Exodus 10:1

1 God said to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh. I've made him stubborn, him and his servants, so that I can force him to look at these signs

Exodus 10:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:1

And the Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh, for I have
hardened his heart
Or, as some render it, "though I have hardened his heart" ^F21; or otherwise it would seem rather to be a reason he should not go, than why he should; at least it would be discouraging, and he might object to what purpose should he go, it would be in vain, no end would be answered by it; though there was an end God had in view, and which was answered by hardening his heart,

and the heart of his servants;
whose hearts also were hardened until now; until the plague of the locusts was threatened, and then they relent; which end was as follows:

that I might shew these my signs before him;
which had been shown already, and others that were to be done, see ( Exodus 7:3 ) or in the midst of him ^F23, in the midst of his land, or in his heart, see ( Exodus 9:14 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (yk) "quamvis", Piscator; so Ainsworth.
F23 (wbrqb) "in medio ejus", Pagninus, Drusius; "in interioribus ejus", Montanus.

Exodus 10:1 In-Context

1 God said to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh. I've made him stubborn, him and his servants, so that I can force him to look at these signs

2 and so you'll be able to tell your children and grandchildren how I toyed with the Egyptians, like a cat with a mouse; you'll tell them the stories of the signs that I brought down on them, so that you'll all know that I am God."

3 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "God, the God of the Hebrews, says, 'How long are you going to refuse to knuckle under? Release my people so that they can worship me.

4 If you refuse to release my people, watch out; tomorrow I'm bringing locusts into your country.

5 They'll cover every square inch of ground; no one will be able to see the ground. They'll devour everything left over from the hailstorm, even the saplings out in the fields - they'll clear-cut the trees.