Exodus 10:20
in Exodus 10But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
KJV
But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
1 note on this verseThis site's exposition
so that he would not let the children of Israel go
This is one of nineteen statements about Pharaoh's heart in the book, and from 9:12 onward the LORD is the subject of every one of them. Through the first five plagues the text either puts the act on Pharaoh or leaves it stative, at 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32 and 9:7, and the order of those statements matters to both sides of the argument. Romans 9:17 quotes Exodus 9:16 and Romans 9:18 draws the words whom he will he hardeneth out of it. Sproul reads the whole sequence as one act with two true descriptions, divine sovereignty and human responsibility each real, while the free-will reading takes the order as God confirming a man in the direction he had already chosen.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְחַזֵּ֥ק | vaychazek | and he made strong | H2388 → | 291 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לֵ֣ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֑ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שִׁלַּ֖ח | shilach | he let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיְחַזֵּ֥קand he made strong
vaychazekH2388 →291 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לֵ֣ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
פַּרְעֹ֑הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שִׁלַּ֖חhe let go
shilachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ פIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 9:18Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
it leads to
- Exodus 4:21
The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 11:20
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 9:15–16
For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Exodus 4:21
Through
Exodus 4:21The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that…
it leads to
- Romans 9:18
Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- Isaiah 63:17
Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Exodus 14:8
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
- Romans 9:18
Through
Deuteronomy 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as…
it leads to
- Numbers 21:23
But Sihon would not let Israel pass through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.
- Numbers 21:23
About Exodus

This page draws on Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God.
