Catholic Commentary
The First Plague: The Nile Turned to Blood
20Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.21The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.22The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.24All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water.25Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.
Exodus 7:20–25 describes the first plague of Egypt, in which Moses strikes the Nile River and transforms it into blood, killing fish and making the water undrinkable throughout the land. Pharaoh's magicians replicate the sign through their own power, but their imitation only compounds the disaster rather than reversing it, allowing Pharaoh to harden his heart and dismiss Moses as merely one technician among many, despite the plague's clear demonstration of divine authority over creation.
Pharaoh's refusal to "take it to heart" reveals the deepest form of spiritual resistance: not atheism, but willful inattention.
Commentary
Exodus 7:20 — The Obedient Strike: The narrative opens with a pointed note of compliance: "Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded." This phrase, repeated throughout the plague cycle, functions as a theological drumbeat — the servants of God act with exact fidelity. The lifting of the rod is not a magical gesture in any pagan sense; it is a sacramental sign, an extension of divine authority delegated to Moses. The strike is performed "in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants," emphasizing that this is a public, confrontational act — a challenge issued at the very heart of Egyptian power. The Nile was Egypt's lifeblood, its source of agricultural fertility, its god (identified with the deity Hapi, and linked to Osiris). To turn it to blood before the eyes of its worshippers is a direct assault not merely on Egyptian comfort but on Egyptian theology.
Exodus 7:21 — The Cascading Death: The consequences unfold in rapid, accumulating strokes: the fish die, the river stinks, the water becomes undrinkable. The phrase "the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt" signals the plague's totality — no corner of Egyptian life is untouched. The word translated "foul" (Hebrew: yib'ash) carries connotations of rottenness and corruption. The Nile, worshipped as a giver of life, has become an instrument of death and putrefaction. The irony is unmistakable: the very river in which Pharaoh had commanded the Hebrew infant boys to be drowned (Exod. 1:22) now runs with something like the blood of the innocent.
Exodus 7:22 — Imitation Without Transformation: The court magicians — likely priestly practitioners of Egyptian religious arts — replicate the sign. This is one of the most theologically charged moments in the passage. The Fathers noted that the magicians could imitate the plague but could not undo it; they could multiply suffering but not heal it. Their mimicry actually deepens the catastrophe: they create more blood but restore no water. Pharaoh uses this duplication as an excuse to harden his heart — if his own wise men can perform the same feat, perhaps Moses is merely one wonder-worker among many. Yet the text signals the divine perspective: this hardening itself fulfills what "Yahweh had spoken," affirming God's sovereign direction of events even through human obstinacy.
Exodus 7:23 — The Turned Back: The image of Pharaoh turning and walking back into his house is among the most psychologically vivid moments in the plague narrative. He "didn't even take this to heart" — the Hebrew idiom implies a studied, willful refusal to allow the external reality to penetrate his inner life. This is the anatomy of hardness of heart: not merely ignorance, but a deliberate closing of the self against the evidence of God. The palace becomes a symbol of the interior fortress of pride, sealed against divine light.
Exodus 7:24 — The People's Desperation: While Pharaoh retreats in indifference, the ordinary Egyptian people suffer. They dig around the river's edge, searching the sandy margins for filtered water. This detail grounds the narrative in lived, physical suffering. The plague is not an abstraction; it is a crisis of survival. Yet even this suffering does not produce repentance — the narrative records effort, not conversion.
Exodus 7:25 — The Seven Days: The duration of seven days is significant. In biblical numerology, seven signals completeness. The plague runs its full, divinely appointed course — it is not arbitrary or temporary but measured and purposeful. This completeness underscores that the plague is a word as much as a wonder: it speaks a full sentence before the silence falls and the next confrontation begins.
Catholic Commentary
Catholic tradition reads the plague of blood on multiple levels simultaneously, and each illumines the others.
Against the Gods of Egypt: The Church Fathers, including Origen (Homilies on Exodus) and Augustine (City of God X), understood the plagues as a systematic dismantling of the Egyptian pantheon. The Nile-god Hapi was among Egypt's most revered deities. God does not merely inconvenience Pharaoh — He refutes idolatry by defeating the objects of false worship on their own ground. The Catechism teaches that the First Commandment forbids not only formal idolatry but any elevation of created things to the place owed to God alone (CCC 2112–2114). The Nile's corruption is a catechesis in stone and water: no creature can bear the weight of ultimacy.
The Role of Human Hardness: Augustine and Aquinas both distinguished between God causing Pharaoh's hardness and God permitting it as the natural consequence of Pharaoh's own freely chosen refusals. The Council of Trent insisted on the reality of human freedom and its cooperation with or resistance to grace (Session VI). Pharaoh is not a puppet; he is a man who, at each juncture, chooses the fortress of self over the opening of faith. His story is a warning, not a fatalistic decree.
Typology of Baptism and Blood: Early Christian writers, particularly Tertullian (On Baptism) and the anonymous author of Barnabas, noted the typological contrast: the same water that brings death in Egypt becomes, in the New Covenant, the water of Baptism that brings life. The blood in the Nile also prefigures the blood of the Passover lamb and, ultimately, the Blood of Christ poured out for redemption. The Catechism explicitly teaches that the Exodus is a type of Christian salvation (CCC 1221). Where the Nile's blood signals judgment, the Blood of the Lamb signals mercy.
For Today
The image of Pharaoh turning and walking back into his palace — deliberately refusing to take the plague "to heart" — is one of Scripture's most honest portraits of how human beings resist conversion. For a contemporary Catholic, this is not a distant ancient failure; it is a mirror. How often do we experience an unmistakable call — through a homily, a crisis, a moment of beauty or grief — and simply walk back into our interior palace, closing the door? The spiritual danger Pharaoh embodies is not dramatic atheism but habitual, polished inattention.
The magicians' response is equally instructive for today's world: the ability to replicate or explain a phenomenon does not neutralize its claim on us. We live in a culture that is extraordinarily skilled at explaining away experiences of the transcendent — reducing them to psychology, neuroscience, or coincidence. But explanation is not the same as transformation. Like the magicians who could copy blood but not restore water, such explanations multiply complexity without offering life.
Practically: the next time a moment of grace finds you — in prayer, in suffering, in the face of a stranger — resist the Pharaonic reflex to turn and walk back inside. Let it reach the heart.
Cross-References