Exodus 7:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Moses, recognizing that all under his authority shared the mindset of the leader of evil, struck a decisive blow against the entire Egyptian nation without sparing any who faced hardship. In this confrontation, like an army under a single ruler, the very elements of creation—earth, fire, air, and water—responded to his command, altering their natural properties at the behest of mankind. With one unified force, disorder was met with justice, while those who remained righteous avoided sin. Consequently, by Moses’ decree, all the water in Egypt was transformed into blood, causing the fish to perish in this alteration to fleshly decay.

The terminology employed by Moses, as noted in the Angl. Comm. Bible, indicates a deep understanding of Egyptian culture and its system of irrigation. Lepsius elaborately details this in his work from 1865. The rivers represent the limbs of the Nile delta, while the streams relate to the canals; these canals, as evidenced by their remnants, were constructed parallel to the Nile and its branches, connecting through lateral canals and sluices. The lakes known as Agammim, aside from the vast reservoir of Meris excavated during the reign of Amenemchus III, functioned as reservoirs throughout Egypt that supplemented and managed the distribution system of the Nile’s waters. Water was stored in cisterns and smaller reservoirs.