What Does Exodus 7:20 Mean in the King James?
And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote 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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb translated “turned” also carries the force of overturning: the life-bearing river is made to display its opposite.
THE MEANING
A source you depend on can become a sign of what power cannot control. Here the river’s waters are turned to blood in full view of Pharaoh and his servants; the change is public and material. What appears dependable is not beyond reversal.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that whatever has sustained life remains safe simply because it is familiar.
THE ROOT
וַיֵּהָפְכוּ
wayyēhāphĕkhū
GROWS FROM
הפך
Turn, overturn, transform.
The waters are not merely altered in appearance: the verb can describe a thorough overturning. Its other forms speak of cities overthrown and mourning turned to dancing, holding destruction and restoration within the same root of reversal.
ALSO GROWS
mahpekah: Overthrow.
מַהְפֵּכָה
This noun for a complete overthrow shows that the root can describe a reversal that remakes conditions, not just a change of position.
wayyahaphokh: He overthrew.
וַיַּהֲפֹךְ
In Genesis 19:25 the same root describes cities being overthrown, echoing the total reversal of the waters here.
THE PATTERN
When a condition is reversed, the change shows itself in the very substance or life being transformed.
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.THE THREAD
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;Exodus uses וַיֵּהָפְכוּ (wayyēhāphĕkhū, “they were turned”) for the waters becoming blood; Psalm 30:11 uses הָפַכְתָּ (hāphakhta, “you turned”) for mourning becoming dancing. One root carries both reversals: the river is overturned into blood, while mourning is turned into joy.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us