Exodus 9:11

The magicians could not stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and on all the Egyptians.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the immediate physical aftermath of the sixth plague, noting that the Egyptian magicians are incapacitated by festering boils alongside the rest of Egypt. This occurs after Moses throws furnace soot into the air and directly precedes the Lord’s second act of hardening Pharaoh’s heart.

The words — The Hebrew phrase יָכְלוּ לַעֲמֹד (yachlu la'amod) literally means "they were able to stand," negated here to indicate total physical inability. The noun הַשִּׁחִין (ha'shichin) denotes the specific festering boils that broke out on both the magicians and the Egyptian populace.

The thread — The narrative pattern of failed occult opposition appears in Isaiah 47:12 and 2 Timothy 3:8, where sorcery and spiritual resistance are depicted as ultimately powerless. It also links to Exodus 7:11, where the magicians initially duplicate Moses’ signs but are now physically defeated by the very phenomena they once controlled.

Why it lands — The text states that human authority and magical practice cannot physically withstand divine judgment. It requires the reader to acknowledge that bodily incapacitation precedes Pharaoh’s subsequent spiritual stubbornness, establishing the absolute limit of earthly power.

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

וְלֹֽא־ve./lo'-and/ not יָכְל֣וּya.khe.Luthey were able הַֽחַרְטֻמִּ֗יםha./char.tu.Mimthe/ magicians לַעֲמֹ֛דla./'a.Modto/ stand לִפְנֵ֥יli/f.Nei<to>/ before מֹשֶׁ֖הmo.ShehMoses מִפְּנֵ֣יmi./pe.Nei<from>/ because of הַשְּׁחִ֑יןha./she.Chinthe/ boil[s]כִּֽי־ki-for הָיָ֣הha.Yahit was הַשְּׁחִ֔יןha./she.Chinthe/ boil[s]בַּֽחֲרְטֻמִּ֖םba./char.tu.Mimon the/ magicians וּבְכָל־u./ve./Khol-and/ on/ all מִצְרָֽיִם׃mitz.Ra.yimEgypt

King James Version

And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

Cross-references

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!
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.
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 8:18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.
Revelation 16:2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

People named

Moses