Exodus 4:21

4:21 The Lord said ¹  to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, ²  see that you ³  do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. ⁴  But I will harden ⁵  his heart ⁶  and ⁷  he will not let the people go.

Exodus 11:10

11:10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.

Numbers 21:23

21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ⁸  gathered all his forces ⁹  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ¹⁰  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

Joshua 11:19-20

11:19 No city made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); ¹¹  they had to conquer all of them, ¹²  11:20 for the Lord determined to make them obstinate so they would attack Israel. He wanted Israel to annihilate them without mercy, as he had instructed Moses. ¹³ 

Jude 1:20

1:20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ 

Romans 9:17-23

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ¹⁵  “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.” ¹⁶  9:18 So then, ¹⁷  God ¹⁸  has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. ¹⁹ 

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ²⁰  – to talk back to God? ²¹  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²²  9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ²³  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ²⁴  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ²⁵  of wrath ²⁶  prepared for destruction? ²⁷  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ²⁸  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

[4:21]  ¹ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[4:21]  ² tn The construction may involve a verbal hendiadys using the two infinitive forms: “when you go to return” (בְּלֶכְתְּךָ לָשׁוּב, bÿlekhtÿkha lashuv). The clause is temporal, subordinated to the instruction to do the signs. Therefore, its focus cannot be on going to return, i.e., preparing or beginning to return.

[4:21]  ³ tn The two verb forms in this section are the imperative (רְאֵה, rÿ’eh) followed by the perfect with the vav (וַעֲשִׂיתָם, va’asitam). The second could be coordinated and function as a second command: “see…and [then] do”; or it could be subordinated logically: “see…so that you do.” Some commentators who take the first option suggest that Moses was supposed to contemplate these wonders before doing them before Pharaoh. That does not seem as likely as the second interpretation reflected in the translation.

[4:21]  ⁴ tn Or “in your power”; Heb “in your hand.”

[4:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “strengthen” (in the sense of making stubborn or obstinate). The text has the expression וַאֲנִי אֲחַזֵּק אֶת־לִבּוֹ (va’ani ’akhazzeq ’et-libbo), “I will make strong his will,” or “I will strengthen his resolve,” recognizing the “heart” as the location of decision making (see Prov 16:1, 9).

[4:21]  ⁶ sn Here is the first mention of the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh. God first tells Moses he must do the miracles, but he also announces that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, as if working against Moses. It will help Moses to know that God is bringing about the resistance in order to bring a greater victory with greater glory. There is a great deal of literature on this, but see among the resources F. W. Danker, “Hardness of Heart: A Study in Biblical Thematic,” CTM 44 (1973): 89-100; R. R. Wilson, “The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart,” CBQ 41 (1979): 18-36; and R. B. Chisholm Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34.

[4:21]  ⁷ tn Or “so that.”

[21:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ¹⁰ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[11:19]  ¹¹ tn The LXX omits this parenthetical note, which may represent a later scribal addition.

[11:19]  ¹² tn Heb “the whole they took in battle.”

[11:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “for from the Lord it was to harden their heart[s] to meet for the battle with Israel, in order to annihilate them, so that they would receive no mercy, in order annihilate them, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

[1:20]  ¹⁴ tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.

[9:17]  ¹⁵ 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.

[9:17]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.

[9:18]  ¹⁷ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

[9:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ²¹ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ²² sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.

[9:21]  ²³ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ²⁴ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ²⁶ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ²⁷ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:23]  ²⁸ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.