The Egyptian cobra, also called a “naja haje,” is most likely the snake the magicians in Pharaoh’s court used in their duel with Moses. It is the most dangerous and one of the largest cobras of the African continent.
When disturbed, cobras have the ability to raise the front quarter of their bodies off the ground and spread their necks (or hoods) in a characteristic threat display. The average length is between 3 and 6 feet, with a maximum length of just under 10 feet.
The color is highly variable, but most specimens are some shade of brown, often with lighter or darker mottling, and often a “tear-drop” mark below the eye. Some are more copper-red or grey-brown in color, while others are almost entirely black. Some specimens can even be yellow.
Their toxin acts on the nervous system and can cause swelling, nausea, dizziness, and possibly paralysis and death due to respiratory failure within 15 minutes. It can kill a fully-grown elephant in three hours. Unlike other cobras, the naja haje cannot spit its venom. One legend says that Cleopatra committed suicide with the toxins of an Egyptian cobra.
A unique quality of this snake is that it can be made motionless by applying pressure on the neck just below the head. Temporarily paralyzed, the “naja haje” becomes stiff, but when it is thrown on the ground, it is shocked back to life and squirms away.
In Exodus 4:4, the Lord says to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” You cannot pick up a cobra by the tail or it will bite you. So although the sorcerers’ rods may have been cobras, Moses’s most certainly was not. It was the first sign of Yahweh to Pharaoh.