Exodus 7 · a question people ask
How could Pharaoh's magicians do the same things?
The text says they "did the same thing with their enchantments" (7:11, 7:22), but it doesn't say how. It does say that "Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods" (7:12), and that two plagues later, "The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t" (8:18), and told Pharaoh, "This is God’s finger" (8:19). Christians agree on all of that and read the magicians' work in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Real power, not from God
Those who hold this view take the words as they stand: the magicians' rods "became serpents" (7:12). They note that the Bible warns of signs that really happen yet lead people away from God, where "the sign or the wonder comes to pass" (Deuteronomy 13:2), and that Jesus said, "false christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24).
Exodus 7:12 · Deuteronomy 13:1-3 · Matthew 24:24
Secret arts, not real wonders
Those who hold this view point to the words for the magicians' "enchantments": in 7:22, a word Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "secrecy, mystery" (see the word study), and in 7:11, a word Strong's explains as "magic (as covert)". They also note where the magicians reached their limit: with the lice "they couldn’t" (8:18). On this reading they imitated the first signs by secret arts, not by a wonder like Aaron's.
Exodus 7:11 · Exodus 7:22 · Exodus 8:18
The verses
“Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.”
“The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.”
“The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is God’s finger;” but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.”