Exodus 10:1

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened ^[a] his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them,

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 Then 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,

2 and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of you may know that I am the LORD.”

3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

4 But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow.

5 They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or made heavy