Moses and Aaron go into Pharao: they turn the rod into a serpent; and the waters of Egypt into blood, which was the first plague. The magicians do the like, and Pharao's heart is hardened.
7:1. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, I have appointed thee the god of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.
The god of Pharao. . .Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine power, as God's instrument, over him and his people.
7:2. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
7:3. But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
I shall harden, etc. . .not by being the efficient cause of his hardness of heart, but by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in punishment of his malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being hardened.
7:4. And he will not hear you: and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, by very great judgments.
7:5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children of Israel out of the midst of them.
7:6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did they.
7:7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharao.