Exodus 4:21

God forewarns Moses to perform the wonders before Pharaoh, but says He will harden Pharaoh's heart so he refuses. God remains sovereign over Pharaoh's resistance, though this raises questions faithful readers weigh carefully.

Cross-references · 23

• Rom 9:18Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
• Josh 11:20For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD had commanded Moses.
• Isa 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
• 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 7:13Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
• Exod 9:12But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses.
• Exod 9:35So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.
• Exod 10:20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.
• Exod 3:20So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. And after that, he will release you.
• John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
• 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.
• Exod 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
• 2 Th 2:10–12and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
• Rom 11:8–10as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
• Rom 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
• 1 Pet 2:8and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
• Isa 6:10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
• Deut 2:30–33But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
• 1 Kgs 22:22And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
• Deut 2:36From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the valley, even as far as Gilead, not one city had walls too high for us. The LORD our God gave us all of them.
• 2 Cor 2:16To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?
• Ps 105:25whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.
• Gen 6:3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.