realize the hydra and dragon guarding the golden fleece were also called \u03b4\u03c1\u03ac\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd. The only place this term comes up in the New Testament is in Revelation 12:3 which refers not to a creature of the earth but the fallen angel, Satan. What if the \u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9\u05df being cast are in fact angelic beings becoming manifest in visible form? Also note that the Hebrew \u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05b4\u05a5\u05d9 \u05dc\u05b0\u05ea\u05b7\u05e0\u05b4\u05bc\u05bd\u05d9\u05df can be translated as \u201cbecame a snake\u201d or \u201cbecame unto a snake.\u201d The prefix \u05dc\u05b0 adds a bit of mystery to the metamorphosis, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verse 10: Obeying the Lord\u2019s Word, Aaron cast down his staff \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b7\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05dc\u05b5\u05a8\u05da\u05b0 \u05d0\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05e8\u05b9\u059c\u05df \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05de\u05b7\u05d8\u05b5\u05bc\u0597\u05d4\u05d5 and it became a snake or \u201cunto a snake\u201d \u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05b0\u05d4\u05b4\u05a5\u05d9 \u05dc\u05b0\u05ea\u05b7\u05e0\u05b4\u05bc\u05bd\u05d9\u05df which is the same wording in the previous verse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verse 11: This verse contains technical terms that require careful attention. Pharoah calls to the \u201cwise men\u201d \u05dc\u05b7\u05bd\u05d7\u05b2\u05db\u05b8\u05de\u05b4\u0596\u05d9\u05dd from the familiar Hebrew root \u05d7\u05b8\u05db\u05b8\u05dd indicative of wisdom and expertise in craft, skill, or artifice. BDB also indicates a possibility of men who are \u201cshrewd, crafty, cunning\u201d or \u201clearned and shrewd.\u201d They indicate that the last sense is preferred for our text. Next are the \u05de\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e9\u05b0\u05bc\u05c1\u05e4\u05b4\u0591\u05d9\u05dd or those who practice sorcery through divination or astrology. The LXX puts an interesting spin on this term calling them \u03c6\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03cd\u03c2 which might mean \u201cpoisoners\u201d or crafters of various elixirs. The literal Hebrew root \u05db\u05e9\u05c1\u05e3 probably means \u201cto cut oneself\u201d or indicates the cutting of various ingredients put into a magical concoction (BDB). The next word may be a catch all for the above two terms, as the syntax suggests, or indicates a third class of magic worker altogether. The \u05d7\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05d8\u05bb\u05de\u05b5\u05bc\u05a5\u05d9 are \u201cengravers\u201d or \u201cwriters\u201d suggestive of those who have access to written spells in occult books (BDB). In the LXX they render it as \u1f10\u03c0\u03b1\u03bf\u03b9\u03b4\u03bf\u1f76 meaning enchanters or magicians who work by charms (LSJ). In any case the whole occult apparatus at pharaoh\u2019s disposal was summoned to match Moses and Aaron\u2019s miracle which would presumably put pharaoh\u2019s claims on the Israelites on equal or greater footing than the claims of the two emissaries of YHWH. They used their \u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b2\u05d8\u05b5\u05d9\u05d4\u05b6\u0596\u05dd “secret\u201d or mysterious arts and, indeed, seemed to match the miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verse 12: Casting down their staffs \u05de\u05b7\u05d8\u05b5\u05bc\u0594\u05d4\u05d5\u05bc which in other contexts indicate rank or, in this case, magical power, they became, or \u201cbecame unto\u201d using the same expression used twice above, dragons or snakes. What\u2019s strange is that the text doesn\u2019t say that Aaron\u2019s snake devoured the others, but his staff \u05de\u05b7\u05d8\u05b5\u05bc\u05bd\u05d4 their staffs \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea\u05be\u05de\u05b7\u05d8\u05b9\u05bc\u05ea\u05b8\u05bd\u05dd! This could indicate a display not of genuine transmutation from one substance of another but rather a victory of appearances in Moses and Aaron\u2019s favor. If the changes were genuine, then why insist on still calling the snakes \u2018staffs?\u2019 This would put the lie to the power of the Egyptian magicians with rhetorical flourish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verse 13: Signs and wonders never have the convincing power moderns assign to them. The senses can be fooled which is precisely, I think, the nature and aim of the occult arts. They try to convince their witnesses of the power of the spirit or god behind the marvel. What is that power compared to the Lord\u2019s? Pharoah\u2019s heart was hardened, not softened by the display. God be praised Jesus gives his blessing to not those who see and believe but to those who have not seen and believed because he desires to be grasped by faith in the Word alone (John 20:29).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Verse 9: Pharaoh demands a \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e4\u05b5\u05ea \u201cwonder, sign, portent\u201d from Moses and Aaron, or as the Hebrew puts it more literally, \u201cset for yourself a sign.\u201d This demand for a sign is perhaps indicative of how the cults of the gods and their sorcerer priests justified their service to pharaoh and all of Egypt. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/church.immanuelroswell.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}