Exodus 7:19
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֱמֹר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן קַח מַטְּךָ וּנְטֵֽה־יָדְךָ עַל־מֵימֵי מִצְרַיִם עַֽל־נַהֲרֹתָם׀ עַל־יְאֹרֵיהֶם וְעַל־אַגְמֵיהֶם וְעַל כָּל־מִקְוֵה מֵימֵיהֶם וְיִֽהְיוּ־דָם וְהָיָה דָם בְּכָל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וּבָעֵצִים וּבָאֲבָנִֽים׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֱמֹ֣ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֡ן קַ֣ח מַטְּךָ֣ וּנְטֵֽה־יָדְךָ֩ עַל־מֵימֵ֨י מִצְרַ֜יִם עַֽל־נַהֲרֹתָ֣ם׀ עַל־יְאֹרֵיהֶ֣ם וְעַל־אַגְמֵיהֶ֗ם וְעַ֛ל כָּל־מִקְוֵ֥ה מֵימֵיהֶ֖ם וְיִֽהְיוּ־דָ֑ם וְהָ֤יָה דָם֙ בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וּבָעֵצִ֖ים וּבָאֲבָנִֽים׃
εἶπεν δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν Εἰπὸν Ἀαρὼν τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου Λάβε τὴν ῥάβδον σου ἐν τῇ χειρί σου, καὶ ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐπὶ τὰ ὕδατα Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς διώρυγας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἕλη αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν συνεστηκὸς ὕδωρ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔσται αἷμα· καἰ ἐγένετο αἷμα ἐν πάσῃ γῇ Αἰγύπτου, ἔν τε τοῖς ξύλοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς λίθοις.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dixit quoque Dominus ad Moysen: Dic ad Aaron: Tolle virgam tuam, et extende manum tuam super aquas Ægypti, et super fluvios eorum, et rivos ac paludes, et omnes lacus aquarum, ut vertantur in sanguinem: et sit cruor in omni terra Ægypti, tam in ligneis vasis quam in saxeis.
Yehová también le dijo a Moisés: “Dile a Aarón: ‘Toma tu vara y extiende tu mano sobre las aguas de Egipto, sobre sus ríos, canales, lagunas y todos sus depósitos de agua, para que se conviertan en sangre. Habrá sangre por todo Egipto, ¡incluso en los recipientes de madera y de piedra!’”
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y Jehová dijo á Moisés: Di á Aarón: Toma tu vara, y extiende tu mano sobre las aguas de Egipto, sobre sus ríos, sobre sus arroyos y sobre sus estanques, y sobre todos sus depósitos de aguas, para que se conviertan en sangre, y haya sangre por toda la región de Egipto, así en los vasos de madera como en los de piedra.
And the LORD said to Moses, “ Tell Aaron, ‘ Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt — over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs — that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
Yehovah instructs Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and stretch his hand over the waters of Egypt — its rivers, canals, ponds, and every reservoir — so that they become blood. The verse closes by noting that blood will be present throughout the land of Egypt, including in wood and stone.
Key words
- natah ("stretch out", H5186) — qal imperative, 2nd masculine singular; the command directed at Aaron's own bodily action (hand) rather than at Moses.
- mateh ("staff", H4294) — construct noun with pronominal suffix ("your staff"), the object to be taken before the hand is extended.
- ye'orei ("canals", H2975) — masculine plural construct with suffix ("their canals"), one of four parallel water-bodies listed, each attached to "their" (Egypt's).
- yihyu ("they may become", H1961) — qal imperfect with vav, marking purpose/result following the chain of imperatives ("take... stretch... so that they become").
- dam ("blood", H1818) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice in the verse (lines 37 and 40), first as the result of the imperfect verb, then as subject of the sequential perfect hayah ("it will be", H1961, line 39).
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of commands transmitted through two speakers: Yehovah speaks to Moses (va-yomer... 'el-Mosheh), who is told to speak to Aaron ('emor 'el-Aharon). Aaron then receives two imperatives in sequence — qach ("take", H3947, his staff) and u-neteh ("and stretch out", H5186, his hand) — both governed by the same subject (Aaron) and both feeding into a purpose clause introduced by the vav-consecutive imperfect ve-yihyu-dam ("and let them become blood").
The list of water bodies — mei Mitzrayim ("waters of Egypt"), naharotam ("their rivers"), ye'oreihem ("their canals"), agmeihem ("their ponds"), and kol miqveh meimeihem ("every reservoir of their waters") — is structured entirely in construct chains with third-person plural suffixes referring back to Egypt, producing a cumulative, exhaustive listing rather than a single generic term for "water."
After the purpose clause, the narrative vav shifts to a sequential perfect, ve-hayah dam ("and blood will be/became"), which marks a new stage in the narrated sequence: the general presence of blood bekhol 'eretz Mitzrayim ("in all the land of Egypt"), extending even to ba-'etzim ("in the wood") and ba-'avanim ("in the stones") — nouns given without any accompanying word for "vessels" in the Hebrew.
Differences between versions
The LXX adds τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου ("your brother") after Aaron's name, a clarification absent from the Hebrew, and inserts ἐν τῇ χειρί σου ("in your hand") after "take your staff," specifying a location not stated in the Hebrew qach matekha. The Vulgate and several translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) render the final phrase as "vessels of wood and stone," supplying "vessels/recipientes" where the Hebrew simply reads ba-'etzim u-va-'avanim ("in the wood and in the stones") without any noun equivalent to "vessels."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.