The plague of blood is described in the Torah in the following verses (Exodus 7:19–21): "And the Lord said to Moses: Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs—and they shall turn to blood. There shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the wooden and stone vessels.' Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. He raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and his officials, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt."

Upon examining these verses, several apparent questions arise:

A. In the description of the onset and damage of the plague of blood, there seems to be a division between verses 19 and 21 (Exodus 7). Part of the description of the plague's onset and damage is given in verse 19, which deals with God's command to Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his hand over the waters of Egypt to bring about the plague, while the other part of the description is deferred to verse 21, which narrates the actual occurrence of the plague. Thus, in verse 19, we learn about the presence of blood throughout the land of Egypt, in the wooden and stone vessels. In verse 21, we learn about the death of the fish in the Nile, the stench of the Nile, and the Egyptians' inability to drink its water.

This division of the description of the plague's onset and damage between these two verses also seems to involve redundant language, as after it is stated in verse 19, "There shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt," it is repeated in verse 21, "There was blood throughout the land of Egypt."

Therefore, it needs to be explained why the Torah did not include the entire description in verse 19, as follows: 'And the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand, etc., and they shall turn to blood. There shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the wooden and stone vessels, the fish in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the Nile.'"

B. It is stated in verse 19, "and they shall turn to blood—and there shall be blood," which is puzzling. Why does the verse begin in future tense and conclude in past tense when the entire verse is discussing future events, given that the plague had not yet occurred and the verse is about the command to Aaron to take his staff and bring about the plague by stretching out his hand?

C. Why is the description of the Egyptians' inability to drink water from the Nile—"the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile"—deferred to verse 21, after the account of the fish dying in the Nile? It could have been included in verse 20, immediately after the account of the onset of the plague: "He raised the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile was turned to blood."

D. "The Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile"—why is this stated? Were there any waters left that anyone could drink? The waters had turned to blood, and it should have just stated simply, "The Egyptians could not drink," and nothing more.