Psalms 78:44

78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,

and they could not drink from their streams.

Exodus 7:20-21

7:20 Moses and Aaron did so, ¹  just as the Lord had commanded. Moses raised ²  the staff ³  and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes ⁴  of Pharaoh and his servants, ⁵  and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. ⁶  7:21 When the fish ⁷  that were in the Nile died, the Nile began ⁸  to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood ⁹  everywhere in the land of Egypt!

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹⁰ 

Is my hand too weak ¹¹  to deliver ¹²  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ¹³  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 29:4-5

29:4 I will put hooks in your jaws

and stick the fish of your waterways to your scales.

I will haul you up from the midst of your waterways,

and all the fish of your waterways will stick to your scales.

29:5 I will leave you in the wilderness,

you and all the fish of your waterways;

you will fall in the open field and will not be gathered up or collected. ¹⁵ 

I have given you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the skies.

Revelation 16:3

16:3 Next, ¹⁶  the second angel ¹⁷  poured out his bowl on the sea and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.

[7:20]  ¹ sn Both Moses and Aaron had tasks to perform. Moses, being the “god” to Pharaoh, dealt directly with him and the Nile. He would strike the Nile. But Aaron, “his prophet,” would stretch out the staff over the rest of the waters of Egypt.

[7:20]  ² tn Heb “And he raised”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ³ tn Gesenius calls the preposition on “staff” the בְּ (bet) instrumenti, used to introduce the object (GKC 380-81 §119.q). This construction provides a greater emphasis than an accusative.

[7:20]  ⁴ tn The text could be rendered “in the sight of,” or simply “before,” but the literal idea of “before the eyes of” may stress how obvious the event was and how personally they were witnesses of it.

[7:20]  ⁵ sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 98) notes that the striking of the water was not a magical act. It signified two things: (1) the beginning of the sign, which was in accordance with God’s will, as Moses had previously announced, and (2) to symbolize actual “striking,” wherewith the Lord strikes Egypt and its gods (see v. 25).

[7:20]  ⁶ sn There have been various attempts to explain the details of this plague or blow. One possible suggestion is that the plague turned the Nile into “blood,” but that it gradually turned back to its normal color and substance. However, the effects of the “blood” polluted the water so that dead fish and other contamination left it undrinkable. This would explain how the magicians could also do it – they would not have tried if all water was already turned to blood. It also explains why Pharaoh did not ask for the water to be turned back. This view was put forward by B. Schor; it is summarized by B. Jacob (Exodus, 258), who prefers the view of Rashi that the blow affected only water in use.

[7:21]  ⁷ tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.

[7:21]  ⁸ tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.

[7:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and there was blood.”

[50:2]  ¹⁰ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹² tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[29:5]  ¹⁵ tc Some Hebrew mss, the Targum, and the LXX read “buried.”

[16:3]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “next” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[16:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the second”; the referent (the second angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.