Some Thoughts on an Exodus Theme - Who Hardens the Heart?

 

Some Thoughts on an Exodus Theme

Part 2: Who Hardens the Heart?

In our previous article, we proposed the exploration of a Biblical leitmotif: the hardened heart.  Although it can be found throughout both the Old and New Testaments, it is a dominant theme in the book of Exodus, the second book in the Hebrew Bible. 

We proposed that three questions will help us better understand this theme, exploring not only what the plain Text might be saying on its face, but also teasing out some new insights that might lie between the lines. 

 

1.         What is being “hardened” when the Bible speaks of the “heart”?

2.         What does it mean for the heart to be “hardened”?

3.         And who does the hardening?

Scripture is like a diamond.  It seldom reads the same way twice, for one thing.  But shifting your perspective yields colors you did not see before.  Let’s begin turning the diamond by
answering the final question first. 

Who Does the Hardening?

This question is both the easiest and the hardest one to answer. 

In Exodus, God hardens Pharaoh’s and the Egyptians’ hearts.  But there are occasions when Pharaoh hardens his own heart.  And there are verses where his heart seems to be hardened by circumstances.  Here are examples of each type. 

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand.  But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 4:21 

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:15 

Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead.  But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.
Exodus 9:7

Ten times in the story, God does the hardening, including the very first occurrence of the motif in chapter four (cited above).  Three times, Pharaoh hardens his own heart.  The other six occurrences of the motif are ambiguous: the heart seems hardened by circumstances. 

There is a nuance to the “circumstances” answer because four of them seem to be “circumstances” related to the choices of either God or Pharaoh.  For example, Exodus 7:13-14 follow Exodus 7:3, where it is God Who hardens the heart: 

3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt…  13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.  14 So the Lord said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.

In Exodus 9:35, the Text explains that Pharaoh’s heart is hard, but this follows immediately verse 34 where Pharaoh himself does the hardening: 

34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.  35 So, the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord had spoken by Moses.

It seems, therefore, that the answer to this question of who does the hardening is a bit of an “all of the above” one.  Isn’t that just like the Bible to leave things ambiguous?  It’s almost as though God wants some things to remain mysterious and beyond our reach.

 

Next, we will turn to WHAT’s being hardened: the heart.