Exodus 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ²  they will come after them, that I may be honored ³  because ⁴  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Exodus 14:28

14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea ⁵  – not so much as one of them survived! ⁶ 

¹ tn הִנְנִי (hinni) before the participle gives it the force of a futur instans participle, meaning “I am about to harden” or “I am going to harden” their heart.

² tn The form again is the imperfect tense with vav (ו) to express the purpose or the result of the hardening. The repetition of the verb translated “come” is interesting: Moses is to divide the sea in order that the people may cross, but God will harden the Egyptians’ hearts in order that they may follow.

³ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

⁴ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

⁵ tn Heb “that was coming after them into the sea.” The referent of “them” (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “not was left among them as much as one.”