Exodus 7:20. All the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
1. Many ancient nations had great reverence for rivers. The Egyptians, sharing this feeling, regarded the Nile as a sacred stream, and worshiped it as a deity, calling it “the Father of life,” and “the Father of the gods.”
2. The Egyptians, especially the priests, were very particular in their external habits, and there was nothing which they held in greater abhorrence than blood, seldom admitting any bloody sacrifices. Their horror must therefore have been extreme when they found the river, which they worshiped as a god, turned into blood, which they regarded with such utter disgust.