Isaiah 55:13

55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,

firs will grow in place of nettles;

they will be a monument to the Lord, ¹ 

a permanent reminder that will remain. ² 

Exodus 14:16-17

14:16 And as for you, ³  lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that ⁴  the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ⁵  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ⁶  they will come after them, that I may be honored ⁷  because ⁸  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Romans 9:17

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ⁹  “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).

² tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”

³ tn The conjunction plus pronoun (“and you”) is emphatic – “and as for you” – before the imperative “lift up.” In contrast, v. 17 begins with “and as for me, I….”

⁴ tn The imperfect (or jussive) with the vav (ו) is sequential, coming after the series of imperatives instructing Moses to divide the sea; the form then gives the purpose (or result) of the activity – “that they may go.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

⁸ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

⁹ sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.