Discovery BoxExodus 7:18 
Context7:18 Fish 1 in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable 2 to drink water from the Nile.”’”
Exodus 16:24
Context16:24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Moses had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
Exodus 5:21
Context5:21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge, 3 because you have made us stink 4 in the opinion of 5 Pharaoh and his servants, 6 so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!” 7
Exodus 7:21
Context7:21 When the fish 8 that were in the Nile died, the Nile began 9 to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood 10 everywhere in the land of Egypt!
Exodus 16:20
Context16:20 But they did not listen to Moses; some 11 kept part of it until morning, and it was full 12 of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them.
1 tn The definite article here has the generic use, indicating the class – “fish” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).
2 tn The verb לָאָה (la’a), here in the Niphal perfect with a vav consecutive, means “be weary, impatient.” The Niphal meaning is “make oneself weary” in doing something, or “weary (strenuously exert) oneself.” It seems always to indicate exhausted patience (see BDB 521 s.v.). The term seems to imply that the Egyptians were not able to drink the red, contaminated water, and so would expend all their energy looking for water to drink – in frustration of course.
3 tn The foremen vented their anger on Moses and Aaron. The two jussives express their desire that the evil these two have caused be dealt with. “May Yahweh look on you and may he judge” could mean only that God should decide if Moses and Aaron are at fault, but given the rest of the comments it is clear the foremen want more. The second jussive could be subordinated to the first – “so that he may judge [you].”
4 tn Heb “you have made our aroma stink.”
5 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
6 tn Heb “in the eyes of his servants.” This phrase is not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 tn Heb “to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” The infinitive construct with the lamed (לָתֶת, latet) signifies the result (“so that”) of making the people stink. Their reputation is now so bad that Pharaoh might gladly put them to death. The next infinitive could also be understood as expressing result: “put a sword in their hand so that they can kill us.”
8 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.
9 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.
10 tn Heb “and there was blood.”
11 tn Heb “men”; this usage is designed to mean “some” (see GKC 447 §138.h, n. 1).
12 tn The verb וַיָּרֻם (vayyarum) is equivalent to a passive – “it was changed” – to which “worms” is added as an accusative of result (GKC 388-89 §121.d, n. 2).
