Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Aaron strikes the dust of Egypt to bring forth gnats as the third plague, and the Egyptian magicians attempt to replicate the sign before Pharaoh.
The words — הַ/חַרְטֻמִּ֧ים (ha./char.tu.Mim) denotes "the magicians," and לְ/הוֹצִ֥יא (le./ho.Tzi') literally means "to bring forth" or produce.
The thread — The magicians' failure to match divine signs appears in Exodus 7:11 and Exodus 9:11, while the theme of human inability to counter divine action echoes Daniel 5:8.
Why it lands — The text states the magicians could not produce gnats and the plague remained on man and beast; interpreters infer this marks the boundary of human magical power against divine judgment.
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
And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Exodus 9:11 The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.
- Daniel 5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or interpret it for him.
- 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.
- Isaiah 19:12 Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
- Isaiah 47:12 So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
- Daniel 2:10 The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.
- Daniel 4:7 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.
- Luke 10:18 So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
- 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.