Ramban on Shemos 4:9

English: V’HAYU’ (AND IT SHALL BE) THAT THE WATER WHICH THOU TAKEST OUT OF THE RIVER ‘V’HAYU’ (SHALL BECOME) BLOOD UPON THE DRY LAND. “The word v’hayu is mentioned here twice. 261 The literal translation of the Hebrew text is: “And it shall be that the water which thou takest out of the river, and it will be blood upon the dry land.” It appears to me that if He had said, ‘ V’hayu (And it shall be) that the water which thou takest out of the river be blood upon the dry land,’ I might understand it to mean that it would be turned into blood in his hand, and that also when it reached the ground it would remain in the same state. But now, [as the verse actually reads], the final v’hayu teaches us that it would not become blood until it reaches the dry land.” 262 The significance of this point is explained by L’vush Ha’orah (see Preface in Vol. I, p. IX, Note 12): If the water had turned into blood while still in Moshe’ hand, skeptics could say that it was done through some secret art. But running or flowing water turning into blood upon reaching the ground was undeniably a miracle. Thus the language of Rashi. But the purport of this verse is not as the Rabbi [Rashi] has it, and there is no need