Exodus 7:14
in Exodus 7Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, he refuseth to let the people go.
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
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This verse in Exodus 7
Commentary
2 notes on this verseAnd the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened,.... Or "heavy" (c), dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, cannot lift up his heart, or find in his heart to obey the will of God: he refuseth to let the people go; which was an instance and proof of the hardness and heaviness of his heart, on which the above miracle had made no impression, to regard what God by his ambassadors had required of him. (c) כבד "grave", Montanus, Drusius. So Ainsworth.
This site's exposition
he refuseth to let the people go
The Hebrew word behind the English harden changes here. Verse 13 has chazaq and this verse has kabed, which carries the sense of heavy or dull, and qashah stands behind the same English elsewhere in the book, so no single Hebrew word runs through the nineteen statements. Clarke reads the heaviness as the condition of a man who takes no conviction from evidence however clear the light on it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
AND THE LORD SAID…PHARAOH’S HEART IS STUBBORN. Kaved (is stubborn) is a verb in the perfect.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
By itself. 62 God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh hardened it himself.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| כָּבֵ֖ד | kaved | [is] heavy | H3515 → | 41 times |
| לֵ֣ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֑ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| מֵאֵ֖ן | meen | he has refused | H3985 → | 41 times |
| לְשַׁלַּ֥ח | leshalach | to let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
כָּבֵ֖ד[is] heavy
kavedH3515 →41 times
לֵ֣ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
פַּרְעֹ֑הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
מֵאֵ֖ןhe has refused
meenH3985 →41 times
לְשַׁלַּ֥חto let go
leshalachH7971 →845 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 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
Exodus 10:20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
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.
- Exodus 4:21
Through
Exodus 8:15When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 8:11
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Isaiah 26:10
Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
- Hebrews 3:8
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
- Hebrews 3:15
As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
- Exodus 7:4
Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land…
- Ecclesiastes 8:11
Through
Jeremiah 9:6You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 13:10
These evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who go after other gods to serve and worship them, they will be like this…
- Jeremiah 13:10
Through
Exodus 10:27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
it leads to
- Exodus 10:20
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
- Exodus 10:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.