Several verses in Exodus disclose that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not free the Jewish people. Then why did God punish Pharaoh? Ramban explains.
Ramban uses Exodus 7:3 as the starting point for this important topic:
3. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
Ramban’s Question
If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, then what is his transgression when he refuses to let the Jewish people leave Egypt?
Ramban offers two answers to this question and states immediately that both answers are correct.
The summary of his answers are:
- Pharaoh didn’t deserve the ability to repent.
- Pharaoh, not God, hardened his own heart during the first 5 plagues.
Before diving in, let’s review the 10 plagues.
The 10 Plagues
It’s well known that God struck Egypt with 10 plagues over the course of about one year.
The idea of Pharaoh’s heart becoming hardened is mentioned in relation to all of the plagues.
It is also mentioned in relation to two other incidents. First, before the plagues, when Aaron’s staff turned into a snake (Exodus 7:8-13).
Then at the end, at the splitting of the sea (Exodus 14:4 and 8).
First 5 Plagues
This actually starts with the miracle of Aaron’s staff (Exodus 7:13), “Pharaoh’s heart hardened.” This incident was a warning to Pharaoh to obey God.
Then we have the actual plagues.
- Turning water into Blood – Exodus 7:22 “Pharaoh’s heart hardened”
- Frogs – Exodus 8:11 “Pharaoh … hardened his heart”
- Lice – Exodus 8:15 “Pharaoh’s heart hardened”
- Wild Beasts – Exodus 8:28 “Pharaoh made his heart stubborn”
- Disease Epidemic – Exodus 9:7 “Pharaoh’s heart became stubborn”
In plagues #1-3 and the miracle with Aaron’s staff, “hardened” is the Hebrew root chet-zayin-kuf. It’s clear from the context that it’s Pharaoh causing the hardening.
In the plagues #4 and 5, the Hebrew root kaf-bet-dalet (which is the concept of being heavy) is translated as “stubborn.”
Last 5 Plagues
It’s clear in the last 5 plagues that God is responsible for hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
- Boils – Exodus 9:12 “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Hail – Exodus 9:35 “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened”
- Locusts – Exodus 10:20 “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Darkness – Exodus 10:27 “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
- Death of the Firstborn – Exodus 11:10 “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart”
We also read at the splitting the sea (Exodus 14:8) “the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.”
All of these verses have the root chet-zayin-kuf with God causing the hardening.
Now let’s explore the reasoning behind Ramban’s two answers.
1. Pharaoh Didn’t Deserve to Repent
Pharaoh didn’t deserve the ability to repent because of the many sins he committed before Moses came to free the Jewish people.
[God] revealed to him [Moses] that He was destined to harden his [Pharaoh’s] heart in order to punish him for his enslaving them with hard labor.
Pharaoh’s punishment is because of the servitude and the hard labor used to oppress the Children of Israel. That includes the throwing of the baby boys into the Nile and placing taskmasters over the people.
But Affliction was Ordained
Abraham was told that his offspring would be afflicted. He wasn’t told which country or what the affliction would entail.
13. … Know for a certainty that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them …
14. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge …
That means that Pharaoh was only doing what God revealed to Abraham and shouldn’t be punished for his actions.
According to Ramban, Pharaoh exceeded the affliction that God told Abraham about. Therefore he was worthy of punishment.
All of these are events that happened before Moses conveyed God’s message to Pharaoh to free the Jewish people.
Repentance Denied
It is a concept recorded in the Bible that a person who sins too much may be prevented from repenting.
10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and repent, and be healed.
Isaiah is talking about the Jewish people of his time.
2. Pharaoh Hardened His Own Heart
Ramban quotes another midrash from Shemot Rabbah.
“As I have made his heart stubborn” (Exodus 10:1) – Rabbi Yochanan said: From here there is an opening for the heretics to say that repentance was withheld from him.
(Note: According to R. Yochanan, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart from the beginning, not just at the end.)
The midrash continues:
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said to him: Let the mouths of the heretics be sealed; rather, “surely He scorns the scorners” (Proverbs 3:34).
God forewarns a person one, two, and three times. If he does not relent, He locks the door of repentance in order to exact retribution for his sins.
The same is true regarding the wicked Pharaoh. Once God sent [him warnings] five times, and he disregarded His words, He said to him: “You were stiff necked and made your heart stubborn; behold, I will add impurity to your impurity.”
During Pharaoh’s 5th warning, that is, the 5th plague, the Disease Epidemic that killed livestock, we read:
7. Pharaoh sent, and, behold, from the livestock of Israel not even one died. Pharaoh’s heart became stubborn and he did not send forth the people.
The plague happened exactly as Moses told Pharaoh. He even investigated and verified the facts of the plague. But he still hardened his heart.
But starting with the 6th plague, they became too difficult to bear and then he wanted to send the Jewish people away.
Still at this point, Pharaoh wasn’t obeying God’s command. He only wanted to escape the pain and suffering. Then God hardened his spirit and strengthened his heart.
God’s hardening of his heart was done in such a way that Pharaoh would be able to bear the pain of the plagues. However, he could still repent. But the only repentance that would be accepted was for Pharaoh to want to obey God.
Why Harden Pharaoh’s Heart?
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart to make God’s name known to the world, as is written in a later verse:
16. However, for this have I raised you up, to show in you My power; and that My name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.
In a similar way, Ezekiel writes about a future time when God’s name will be proclaimed to the world:
23. Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
God Informed Moses
According to Ramban, the first few times when God mentions hardening Pharaoh’s heard, He is informing Moses of what will happen in the future.
19. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, if not by a mighty hand.
Ramban also understands that in our verse, Exodus 7:3, God is informing Moses of what will happen in the future, not what has already been done.
God tells Moses, I will harden his heart in order “that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 11:9).
That is, in the last 5 plagues and in the drowning in the sea it says, “God hardened.”
1. Like water streams is the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he wants.
God can harden or soften a leader’s heart to accomplish God’s will for the world.
Further Reading
Click here for a summary of Parshat Vaeira.
God reveals to Moses the 4 aspects of the redemption from Egypt.
I’ve written another article about why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart at the splitting of the sea.
“…will add impurity to your impurity.” It makes sense– you like to wallow in the mud,well, here’s more mud for you!
Your final sentence is topical and quite fitting today.
Thanks for your comment.
I’ll add that in the past I’d thought the idea of “the king’s heart in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he wants” meant that the leader was deprived of free will. Based on Ramban’s approach, I think he means that God can direct a leader without removing his free will.