Exodus 7:8-10

7:8 The Lord said ¹  to Moses and Aaron, ²  7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do ³  a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down ⁴  before Pharaoh,’ it will become ⁵  a snake.” 7:10 When ⁶  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – Aaron threw ⁷  down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. ⁸ 

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “said to Moses and Aaron, saying.”

[7:9]  ³ tn The verb is תְּנוּ (tÿnu), literally “give.” The imperative is followed by an ethical dative that strengthens the subject of the imperative: “you give a miracle.”

[7:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and throw it.” The direct object, “it,” is implied.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn The form is the jussive יְהִי ( yÿhi). Gesenius notes that frequently in a conditional clause, a sentence with a protasis and apodosis, the jussive will be used. Here it is in the apodosis (GKC 323 §109.h).

[7:10]  ⁵ tn The clause begins with the preterite and the vav (ו) consecutive; it is here subordinated to the next clause as a temporal clause.

[7:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Aaron threw.”

[7:10]  ⁷ tn The noun used here is תַּנִּין (tannin), and not the word for “serpent” or “snake” used in chap. 4. This noun refers to a large reptile, in some texts large river or sea creatures (Gen 1:21; Ps 74:13) or land creatures (Deut 32:33). This wonder paralleled Moses’ miracle in 4:3 when he cast his staff down. But this is Aaron’s staff, and a different miracle. The noun could still be rendered “snake” here since the term could be broad enough to include it.