Confronted with a profound display of divine power, the Egyptian king’s immediate response is not submission. Instead, he attempts to diminish the miracle, framing it as a mundane or magical feat that his own subjects can easily replicate. By summoning local practitioners, he aims to strip Aaron’s wonder of any uniqueness.
The manner in which the king responds reveals a calculated psychological mirroring of Moses. Just as Moses delegated the performance of the miracle to Aaron, the king refuses to act personally, dispatching his own agents to prove he is in no way inferior to the Hebrew leader [הכתב והקבלה, מלבי״ם, קאסוטו, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The king’s summons extends to an unexpectedly broad array of participants. This inclusion hints at the involvement of unnamed figures, such as the king’s own wife, who was well-versed in the mystical arts [רבנו בחיי, פענח רזא]. More pointedly, it serves as a calculated mockery, suggesting that even young children could reproduce the marvel, effectively reducing a divine sign to mere child’s play [רבנו בחיי, ריב״א, מלבי״ם, חזקוני, ברכת אשר].
To counter the miracle, the royal court deploys three distinct classes of experts. The first group consists of the wise men—naturalists, scientists, and astrologers who manipulate the known laws of nature or rely on sleight of hand [אבן עזרא, העמק דבר, רלב״ג]. The second group comprises the sorcerers, who utilize deception to seemingly bend the laws of nature, coercing natural forces to serve their own ends in defiance of the world’s proper order [אבן עזרא, העמק דבר, רלב״ג, רש״ר הירש]. Presiding over both groups are the senior magicians, the kingdom’s elite keepers of profound secrets [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי, רלב״ג, אבן עזרא, קאסוטו]. The origins of their title are debated; it may be a foreign term drawn from Egyptian or Chaldean languages [אבן עזרא], an Aramaic compound referring to necromancers who use the bones of the dead for their craft [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי], or a word derived from the concept of a stylus, indicating their status as scribes and scholars [רש״ר הירש].
The methods employed by these practitioners are shrouded in mystery and subject to differing interpretations. Linguistically, their techniques are associated with fire and flames, suggesting the hidden involvement of destructive angels or forces of fire [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי, רש״י, הטור הארוך, תולדות יצחק, ברכת אשר]. Others view their methods simply as acts of stealth [שד״ל, רלב״ג] or the use of spoken incantations and spells [רש״י, שפתי חכמים, נתינה לגר].
A central debate surrounds the actual nature of the Egyptian display. A rationalist perspective argues that no genuine transformation of nature occurred. Instead, the practitioners relied entirely on illusion and sleight of hand, using lightning-fast movements or pre-hidden live snakes and animal skins to deceive the onlookers into believing that staffs had been transformed [אבן עזרא, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם, ביאור יש״ר, ביאור שטיינזלץ, שד״ל, אבן עזרא הקצר].
Conversely, a mystical approach rooted in ancient tradition distinguishes between pure magic and the work of demons. In this instance, the practitioners utilized magic to alter the visual appearance of the staffs into the desired image, whereas in other instances, they relied on demons to invisibly transport physical objects [רמב״ן, רבנו בחיי, תורה תמימה, הטור הארוך, תולדות יצחק, פרדס יוסף]. This distinction explains their changing tactics throughout the plagues. Transforming a staff was considered a relatively simple feat, allowing them to rely on standard magic, whereas later, more complex plagues required the heavy intervention of demons [העמק דבר]. Furthermore, tradition dictates that magic holds no power over water; thus, while they could use magic for the staffs, they were forced to summon demons to transport physical blood during the first plague [תורה תמימה].