DID YOU KNOW?

In Exodus, Pharaoh's magicians match the first wonders with their own secret arts. Which is the first one they cannot copy?

The answer

Gnats. The magicians match the snake, the Nile turned to blood and the frogs "by their secret arts" (Exodus 7:11; Exodus 7:22; Exodus 8:7). When Aaron strikes the dust and it turns to gnats, they try and cannot (Exodus 8:18). They tell Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God!" (Exodus 8:19).

Why it’s interesting

According to a study Bible, the New Oxford Annotated Bible, the Hebrew word for these magicians comes from an Egyptian word for a priestly official. Michael Coogan reads the whole plague story as a contest, like Elijah against the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Pharaoh hears his own experts and still will not listen (Exodus 8:19).

Scholarly consensus

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