What Does Exodus 11:10 Mean in the King James?
And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
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 LORD strengthens Pharaoh’s refusal at the very point where Israel needs release.
THE MEANING
This verse holds two forces together for you now: the LORD makes Pharaoh’s heart firm, and Pharaoh refuses to release Israel from his land. Wonders stand before him, yet the people remain captive.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that seeing a wonder must make power yield: the wonders appear before Pharaoh, yet release is still withheld.
THE ROOT
וַיְחַזֵּק
wayḥazzeq
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
Strengthen, make firm; be strong or prevail.
The English “hardened” carries the resistant surface; this verb also carries the sense of being made strong or firm. The refusal gains force, holding against the release named in the same sentence.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong, become firm, prevail.
חָזַק
The heart’s resistance is portrayed as gaining strength, not merely as remaining unchanged.
hitḥazzēq: Strengthen oneself, become strong.
הִתְחַזֵּק
This related form makes the root’s movement toward greater firmness visible in Pharaoh’s refusal.
שִׁלַּח
shillaḥ
GROWS FROM
שלח
š-l-ḥ
Send forth, send away, release, let go.
The Hebrew verb beneath “let ... go” means to send away or release. The verse sets the roots against each other: Pharaoh’s heart is made firm, and the people are not sent forth from his land.
ALSO GROWS
shālîaḥ: Messenger, emissary; one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
The related word for a messenger carries the same movement outward that Pharaoh withholds from Israel.
shulḥān: Table; provision extended.
שֻׁלְחָן
The table connects this root’s sending forth with provision extended outward, while Pharaoh keeps the people confined in his land.
THE PATTERN
Resistance made firm can keep release withheld even when signs or correction stand before it.
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.THE THREAD
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:The same root, חזק (ḥ-z-q), “strengthen or make firm,” appears as the LORD speaks of Pharaoh’s heart. This verse adds that the signs are shown in the presence of that firmness; Exodus 11:10 carries the sequence forward, with wonders before Pharaoh and Israel still not released.
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