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Exodus 14:4

in Exodus 14

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host: and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so.

KJV

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

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This verse in Exodus 14

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart - After relenting and giving them permission to depart, he now changes his mind and determines to prevent them; and without any farther restraining grace, God permits him to rush on to his final ruin, for the cup of his iniquity was now full.

This site's exposition

And I will harden Pharaoh

This is one of the last three hardening statements in the book, with 14:8 and 14:17 still to come, and since 9:12 the subject has been the LORD every time. Through the first five plagues the text put the act on Pharaoh or left it stative, at 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32 and 9:7. Sproul holds compatibilism and reads the whole sequence as one act carrying two true descriptions, while the free-will reading takes the order seriously and holds that God confirmed a man in the direction he had already taken. Romans 9:17 quotes Exodus 9:16 and draws from it the words whom he will he hardeneth.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

And thus (says God) I will be honoured upon Pharaoh. Note, [1.] All men being made for the honour of their Maker, those whom he is not honoured by he will be honoured upon. [2.] What seems to tend to the church's ruin is often overruled to the ruin of the church's enemies, whose pride and malice are fed by Providence, that they may be ripened for destruction.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְחִזַּקְתִּ֣יand I will make strong

    vechizaktiH2388 →291 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • לֵב־[the] heart of

    lev-H3820 →595 times

  • פַּרְעֹה֮Pharaoh

    parohH6547 →274 times

  • וְרָדַ֣ףand he will pursue

    veradafH7291 →143 times

  • אַחֲרֵיהֶם֒after them

    ʾachareihemH310 →715 times

  • וְאִכָּבְדָ֤הand I will gain honor

    veikavedahH3513 →113 times

  • בְּפַרְעֹה֙by Pharaoh

    befarohH6547 →274 times

  • וּבְכָל־and by all

    uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times

  • חֵיל֔וֹarmy his

    cheiloH2428 →246 times

  • וְיָדְע֥וּand they will know

    veyadeuH3045 →945 times

  • מִצְרַ֖יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4713 →70 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • אֲנִ֣יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • יְהוָ֑ה[am] Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • וַיַּֽעֲשׂוּ־and they did

    vaiyaasu-H6213 →2628 times

  • כֵֽן׃so

    khenH3651 →771 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”7 worksRomans 9:22–23What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?6 worksExodus 7:5And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”6 worksExodus 14:17And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.6 worksExodus 14:8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.5 worksExodus 9:16But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.5 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
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 he will not let the people go.5 worksRomans 9:17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”4 worksEzekiel 32:15‘When I make the land of Egypt a desolation and empty it of all that filled it, when I strike down all who live there, then they will know that I am the LORD.’4 worksExodus 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,3 worksExodus 10:27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.3 worksJudges 4:7And I will draw out Sisera the commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his troops to the River Kishon, and I will deliver him into your hand.’”3 worksLeviticus 10:3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.3 worksEzekiel 28:22And you are to declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will be glorified within you. They will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments against her and demonstrate My holiness through her.3 worksPsalms 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah3 worksEzekiel 38:16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.3 worksIsaiah 64:2as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!3 worksExodus 7:17This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 9:17

    For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 9:16

      But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

    • Exodus 10:1–2

      Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,

    • Exodus 14:17–18

      And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. Then I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army and chariots and horsemen.

  • Through

    Exodus 9:16

    But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 16:4

      The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Romans 9:17

      For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

    • Psalms 83:17–18

      May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.

  • Through

    Exodus 7:5

    And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 14:18

      The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

  • Through

    Exodus 7:3

    But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

    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…

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Egyptians Drown in the Sea — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Egyptians Drown in the Sea — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 14 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God.

Read on in Exodus 14 →