What Does Exodus 10:20 Mean in the King James?
But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse makes hardening visible as withheld release: the heart made firm will not send the people out.
THE MEANING
The LORD hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh does not release Israel from his land. The verse holds divine hardening and human refusal together without easing the tension between them. Captivity remains in place as release is withheld.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that refusing to release is passive: withholding release actively sustains captivity.
THE ROOT
שִׁלַּח
shillaḥ
GROWS FROM
שלח
Send, send forth, release, or let go.
“let … go” in this verse is shillaḥ. The Hebrew verb שִׁלַּח (shillaḥ, “sent away” or “released”) names the action Pharaoh withholds. The verse’s demand is not merely that he stop gripping the people; it is that he send them out.
ALSO GROWS
shālaḥ: Send or send forth.
שָׁלַח
This form makes the movement in “let … go” explicit: the people are to be sent out.
Shiloach: “Sent”; the name associated with the waters of Siloam.
שִׁלֹחַ
John 9:7 glosses Siloam as “Sent.” The same root’s outward movement is linked with waters through which sight is restored.
וַיְחַזֵּק
wayḥazzēq
GROWS FROM
חזק
Be strong or firm; strengthen, make firm, or hold fast.
“hardened” in this verse is wayḥazzēq. The Hebrew verb comes from חזק (ḥ-z-q), “be strong” or “make firm.” That firmness is exposed by what follows: Pharaoh’s heart holds fast against the demand to release.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong or become firm.
חָזַק
It shows the strength-language beneath “hardened”: the heart is made firm in its refusal.
heḥĕzîq: Take hold of or hold fast.
הֶחֱזִיק
The sense of holding fast sharpens the contrast with שִׁלַּח (shillaḥ, “release”): Pharaoh’s heart holds firm where the people are meant to be sent out.
THE PATTERN
Bondage is sustained by withheld release, while deliverance is voiced as sending people out and opening what is bound.
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,THE THREAD
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.The Hebrew verb שִׁלַּח (shillaḥ, “send away” or “release”) appears as the demand “Let my people go.” Here the same demand meets a heart made firm against it: the refusal stops the sending out.
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