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[dolari]

Finally watching The Bible miniseries. It's actually really good. It does bring up something I'd always wondered about.

Moses demand to Pharaoh to let the Jews free is refused nine times. Each refusal brings on a plague. But the Bible says God himself "hardened Pharaoh's heart," forcing him to refuse Moses demand.

I've always wondered why it explicitly says God hardened his heart. If he didn't would Pharaoh have said yes? And does this mean the plagues could have been avoided had God not hardened his heart?

This has always confused me....




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Comments

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

kayre sent me. She wondered whether the Hebrew verbs spoke to this. They're interesting, but no. The verb stem for the four relevant verses (Exodus 9:12, 10: 20 and 27, and 11:10) is חזק , which has core meanings related more to strengthening than to surface tension.

But FWIW-- and warning, I'm a Protestant pastor, though a liberal one:
1. I think attributing events to God's will was common when the scriptures was written and copied, as now.
2. I think a bit about when I was considering getting divorced from my first husband, something I really, really wanted to do from a personal POV. I told him him that I didn't think of counselling as anything like a panacea, but that if he would agree to do that I would work with him. He refused, on the grounds that I and the counselor-- unknown, not selected nor yet envisioned in any specific way-- would just seek occasion to beat up on him. That gave me a sense of release, and alo exhibited rigidity in response, in my view. His hardness of heart released me, and believe me, it was divine.

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update. I've often wondered how much the language was mistranslated from the original Hebrew. Strengthening Pharoah's heart actually makes much more sense than hardening it (he's helping Pharaoh recover, versus making him meaner).

I'm sorry to hear about your divorce, but anecdote also helps understand the passage a bit more myself....

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Please don't be sorry about the divorce. It was wonderful, given that the marriage existed. :D