Exodus 7:11

7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, ¹  and the magicians ²  of Egypt by their secret arts ³  did the same thing.

Exodus 14:3

14:3 Pharaoh will think ⁴  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ⁵  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ⁶ 

[7:11]  ¹ sn For information on this Egyptian material, see D. B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (VTSup), 203-4.

[7:11]  ² tn The חַרְטֻּמִּים (kharttummim) seem to have been the keepers of Egypt’s religious and magical texts, the sacred scribes.

[7:11]  ³ tn The term בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶם (bÿlahatehem) means “by their secret arts”; it is from לוּט (lut, “to enwrap”). The Greek renders the word “by their magic”; Tg. Onq. uses “murmurings” and “whispers,” and other Jewish sources “dazzling display” or “demons” (see further B. Jacob, Exodus, 253-54). They may have done this by clever tricks, manipulation of the animals, or demonic power. Many have suggested that Aaron and the magicians were familiar with an old trick in which they could temporarily paralyze a serpent and then revive it. But here Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes.

[14:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will say.”

[14:3]  ⁵ sn The word translated “wandering around confused” indicates that Pharaoh thought the Israelites would be so perplexed and confused that they would not know which way to turn in order to escape – and they would never dream of crossing the sea (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 115).

[14:3]  ⁶ tn The expression has also been translated “the desert has shut [the way] for them,” and more freely “[the Israelites are] hemmed in by the desert.”