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Amplified Bible

Exodus 7:11

Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and omens] and the sorcerers [skilled in witchcraft], and they also, these magicians (soothsayer-priests) of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Egypt;   Jambres;   Jannes;   Magician;   Miracles;   Sorcery;   Wise Men;   Thompson Chain Reference - Lying Wonders;   Magic;   Magicians;   Moses;   Wonders;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Divination;   Egypt;   Miracles through Evil Agents;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Egypt;   Exodus;   Jannes;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Egypt;   Magic;   Moses;   Pharaoh;   Snake;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Magic;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Enchantments;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Divination;   Egypt;   Jannes and Jambres;   Joseph;   Magi;   Serpent, Brazen;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Aaron's Rod;   Exodus, Book of;   Jannes and Jambres;   Plagues;   Rod, Staff;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Dragon;   Jannes and Jambres;   Magic, Divination, and Sorcery;   Moses;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Jannes and Jambres;   Sorcery;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Miracles;   Serpent;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Balaam;   Finger;   Magicians;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Chief parables and miracles in the bible;   Egypt;   Plagues of egypt;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Enchantments;   Jan'nes;   Magic, Magicians;   Plagues, the Ten,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Moses;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Enchantment;   Exodus, the Book of;   Jannes and Jambres;   Wise-Men;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Balaam;   Egypt;   Jannes and Jambres;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Then Par`oh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Mitzrayim, did in like manner with their enchantments.
King James Version
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
Lexham English Bible
And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts.
New Century Version
So the king called in his wise men and his magicians, and with their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing.
New English Translation
Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing.
New American Standard Bible
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Pharaoh called also for the wise men and sorcerers: and those charmers also of Egypt did in like maner with their enchantmens,
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
Contemporary English Version
Then the king called in the wise men and the magicians, who used their secret powers to do the same thing—
Complete Jewish Bible
But Pharaoh in turn called for the sages and sorcerers; and they too, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing, making use of their secret arts.
Darby Translation
And Pharaoh also called the sages and the sorcerers; and they too, the scribes of Egypt, did so with their enchantments:
Easy-to-Read Version
So Pharaoh called for his wise men and magicians. These men used their magic, and they were able to do the same thing as Aaron.
English Standard Version
Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
George Lamsa Translation
Then Pharaoh called the wise men and the magicians; now the magicians of Egypt, they also did the same with their magic.
Good News Translation
Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing.
Christian Standard Bible®
But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.
Literal Translation
And Pharaoh also called wise men and the sorcerers. And they, the priests of Egypt, also performed by their secret arts.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then Pharao called for ye wyse men & Sorcerers. And the Sorcerers of Egipte also dyd like wyse with their Sorceries,
American Standard Version
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers: and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments.
Bible in Basic English
Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and the wonder-workers, and they, the wonder-workers of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then Pharao called for the wyse men, and enchaunters: and those sorcerers of Egypt dyd in like maner with their sorcerie.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their secret arts.
King James Version (1611)
Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; now the Magicians of Egypt, they also did in like maner with their enchantments.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But Pharao called together the wise men of Egypt, and the sorcerers, and the charmers also of the Egyptians did likewise with their sorceries.
English Revised Version
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers: and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments.
Berean Standard Bible
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Farao clepide wise men, and witchis, and thei also diden bi enchauntementis of Egipt, and bi summe priuy thingis in lijk maner;
Young's Literal Translation
And Pharaoh also calleth for wise men, and for sorcerers; and the scribes of Egypt, they also, with their flashings, do so,
Update Bible Version
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers: and the sacred scholars of Egypt also did in like manner with their witchcraft.
Webster's Bible Translation
Then Pharaoh also called the wise-men, and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
World English Bible
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments.
New King James Version
But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
New Living Translation
Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic.
New Life Bible
Then Pharaoh called for his wise men and wonder-workers. They did the same thing using their secret ways.
New Revised Standard
Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then called Pharaoh also for the wise men and for the magicians, - and they too, the sacred scribes of Egypt with their secret arts, did in like manner;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner.
Revised Standard Version
Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.
THE MESSAGE
Pharaoh called in his wise men and sorcerers. The magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their incantations: each man threw down his staff and they all turned into snakes. But then Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.

Contextual Overview

8Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Work a miracle [to prove your authority],' then you say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent.'" 10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the LORD had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and omens] and the sorcerers [skilled in witchcraft], and they also, these magicians (soothsayer-priests) of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments.12For every man threw down his staff and they turned into serpents; but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13Yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wise men: Genesis 41:8, Genesis 41:38, Genesis 41:39, Isaiah 19:11, Isaiah 19:12, Isaiah 47:12, Isaiah 47:13, Daniel 2:2, Daniel 2:27, Daniel 4:7-9, Daniel 5:7, Daniel 5:11, 2 Timothy 3:8, Revelation 19:20

sorcerers: Mechashshaphim, probably from the Arabic kashapha, to discover, reveal, signifies diviners, or those who pretended to reveal futurity, to discover things lost, or to find hidden treasures.

they also: Exodus 7:22, Exodus 8:7, Exodus 8:18, Deuteronomy 13:1-3, Matthew 24:24, Galatians 3:1, Ephesians 4:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, Revelation 13:11-15

enchantments: By the word lahatim, from lahat, to burn, may be meant such incantations as required lustral fires, fumigations, etc.

Reciprocal: Exodus 9:11 - General Leviticus 19:26 - use 1 Samuel 6:2 - called Jeremiah 27:9 - hearken Daniel 1:20 - the magicians Acts 8:9 - used Acts 13:8 - withstood Acts 16:16 - possessed Acts 19:19 - used Revelation 13:13 - he doeth

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].
Genesis 6:17
"For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.
Genesis 7:5
So Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.
Genesis 7:6
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood (deluge) of water came on the earth [covering all of the land].
Genesis 7:8
Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and fowls and everything that crawls on the ground,
Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that same day all the fountains of the great deep [subterranean waters] burst open, and the windows and floodgates of the heavens were opened.
Genesis 7:23
God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
Genesis 7:24
The waters covered [all of] the earth for a hundred and fifty days (five months).
2 Kings 7:2
Then the royal officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "If the LORD should make windows in heaven [for the rain], could this thing take place?" Elisha said, "Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but [because you doubt] you will not eat of it."
2 Kings 7:19
The royal officer had answered the man of God and said, "Now behold, [even] if the LORD should make windows in heaven, could such a thing happen?" And Elisha had answered, "You will see it with your own eyes, but [because of your doubt] you will not eat it."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers,.... The cunning men and wizards, a sort of jugglers and deceivers, who pretended to great knowledge of things, to discover secrets, tell fortunes, and predict things to come, and by legerdemain tricks, and casting a mist before people's eyes, pretended to do very wonderful and amazing things; and therefore Pharaoh sent for these, to exercise their art and cunning, and see if they could not vie with Moses and Aaron:

now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments; or by their secret wiles and juggles, making things seem to appear to the sight when they did not really, but by dazzling the eyes of men by their wicked and diabolical art, they fancied they saw things which they did not; for the word has the signification of flames of fire, or of a flaming sword, or lance, which being brandished to and fro dazzles the sight. The Targum of Jonathan gives the names of two of these magicians, whom he calls Jannes and Jambres, as does the apostle,

:-. Josephus t calls these magicians of Egypt priests, and Artapanus u says, they were priests that lived about Memphis. According to the Arabs w, the name of the place where they lived was Ausana, a city very ancient and pleasant, called the city of the magicians, which lay to the east of the Nile: their name in the Hebrew language is either from a word which signifies a style, or greying tool, as Fuller x thinks, because in their enchantments they used superstitious characters and figures; or, as Saadiah Gaon y, from two words, the one signifying a "hole", and the other "stopped"; because they bored a hole in a tree to put witchcrafts into it, and stopped it up, and then declared what should be, or they had to say.

t Antiqu. l. 2. c. 13. sect. 3. u Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 435.) w Arab. Geograph. Climat. 2. par. 4. lin. 21. x Miscell. Sacr. l. 5. c. 11. y Comment. in Dan. i. 20.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Three names for the magicians of Egypt are given in this verse. The “wise men” are men who know occult arts. The “sorcerers” are they who “mutter magic formulae,” especially when driving away crocodiles, snakes, asps, etc. It was natural that Pharaoh should have sent for such persons. The “magicians” are the “bearers of sacred words,” scribes and interpreters of hieroglyphic writings. Books containing magic formulae belonged exclusively to the king; no one was permitted to consult them but the priests and wise men, who formed a council or college, and were called in by the Pharaoh on all occasions of difficulty.

The names of the two principal magicians, Jannes and Jambres, who “withstood Moses,” are preserved by Paul, 2 Timothy 3:8. Both names are Egyptian.

Enchantments - The original expression implies a deceptive appearance, an illusion, a juggler’s trick, not an actual putting forth of magic power. Pharaoh may or may not have believed in a real transformation; but in either case he would naturally consider that if the portent performed by Aaron differed from that of the magicians, it was a difference of degree only, implying merely superiority in a common art. The miracle which followed Exodus 7:12 was sufficient to convince him had he been open to conviction. It was a miracle which showed the truth and power of Yahweh in contrast with that of others.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 7:11. Pharaoh - called the wise men — חכמים chacamim, the men of learning. Sorcerers, כשפים cashshephim, those who reveal hidden things; probably from the Arabic root [Arabic] kashafa, to reveal, uncover, c., signifying diviners, or those who pretended to reveal what was in futurity, to discover things lost, to find hidden treasures, &c. Magicians, חרטמי chartummey, decypherers of abstruse writings. Genesis 41:8.

They also did in like manner with their enchantments. — The word להתים lahatim, comes from להט lahat, to burn, to set on fire and probably signifies such incantations as required lustral fires, sacrifices, fumigations, burning of incense, aromatic and odoriferous drugs, c., as the means of evoking departed spirits or assistant demons, by whose ministry, it is probable, the magicians in question wrought some of their deceptive miracles: for as the term miracle signifies properly something which exceeds the powers of nature or art to produce, (see Exodus 7:9,) hence there could be no miracle in this case but those wrought, through the power of God, by the ministry of Moses and Aaron. There can be no doubt that real serpents were produced by the magicians. On this subject there are two opinions:

1st, That the serpents were such as they, either by juggling or sleight of hand, had brought to the place, and had secreted till the time of exhibition, as our common conjurers do in the public fairs, &c.

2dly, That the serpents were brought by the ministry of a familiar spirit, which, by the magic flames already referred to, they had evoked for the purpose.

Both these opinions admit the serpents to be real, and no illusion of the sight, as some have supposed. The first opinion appears to me insufficient to account for the phenomena of the case referred to. If the magicians threw down their rods, and they became serpents after they were thrown down, as the text expressly says, Exodus 7:12, juggling or sleight of hand had nothing farther to do in the business, as the rods were then out of their hands. If Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, their sleight of hand was no longer concerned. A man, by dexterity of hand, may so far impose on his spectators as to appear to eat a rod but for rods lying on the ground to become serpents, and one of these to devour all the rest so that it alone remained, required something more than juggling. How much more rational at once to allow that these magicians had familiar spirits who could assume all shapes, change the appearances of the subjects on which they operated, or suddenly convey one thing away and substitute another in its place! Nature has no such power, and art no such influence as to produce the effects attributed here and in the succeeding chapters to the Egyptian magicians.


 
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