What Does Exodus 8:19 Mean in the King James?
Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
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 magicians recognize God’s action, yet Pharaoh’s heart stands firm against the testimony they have just spoken.
THE MEANING
The verse brings this split into the present: God’s action can be named clearly while the heart remains firm and does not hear and respond. The LORD’s word already holds this refusal within what has been spoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the assumption that clearly recognizing what is true automatically produces a willing response.
THE ROOT
וַיֶּחֱזַק
vayechezaq
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong or firm; to strengthen or take hold.
“hardened” in this verse is vayechezaq. The root adds the picture of Pharaoh’s heart standing firm: strength itself is turned toward refusal. The word holds resistance and firmness together in a way the English rendering leaves less visible.
ALSO GROWS
chazaq: Strong, firm
חָזָק
This branch makes the heart’s refusal sound like a settled firmness, not merely a passing reaction.
chizzeq: Strengthen, make strong
חִזֵּק
The same root can describe something gaining strength, giving the heart’s resistance the quality of firmness that holds.
וְלֹא־שָׁמַע
velo-shama
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, or attend.
“hearkened not” in this verse is velo-shama. The root שמע joins hearing with attending and response. Pharaoh’s refusal is not presented as a lack of sound reaching him, but as a failure to receive the words responsively.
ALSO GROWS
shema: Hear; hear and respond
שְׁמַע
The familiar call to hear shows the responsive sense of this root; Pharaoh does not enter that kind of hearing.
shemuah: Report, news
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch names a message that is heard or received, bringing out the distance between words reaching someone and their answering them.
THE PATTERN
Recognizing God’s action does not compel a responsive hearing.
Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:THE THREAD
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.Jesus uses the same image, “the finger of God,” for God’s action becoming visible among people. The shared phrase connects the magicians’ recognition in Exodus with the arrival of God’s governance in Luke.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us