Exodus 5:9

5:9 Make the work harder ¹  for the men so they will keep at it ²  and pay no attention to lying words!” ³ 

Exodus 14:18

14:18 And the Egyptians will know ⁴  that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor ⁵  because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Exodus 8:15

8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, ⁶  he hardened ⁷  his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. ⁸ 

Exodus 8:32

8:32 But Pharaoh hardened ⁹  his heart this time also and did not release the people.

Exodus 9:7

9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, ¹⁰  and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, ¹¹  and he did not release the people.

Exodus 9:34

9:34 When Pharaoh saw ¹²  that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: ¹³  both he and his servants hardened ¹⁴  their hearts.

Exodus 14:4

14:4 I will harden ¹⁵  Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor ¹⁶  because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know ¹⁷  that I am the Lord.” So this is what they did. ¹⁸ 

Exodus 14:17

14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden ¹⁹  the hearts of the Egyptians so that ²⁰  they will come after them, that I may be honored ²¹  because ²²  of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen.

Exodus 20:12

20:12 “Honor ²³  your father and your mother, that you may live a long time ²⁴  in the land ²⁵  the Lord your God is giving to you.

Exodus 10:1

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 ²⁶ The Lord said ²⁷  to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display ²⁸  these signs of mine before him, ²⁹ 

[5:9]  ¹ tn Heb “let the work be heavy.”

[5:9]  ² tn The text has וְיַעֲשׂוּ־בָהּ (vÿya’asu-vah, “and let them work in it”) or the like. The jussive forms part of the king’s decree that the men not only be required to work harder but be doing it: “Let them be occupied in it.”

[5:9]  ³ sn The words of Moses are here called “lying words” (דִבְרֵי־שָׁקֶר, divre-shaqer). Here is the main reason, then, for Pharaoh’s new policy. He wanted to discredit Moses. So the words that Moses spoke Pharaoh calls false and lying words. The world was saying that God’s words were vain and deceptive because they were calling people to a higher order. In a short time God would reveal that they were true words.

[14:18]  ⁴ tn The construction is unusual in that it says, “And Egypt will know.” The verb is plural, and so “Egypt” must mean “the Egyptians.” The verb is the perfect tense with the vav consecutive, showing that this recognition or acknowledgment by Egypt will be the result or purpose of the defeat of them by God.

[14:18]  ⁵ tn The form is בְּהִכָּבְדִי (bÿhikkavÿdi), the Niphal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. For the suffix on a Niphal, see GKC 162-63 §61.c. The word forms a temporal clause in the line.

[8:15]  ⁷ tn The word רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah) means “respite, relief.” BDB 926 relates it to the verb רָוַח (ravakh, “to be wide, spacious”). There would be relief when there was freedom to move about.

[8:15]  ⁸ tn וְהַכְבֵּד (vÿhakhbed) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, functioning as a finite verb. The meaning of the word is “to make heavy,” and so stubborn, sluggish, indifferent. It summarizes his attitude and the outcome, that he refused to keep his promises.

[8:15]  ⁹ sn The end of the plague revealed clearly God’s absolute control over Egypt’s life and deities – all at the power of the man who prayed to God. Yahweh had made life unpleasant for the people by sending the plague, but he was also the one who could remove it. The only recourse anyone has in such trouble is to pray to the sovereign Lord God. Everyone should know that there is no one like Yahweh.

[8:32]  ¹⁰ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[9:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Pharaoh sent.” The phrase “representatives to investigate” is implied in the context.

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.

[9:34]  ¹⁶ tn The clause beginning with the preterite and vav (ו) consecutive is here subordinated to the next, and main clause – that he hardened his heart again.

[9:34]  ¹⁷ tn The construction is another verbal hendiadys: וַיֹּסֶף לַחֲטֹּא (vayyosef lakhatto’), literally rendered “and he added to sin.” The infinitive construct becomes the main verb, and the Hiphil preterite becomes adverbial. The text is clearly interpreting as sin the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his refusal to release Israel. At the least this means that the plagues are his fault, but the expression probably means more than this – he was disobeying Yahweh God.

[9:34]  ¹⁸ tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.

[14:4]  ¹⁹ tn In this place the verb חָזַק (hazaq) is used; it indicates that God would make Pharaoh’s will strong or firm.

[14:4]  ²⁰ tn The form is וְאִכָּבְדָה (vÿ’ikkavÿda), the Niphal cohortative; coming after the perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives expressing the future, this cohortative indicates the purpose of the hardening and chasing. Yahweh intended to gain glory by this final and great victory over the strength of Pharaoh. There is irony in this expression since a different form of the word was used frequently to describe Pharaoh’s hard heart. So judgment will not only destroy the wicked – it will reveal the glory and majesty of the sovereignty of God.

[14:4]  ²¹ tn This is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive. But it announces the fulfillment of an long standing purpose – that they might know.

[14:4]  ²² tn Heb “and they did so.”

[14:17]  ²² 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.

[14:17]  ²³ 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.

[14:17]  ²⁴ tn For the comments on this verb see the discussion in v. 4. God would get glory by defeating Egypt.

[14:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “I will get glory over.”

[20:12]  ²⁵ tn The verb כַּבֵּד (kabbed) is a Piel imperative; it calls for people to give their parents the respect and honor that is appropriate for them. It could be paraphrased to say, give them the weight of authority that they deserve. Next to God, parents were to be highly valued, cared for, and respected.

[20:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “that your days may be long.”

[20:12]  ²⁷ sn The promise here is national rather than individual, although it is certainly true that the blessing of life was promised for anyone who was obedient to God’s commands (Deut 4:1, 8:1, etc.). But as W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:424) summarizes, the land that was promised was the land of Canaan, and the duration of Israel in the land was to be based on morality and the fear of God as expressed in the home (Deut 4:26, 33, 40; 32:46-47). The captivity was in part caused by a breakdown in this area (Ezek 22:7, 15). Malachi would announce at the end of his book that Elijah would come at the end of the age to turn the hearts of the children and the parents toward each other again.

[10:1]  ²⁸ sn The Egyptians dreaded locusts like every other ancient civilization. They had particular gods to whom they looked for help in such catastrophes. The locust-scaring deities of Greece and Asia were probably looked to in Egypt as well (especially in view of the origins in Egypt of so many of those religious ideas). The announcement of the plague falls into the now-familiar pattern. God tells Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh but reminds Moses that he has hardened his heart. Yahweh explains that he has done this so that he might show his power, so that in turn they might declare his name from generation to generation. This point is stressed so often that it must not be minimized. God was laying the foundation of the faith for Israel – the sovereignty of Yahweh.

[10:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Yahweh said.”

[10:1]  ³⁰ tn The verb is שִׁתִי (shiti, “I have put”); it is used here as a synonym for the verb שִׂים (sim). Yahweh placed the signs in his midst, where they will be obvious.

[10:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “in his midst.”