The Meaning of Exodus 7:1 Explained

Exodus 7:1

KJV: And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

YLT: And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'See, I have given thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother is thy prophet;

Darby: And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

ASV: And Jehovah said unto Moses, See, I have made thee as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the LORD  said  unto Moses,  See,  I have made  thee a god  to Pharaoh:  and Aaron  thy brother  shall be thy prophet. 

What does Exodus 7:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Exodus 7:1-13 - Pharaoh Stubborn Against Israel's Release
How often we say in a similar tone, "I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?" Forty years in the wilderness, in absolute solitude, had robbed Moses of the eloquence with which Stephen credits him in earlier life. Like Jeremiah, he felt himself a child and unable to speak.
It is an awful moment when the human will sets itself in antagonism to the divine. If it will not bend, it must break. For once the scion of an imperial race had met his superior. It were better for the potsherd to strive with the potsherds of the earth! But God is not unreasonable. At the outset He endeavored to prove to Pharaoh who and what He was. One of the chief reasons for the plagues, as well as of these miracles, was to establish the fact that the Jehovah of the Hebrews was the great Being who lives behind the whole apparatus of nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Exodus 7

1  Moses and Aaron are encouraged to go again to Pharaoh
8  Aaron's rod is turned into a serpent
11  The sorcerers do the like; but their rods are swallowed up by Aaron's
13  Pharaoh's heart is hardened
14  God's message to Pharaoh
19  The river is turned into blood; and the consequent distress of the Egyptians

What do the individual words in Exodus 7:1 mean?

so said Yahweh to Moses See I have made you [as] God to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־ מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר  so  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מֹשֶׁ֔ה  Moses 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֹשֶׁה  
Sense: the prophet and lawgiver, leader of the exodus.
רְאֵ֛ה  See 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
נְתַתִּ֥יךָ  I  have  made  you 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
אֱלֹהִ֖ים  [as]  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
לְפַרְעֹ֑ה  to  Pharaoh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פַּרְעֹה  
Sense: the common title of the king of Egypt.
וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן  and  Aaron 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַהֲרֹון  
Sense: brother of Moses, a Levite and the first high priest.
אָחִ֖יךָ  your  brother 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אָח  
Sense: brother.
יִהְיֶ֥ה  shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
נְבִיאֶֽךָ  your  prophet 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: נָבִיא  
Sense: spokesman, speaker, prophet.