Exodus 7:13

_AND HE HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART, THAT HE HEARKENED NOT UNTO THEM; AS THE LORD HAD SAID._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

8-13 What men dislike, because it opposes their pride and lusts, they will not be convinced of; but it is easy to cause them to believe things they wish to be true. God always sends with his word full proofs of its Divine authority; but when men are bent to disobey, and willing to object, he often permits a snare to be laid wherein they are entangled. The magicians were cheats, trying to copy the real miracles of Moses by secret sleights or jugglings, which to a small extent they succeeded in doing, so as to deceive the bystanders, but they were at length obliged to confess they could not any longer imitate the effects of Divine power. None assist more in the destruction of sinners, than such as resist the truth by amusing men with a counterfeit resemblance of it. Satan is most to be dreaded when transformed into an angel of light....

Verse Exodus 7:13. _AND HE HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART_] ויחזק לב פרעה _vaiyechezah leb Paroh_, "And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened," the identical words which in Exodus 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. Exodus 4:21....

AND HE HARDENED - Or Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. See Exodus 4:21....

EXPOSITION THE FIRST SIGN, AND ITS FAILURE TO CONVINCE. Obeying the command given them (Exodus 7:2, Exodus 7:9), Moses and Aaron went to the court a second time, and entering into the royal presence, probably repeated their demand—as from God—that the king would let the Children of Israel go (Exodus 6:11), when Pharaoh objected that they had no authority to speak to him in God's name, and required an evidence of their authority, either in the actual words of Exodus 7:9 ("Shew a miracle for you"), or in some equiva

AND HE HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART,.... Or, "notwithstanding the heart of Pharaoh was hardened" a; though he saw the rods of his magicians devoured by rod; or "therefore" b his heart was hardened, because he saw that the rods of his magicians became serpents as well as Aaron's; in which there was a deception of sight, and which was suffered for the hardening of his heart, there being other wonders and miracles to be wrought, for showing forth the divine power, before Israel must be let go: THAT HE HEARKENED NOT UNTO THEM; to Moses and Aaron, and comply with their demand, to dismiss the people of Israel: AS THE LORD HAD SAID; or foretold he would not. a ויחזק "attamen obfirmatum est", Junius Tremellius. b "Itaque", Piscator....

CHAPTER S 6:28-7:13 THE RENEWED COMMISSION AND BEFORE PHARAOH AGAIN _ 1. Renewed commission and renewed hesitation (Exodus 6:28)_ 2. Jehovah's instructions (Exodus 7:1) 3. Before Pharaoh and the sign of the rod (Exodus 7:10) Once more Moses received his commission, and again he hesitated on account of his poor speech. After all the gracious words Jehovah had spoken he pleads again his weakness. It shows what the unbelieving heart is. Twice Jehovah said that Moses should be a god. A god to Aaron (4:16) and a god to Pharaoh (7:1). He received divine authority and power over Pharaoh, while he was to his spokesman Aaron a god, because the word he uttered to him to communicate to Pharaoh was the word of

EXODUS 7:8 P. AARON AND THE MAGICIANS: HARDENING OF PHARAOH'S HEART. Magic and religion are, in the last analysis, fundamentally diverse; for, while magic claims to put a compelling constraint upon occult powers, religion implies a relation and dependence upon a personal Being of which prayer is the characteristic expression (p. 187). But the two have been, and are still, almost inextricably intermingled. It is not surprising, therefore, to find magical powers, in all good faith, claimed for the servants of Yahweh, and allowed, in inferior degree, to exist among His enemies. Magic has been called the science of primitive times, and its obvious success is due to a mixture of bluff, shrewd prognostication, cunning contrivance (_cf._ secret arts, Exodus 7:11 _mg._), and sleight-of-hand. Serpent-charmi

HE HARDENED. The Hebrew here is "Pharaoh's heart was hardened". See on Exodus 4:21. AS. according as. IT WILL BE NOTICED that the number _nine is_ connected with judgment (see App-10), and that the third plague of each three is without warning. To make the sym metry complete, Aaron was used in the infliction of the first three, and Moses of the last three....

AND HE HARDENED PHARAOH'S HEART— _And Pharaoh's heart was hardened_ says Dr. Waterland. The same phrase occurs, Exodus 7:22 and ought in ours, as in other versions, to have been rendered the same in both places....