³ tn Heb “the harvest of the Nile.”

¹ tn Or “irrigation rivers” of the Nile.

³ sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

⁶ sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

⁴ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “the Nile.” This has been replaced by “the river” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹ sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

⁴ sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the Nile River.

¹ sn The Shihor River was a river on the border of Egypt, probably the eastern branch of the Nile.

³ sn The river of Egypt is a wadi (a seasonal stream) on the northeastern border of Egypt, not the River Nile.

¹ sn The text stresses that the water in the Nile, and Nile water that had been diverted or collected for use, was polluted and undrinkable. Water underground also was from the Nile, but it had not been contaminated, certainly not with dead fish, and so would be drinkable.

³ sn The Nile, the source of fertility for the country, was deified by the Egyptians. There were religious festivals held to the god of the Nile, especially when the Nile was flooding. The Talmud suggests that Pharaoh in this passage went out to the Nile to make observations as a magician about its level. Others suggest he went out simply to bathe or to check the water level—but that would not change the view of the Nile that was prevalent in the land.

³ sn In Egyptian theology Pharaoh owned and controlled the Nile. See J. D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, 240-44.

¹ tn The word translated “streams” here refers to the streams of the Nile (cf. Exod 7:19 and 8:1 for parallel usage).

² tn Heb “Cushite”; traditional “Ethiopian” invites confusion with modern Ethiopia, whereas this term refers to Nubia, a kingdom up the Nile to the south of Egypt.

² tn Heb “seed of Shihor.” “Shihor” probably refers to the east branch of the Nile. See Jer 2:18 and BDB 1009 s.v. שִׁיחוֹר.

¹ tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).

⁴ tn Heb “Cush” (so NIV), referring to the region of the upper Nile in Africa. Cf. KJV and most other English versions “Ethiopia.”

¹ tn Heb “and look, from the Nile seven cows were coming up, fat of flesh and attractive of appearance, and they grazed in the reeds.”

¹ tn Heb “And look, seven other cows were coming up after them from the Nile, bad of appearance and thin of flesh.”