Discovery BoxExodus 7:21-22 
Context7:21 When the fish 1 that were in the Nile died, the Nile began 2 to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood 3 everywhere in the land of Egypt! 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same 4 by their secret arts, and so 5 Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 6 and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron 7 – just as the Lord had predicted.
1 tn The first clause in this verse begins with a vav disjunctive, introducing a circumstantial clause to the statement that the water stank. The vav (ו) consecutive on the next verb shows that the smell was the result of the dead fish in the contaminated water. The result is then expressed with the vav beginning the clause that states that they could not drink it.
2 tn The preterite could be given a simple definite past translation, but an ingressive past would be more likely, as the smell would get worse and worse with the dead fish.
3 tn Heb “and there was blood.”
4 tn Heb “thus, so.”
5 tn The vav consecutive on the preterite introduces the outcome or result of the matter – Pharaoh was hardened.
6 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
7 tn Heb “to them”; the referents (Moses and Aaron) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
