Pharaoh calls for his magicians, and they do the same wonder. It makes for many serpents crawling around on the throne room floor! How is that possible?
Is this a form of snake charming, well-known in countries like Egypt and India? A snake can be so charmed that it remains steady like a stick. But here the opposite is happening!
Is this a trick from the magicians? No, they are showing what they can do, not with charm, but with magic formulas. This is about occult powers: the devil (the great serpent) starts the counterattack. He wants to neutralize God’s judgment.
The magicians legitimize the Pharaoh, who possesses secret knowledge and magic power through them.
Moses must have understood all this. He has received his education at the Egyptian palace (see Acts 7:22) and he knew the magic with serpents.
The magicians do their job. They can also turn their staff into a serpent. The Pharaoh can relax, since this one serpent (from Moses) is not a threat to his power, and he (thinks that he) does not have to take the message from Moses and Aaron seriously.
In 2 Timothy 3:8, the magicians’ names are revealed: Jannes and Jambres. There they are named as examples of people who oppose the truth.
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.