Discovery BoxExodus 4:3 
Context4:3 The Lord 1 said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, 2 and Moses ran from it.
Exodus 7:9
Context7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do 3 a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down 4 before Pharaoh,’ it will become 5 a snake.”
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
2 sn The details of the verse are designed to show that there was a staff that became a snake. The question is used to affirm that there truly was a staff, and then the report of Moses running from it shows it was a genuine snake. Using the serpent as a sign would have had an impact on the religious ideas of Egypt, for the sacred cobra was one of their symbols.
3 tn The verb is תְּנוּ (tÿnu), literally “give.” The imperative is followed by an ethical dative that strengthens the subject of the imperative: “you give a miracle.”
4 tn Heb “and throw it.” The direct object, “it,” is implied.
5 tn The form is the jussive יְהִי ( yÿhi). Gesenius notes that frequently in a conditional clause, a sentence with a protasis and apodosis, the jussive will be used. Here it is in the apodosis (GKC 323 §109.h).
