But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go.
- KJV But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
- NKJV But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
- NASB But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
- NLT But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart once more, and he would not let them go.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let them go. Pharaoh again refuses under God's sovereign hand.
Overview
The refrain of God's hardening recurs, framing Pharaoh's refusal within the divine plan. Pharaoh rejects Moses' insistence on full obedience, clinging to his resistance. The repeated hardening and refusal heighten the tension before the final plague. It confirms that only the ultimate judgment will break Egypt's grip on Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 10:20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
- Exod 4:21The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
- Exod 14:8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out defiantly.
- Exod 14:4And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
- Rev 9:20Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
- Rev 16:10–11And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
- Exod 10:1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 10:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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