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Exodus 7:13

in Exodus 7

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as Jehovah had spoken.

KJV

And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

This verse in Exodus 7

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart - ויחזק לב פרעה vaiyechezak leb Paroh, “And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened,” the identical words which in Exo 7:22 are thus translated, and which should have been rendered in the same way here, lest the hardening, which was evidently the effect of his own obstinate shutting of his eyes against the truth, should be attributed to God. See Clarke’s note on Exo 4:21.

This site's exposition

that he hearkened not unto them

The KJV reads And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, which leaves the subject of the verb open, and the ASV renders the same clause And Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Adam Clarke argued that the Hebrew here is the identical construction the KJV translates as was hardened at verse 22, and that it should have been put the same way in both places. Any reading of the chapter that leans on this verse has to say that the translations differ. The closing clause, as the LORD had said, points back to the refusal foretold at verse 4.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

By itself. 62 God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh hardened it himself.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 7:13:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
This, the swallowing of the magicians’ rods by Aaron’s staff and their consequent disappearance, 58 The magicians’ rods disappeared permanently. was a second wonder.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 7:12:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004
AND THE LORD SAID…PHARAOH’S HEART IS STUBBORN. Kaved (is stubborn) is a verb in the perfect.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 7:14:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

9 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.

  • וַיֶּחֱזַק֙and it was strong

    vaiyechezakH2388291 times

  • לֵ֣ב[the] heart of

    levH3820595 times

  • פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh

    parohH6547274 times

  • וְלֹ֥אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • שָׁמַ֖עhe listened

    shama'H80851159 times

  • אֲלֵהֶ֑םto them

    ʾalehemH4135510 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as

    kaasherH8345497 times

  • דִּבֶּ֥רhe had said

    diberH16961141 times

  • יְהוָֽה׃ פYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

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

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 1:28

    Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

    it leads to

    • 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.

    • Titus 1:16

      They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.

    • Romans 1:21

      For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

    • Jeremiah 9:6

      You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

    • Romans 1:24

      Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Romans 9:18

      Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.

    • 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…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Exodus

Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.