Pharaoh's Hard Heart

NOTE

You may also count reading Exod chs. 3–14 for this assignment as part of your Reading Report for this course.

In this assignment, you will look at the chapters in Exodus which talk about Pharaoh's heart <becoming hard>.

The theological/spiritual question is this:

Did God simply choose to harden Pharaoh's heart, such that Pharaoh had no choice in the matter? If that is so, then how can God hold Pharaoh morally accountable for something that God, in effect, forced him to do?

There are a total of 18 verses in Exodus which explicitly mention this.

To find these verses, you will need to use a concordance, either a printed one, or an online concordance. You will need to search on the words "hard," "harden," and/or "hardened" in the book of Exodus. [I myself often use the online concordance: BLUE LETTER BIBLE.] .

1. Read Exodus chs. 3–14.

   What translation are you using? ESV

   (You are welcome to look at more than one translation.)

2. 2 pts Read Exod 4:21.

   How does your translation read? = Does it read, "I will harden pharaoh's heart…", or perhaps "I will cause Pharaoh's heart to be stubborn," or, something else?

   I will harden his hart, so that he will not the people go.

3. 2 pts Similarly, read Exod 7:3.

   How does your translation read? = Does it read, "I will harden pharaoh's heart…", or perhaps "I will cause Pharaoh's heart to be stubborn," or, something else?

   I will harden Pharaoh's heart

4. 1. 2 pts Where is the very first time in the book of Exodus that it tells us <Pharaoh's heart became hard>, either from God hardening it, or from Pharaoh hardening it himself?

      List the ch. & verse #. Exodus 8:15

   2. 2 pts In that verse, does it say <God hardened pharaoh's heart>, or <Pharaoh's heart became hard>? Be specific.

      It says Paraoh hardened his heart

      But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

5. 2 pts In your translation, what is the first verse in which we are explicitly told that <God hardened pharaoh's heart>?

   Exodus 9:12 "But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh"

6. 14 pts How many times does the text tell us that Pharaoh's heart became hard / Pharaoh hardened his heart, before that verse? 7

   List the verses.

   1. 7:13 "Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened"
   2. 7:14 "Pharaoh’s heart is hardened"
   3. 7:22 "Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened"
   4. 8:15 "he hardened his heart"
   5. 8:19 "Pharaoh’s heart was hardened"
   6. 8:32 "Pharaoh hardened his heart"
   7. 9:7 "the heart of Pharaoh was hardened"

   Refer to Q #5 above. Again, what is the first verse in which we are explicitly told <God hardened pharaoh's heart>? (no points)

   But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

7. 4 pts After that verse, are there any more verses which speak of <Pharaoh hardening his heart>, or, do all the verses after that verse say <God hardened Pharaoh's heart>?

   Yes

   If there are any verses which say <Pharaoh hardened his heart / Pharaoh's heart became hard>, list them.

   1. 9:34 "But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants."
   2. 9:35 "So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses."

8. 8 pts In Exodus chs. 10 & 11, list all the verses which tell us <God hardened Pharaoh's heart>.

   1. 10:1
   2. 10:20
   3. 10:27
   4. 11:10

9. 8 pts In Exodus ch. 14, there are two more verses which talk about Pharaoh's heart being hard. List them. What do they say?

   1. 14:4 "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so."
   2. 14:8 "And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly."

10. Here are three other verses which help complete the picture of Pharaoh's heart becoming hard:

    • Exod 3:19

      But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

    • Exod 13:15

      For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.'

    • 1 Sam 6:6 (This is when the Philistines defeat the Israelites in battle, and capture the ark of the covenant, 1 Sam 4 & 5).

      Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed?

11. 6 pts What do you conclude about Pharaoh's heart becoming hard?

    Pharaoh's preexisting heart condition was stubborness. It was not in Pharaoh's nor Egypt's best intrest to let Israel go to serve the Lord. God's display of power through Moses as a mean to soften Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh's heart remained stubborn demonstrated that the hardness of his heart was his unwillingness to submit to God. In the end, the last plague caused Pharaoh to relent from his obstinancy and yielded to God.