Bible Strands
Exodus 7:11
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh summons Egypt’s wise men, sorcerers, and magicians immediately after Aaron’s staff becomes a serpent before him and his officials.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּקְרָא (va/yikra, “and he summoned”) introduces the royal response, while the repeated particle גַּם (gam, “also”) and verb וַ/יַּֽעֲשׂ֨וּ (va/yaasu, “and they did”) stress the magicians’ deliberate imitation.
The thread — This sequence of Egyptian practitioners replicating divine signs through their arts appears again in Exodus 7:22, Exodus 8:7, and Exodus 8:18, where their power ultimately proves insufficient.
Why it lands — The text records Pharaoh mobilizing his own spiritual forces to counter Moses and Aaron, presenting a direct clash that requires the reader to recognize the limits of human power against divine command.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
Cross-references
- Exodus 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
- Exodus 8:7 But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 8:18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.
- 2 Timothy 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith.
- Genesis 41:8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
- Daniel 2:2 So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Daniel 5:7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
- Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- Genesis 41:38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”