What Does Exodus 9:12 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.
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 binds Pharaoh’s refusal to hear to a heart the LORD himself makes firm.
THE MEANING
The LORD makes Pharaoh’s heart firm, and Pharaoh does not hear them. The verse holds that refusal within what the LORD has spoken to Moses: divine agency and Pharaoh’s nonresponse stand together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that Pharaoh’s refusal is only an independent human act: it explicitly says the LORD makes his heart firm.
THE ROOT
וַיְחַזֵּק
wayḥazzēq
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
To be strong or firm; in this form, to strengthen or make firm.
“hardened” in this verse is wayḥazzēq. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of making Pharaoh’s heart firm or strong. The refusal that follows is presented as a settled condition under the LORD’s action.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzāq: Strong or firm.
חָזָק
The root’s language of firmness gives depth to the KJV’s “hardened.”
heḥĕzîq: To grasp, hold, or maintain a firm hold.
הֶחֱזִיק
This branch echoes the way Pharaoh’s refusal holds its ground in the verse.
שָׁמַע
shāmaʿ
GROWS FROM
שמע
sh-m-ʿ
To hear or listen, with the sense of receiving and responding.
The verse’s “hearkened not” reaches beyond sound reaching the ear: Pharaoh does not receive the words as a response. The firm heart and the absence of responsive hearing stand together.
ALSO GROWS
shemaʿ: Hear and respond.
שְׁמַע
This familiar form of the root holds hearing and response together, illuminating what Pharaoh withholds.
shemuʿah: A report or message received by hearing.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch keeps the focus on what is heard; Pharaoh’s failure is a refusal to receive the message.
דִּבֶּר
dibber
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
To speak; the related noun can mean a word or a matter.
The final clause ties Pharaoh’s refusal to what the LORD has spoken to Moses. The related noun davar can mean both “word” and “matter,” joining the declaration to the matter unfolding.
ALSO GROWS
dāḇār: A word, thing, or matter.
דָּבָר
Its range lets the spoken word and the unfolding matter echo within one root-family.
dibber: Spoke or uttered.
דִּבֶּר
This is the verb used for what the LORD has said to Moses, framing the refusal as the fulfillment of that speech.
THE PATTERN
The verse presents Pharaoh’s refusal as both his response and an outcome the LORD has declared and enacts.
And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.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:Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.THE THREAD
And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.The same root, חזק (ḥ-z-q), names the LORD’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart here and in the earlier declaration to Moses. Exodus 9:12 shows that declared action taking place.
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