Exodus 8:18-19

8:18 When ¹  the magicians attempted ²  to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said ³  to Pharaoh, “It is the finger ⁴  of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ⁵  and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

[8:18]  ¹ tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the main clause as a temporal clause.

[8:18]  ² tn Heb “and the magicians did so.”

[8:19]  ³ tn Heb “and the magicians said.”

[8:19]  ⁴ tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).

[8:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.