Exodus 9:27
in Exodus 9Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
KJV
And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSee whether it is for this reason that God hardens the heart of Pharaoh, so that at a moment when he was not hardened he could say, "The Lord is just: I and my people are wicked." His heart has to be hardened further, and he has to suffer more, that he may not, because he has been freed of his hardheartedness too quickly, think too lightly of that hardheartedness and so may have to have his heart hardened over and over again.
This site's exposition
I have sinned this time
on Exodus 9:27-28
I have sinned occurs here for the first time in Scripture and the mouth it comes out of is Pharaoh's. He grants the whole case, that the LORD is righteous and that he and his people are wicked, and then asks for one thing, that the thunder stop. He says it again at 10:16 and takes it back both times, which is why Matthew Henry reads the words as a man conceding the weather rather than repenting.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Pharaoh said to Moses, "This time I have sinned." And the previous times he hardened his heart, did he not sin? And even if he sinned the previous times, he did not sin the way he did this time. [The Lord] warned him to bring …
Moreover, as we are wont to sing in the hymn, "God is faithful, without deceit." For this reason, as I mentioned above, we should believe without any doubt concerning Pharaoh that he became hardened because of God's patience rather than his power. This fact we …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. Warning given of another plague, namely, the murrain of beasts.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:83%@v6-7
And Pharaoh sent,....
He condemns himself and his land: " I and my people are wicked, and deserve what is brought upon us." He begs the prayers of Moses: " Entreat the Lord for me, that this direful plague may be removed." And, lastly, he promises to yield up his prisoners: I will let you go. What could one desire more? And yet his heart was hardened all this while.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked - The original is very emphatic: The Lord is The Righteous One, (הצדיק hatstaddik), and I and my people are The Sinners, (הרשעים hareshaim); i.e., He is alone righteous, and we alone are transgressors. Who could have imagined that after such an acknowledgment and confession, Pharaoh should have again hardened his heart?
The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked - The original is very emphatic: The Lord is The Righteous One, (הצדיק hatstaddik), and I and my people are The Sinners, (הרשעים hareshaim); i.e., He is alone righteous, and we alone are transgressors. Who could have imagined that after such an acknowledgment and confession, Pharaoh should have again hardened his heart?
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֗ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| וַיִּקְרָא֙ | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לְמֹשֶׁ֣ה | lemosheh | <to> Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֔ן | uleaharon | and <to> Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֖ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חָטָ֣אתִי | chatati | I have sinned | H2398 → | 238 times |
| הַפָּ֑עַם | hapaam | this time | H6471 → | 118 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַצַּדִּ֔יק | hatzadik | [is] the righteous [one] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| וַאֲנִ֥י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וְעַמִּ֖י | veami | and people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָרְשָׁעִֽים׃ | hareshaim | [are] the guilty [ones] | H7563 → | 263 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
פַּרְעֹ֗הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
וַיִּקְרָא֙and he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
לְמֹשֶׁ֣ה<to> Moses
lemoshehH4872 →765 times
וּֽלְאַהֲרֹ֔ןand <to> Aaron
uleaharonH175 →347 times
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֖םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
חָטָ֣אתִיI have sinned
chatatiH2398 →238 times
הַפָּ֑עַםthis time
hapaamH6471 →118 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַצַּדִּ֔יק[is] the righteous [one]
hatzadikH6662 →206 times
וַאֲנִ֥יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
וְעַמִּ֖יand people my
veamiH5971 →1873 times
הָרְשָׁעִֽים׃[are] the guilty [ones]
hareshaimH7563 →263 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
Psalms 145:17The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:5
The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
- Psalms 103:6
The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
- Psalms 116:5
The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
- Isaiah 45:21
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but…
- Zephaniah 3:5
Through
Psalms 129:4The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:137
Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
- Lamentations 3:22
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Psalms 119:137
Through
Lamentations 1:18The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:75
I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.
- Psalms 119:75
About Exodus
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 101.5; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON EXODUS 9:4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, ON PRAYER 29.16.