Bible Strands
Exodus 7:9
“When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD directs Moses on how to respond when Pharaoh demands a miracle, instructing Moses to tell Aaron to cast his staff before the king. This instruction follows Exodus 7:8 and is immediately executed in Exodus 7:10 when Aaron obeys.
The words — מוֹפֵת (mo.Fet) translates literally as "a wonder" or miraculous sign, and תְּנ֥וּ (te.Nu) commands to "give" or present it. These terms frame the staff’s transformation as a divinely authorized demonstration rather than independent magic.
The thread — The rod motif traces back to Exodus 4:2, where God first questions Moses about the shepherd’s staff. The demand for visible proof parallels Isaiah 7:11 and John 2:18, where rulers request signs to verify authority.
Why it lands — The text commands a specific physical action that will produce a visible result, placing the burden of response on Pharaoh. It requires the reader to recognize that divine authority operates through concrete, obedient acts rather than abstract demands.
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
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
Cross-references
- Exodus 4:2 And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
- Isaiah 7:11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
- John 2:18 On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?”
- Exodus 4:17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform signs with it.”
- John 6:30 So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?
- Exodus 10:13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts.
- Exodus 4:20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
- Exodus 7:10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
- Exodus 9:23 So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- Psalms 74:12 Yet God is my King from ancient times, working salvation on the earth.