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Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart

There are a number of Hebrew words used in the Bible for hard or harden. These are listed below with their Strong’s number.

553 amats occurs 41 times. The AV translates it strengthen 12, courage 9, strong 5, courageous 2, harden 2, speed 2, stronger 2, confirm 1, established 1, fortify 1, increases 1, steadfastly minded 1, obstinate 1, prevailed 1.

The meaning is, to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold, solid, hard. (Qal) to be strong, brave, bold. (Piel) to strengthen, secure (for oneself), harden (heart), make firm, make obstinate, assure. (Hithpael) to be determined, to make oneself alert, strengthen oneself, confirm oneself, persist in, prove superior to. (Hiphil) to exhibit strength, be strong, feel strong.

Deu 15:7 “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother,

2 Chr 36:13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel.

2388 chazaq occurs 290 times. The AV translates it strong 48, repair 47, hold 37, strengthened 28, strengthen 14, harden 13, prevail 10, encourage 9, take 9, courage 8, caught 5, stronger 5, hold 5, misc. 52.

The meaning is, to strengthen, prevail, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore. (Qal) to be strong, grow strong, to prevail, prevail upon, to be firm, be caught fast, be secure, to press, be urgent, to grow stout, grow rigid, grow hard (bad sense), to be severe, be grievous, to strengthen. (Piel) to make strong, to restore to strength, give strength, to strengthen, sustain, encourage, to make strong, make bold, encourage, to make firm, to make rigid, make hard. (Hiphil) to make strong, strengthen, to make firm, to display strength, to make severe, to support, to repair, to prevail, prevail upon, to have or take or keep hold of, retain, hold up, sustain, support, to hold, contain. (Hithpael) to strengthen oneself, to put forth strength, use one’s strength, to withstand, to hold strongly with.

Ex. 4:21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

Ex. 7:13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.

Ex. 7:22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.

Ex. 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had said.

Ex. 9:12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

Ex. 10:20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

Ex. 11:10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Ex. 14:4 “Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 17 “And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Jos 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy them, and that they might receive no mercy, but that He might destroy them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Jer 5:3 O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.

Ezek. 3:9 “Like adamant stone, harder [2389] than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

3513 kabad or kabed occurs 116 times. The AV translates it honor 34, glorify 14, honorable 14, heavy 13, harden 7, glorious 5, sore 3, made heavy 3, chargeable 2, great 2, many 2, heavier 2, promote 2, misc. 10.

The meaning is, to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honorable, be glorious, be burdensome, be honored. (Qal) to be heavy, to be heavy, be insensible, be dull, to be honored. (Niphal) to be made heavy, be honored, enjoy honor, be made abundant, to get oneself glory or honor, gain glory. (Piel) to make heavy, make dull, make insensible, to make honorable, honor, glorify. (Pual) to be made honorable, be honored. (Hiphil) to make heavy, to make heavy, make dull, make unresponsive, to cause to be honored. (Hithpael) to make oneself heavy, make oneself dense, make oneself numerous, to honor oneself.

Ex. 7:14 So the LORD said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go.”

Ex. 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

Ex. 9:7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go. 34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants.

Ex. 10:1 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him,

1 Sam 6:6 “Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart?

7185 qashah occurs 28 times. The AV translates it harden 12, hard 4, stiff-necked + 06203 2, grievous 2, misc. 8. The meaning is, to be hard, be severe, be fierce, be harsh. (Qal) to be hard, be difficult, to be hard, be severe. (Niphal) to be ill-treated, to be hard pressed. (Piel) to have severe labor (of women). (Hiphil) to make difficult, make difficulty, to make severe, make burdensome, to make hard, make stiff, make stubborn, of obstinacy, to show stubbornness.

Gen. 35:16,17 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

Ex. 1:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage; in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

Ex. 7:3 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.

Ex. 18:26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard [7186] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

Deu 1:17 “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.”

Deu 2:30 “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.”

Deu 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us.

Neh 9:16,17,29? But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments. 17 They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.

Job 9:4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

Psa 95:8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness.”

Prov 28:14 Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Prov 29:1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.

Ezek 3:7 “But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.”

I want to make some lengthy quotes from a book by Forster and Marston.[1] After a discussion on the Hebrew words for hard or harden, they write, “Although one person may let his heart take courage, or . . . ‘steel his heart’ to do evil, another person may ‘steel his heart’ to do what is right. That phrase in itself is also morally neutral. The Hebrew usage involves no suggestion of God acting on Pharaoh to make him rebellious or unrepentant. The thought is one of God’s making Pharaoh firm -- stubborn if you like -- in his resolve to do what he had decided, even when the terrifying plagues would have prompted a more prudent policy. . . . we have seen how the significance of the plagues became progressively more obvious. At first the magicians competed on a limited scale. Then they confessed that some power beyond them was at work: the ‘finger of God’ (Ex. 8:19). Then God distinguished between Israelites and Egyptians, showing the God of Israel to be the power behind the plagues (Ex. 8:22; 9:4). After the plague of boils the Egyptian magicians could not even continue the unequal contest. The Lord strengthened (chazaq) Pharaoh’s heart, but followed this with a warning. He warned Pharaoh that it was he who had made him stand (made firm his resolve), and so he had better make sure that this was the path he wanted. There followed a form of hail hitherto unknown in Egypt, and the divine origin of the plagues was now clear beyond all doubt. Pharaoh now recognized his sin, but still did not repent. The last three plagues were terrifying. The locusts meant economic ruin, as Pharaoh’s servants recognized in Exodus 10:7. The darkness signified total helplessness of the Egyptians against the God of Israel and showed how hopeless it was to resist. The death of the first-born reinforced this point with the certainty that God meant business. The complete futility of resistance against God became ever more apparent as the plagues progressed.

“What would any normal unrepentant man in Pharaoh’s position have done? Surely he would have given way through faintheartedness and fear. He may have still harbored the evil desire, but would have recognized the futility of trying to carry it out. But if Pharaoh had done this it would not have suited God’s purpose, for it would have meant the end of his opportunity to show how he, the true God, was associated with Israel right from its birth as a nation. Therefore God gave Pharaoh the tenacity, the firmness of heart, to continue in his evil designs. He ‘made him stubborn’ (JB) but this stubbornness relates to his refusal to grant the request to release the Israelites, not the wider issue of repenting and getting right with God. If Pharaoh would not comply through repentance, God would act to stop him complying through expediency or fear. But this in no way contradicts the supposition that God would have preferred Pharaoh to repent. ‘Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he return from his way and live?’

“What, then, of Exodus 7:3 and 10:1, where the other two Hebrew roots are used in connection with Pharaoh’s heart? The qashah root is used only twice: once with God as the agent (7:3) and once with Pharaoh (13:15). Both references are to the process as a whole and not to a specific time or instance of Pharaoh’s heart being hardened. The overall effect of God’s actions was that Pharaoh was confirmed in his obduracy. The Lord knew Pharaoh and his character, and knew what his reactions would be to Moses’ request. The Lord knew that the way his power would be revealed little by little, as the plagues progressed, would have the effect of stimulating Pharaoh into obduracy. God was responsible for this process (in sending the plagues of progressively more obvious origin) and Pharaoh was also responsible (in making his unrepentant reactions to these). It is the process, not any individual decision, which seems to be meant.”

The earliest Christian interpretation of Pharaoh’s hardening was made by Origen (c. 185-254 A.D.). He is quoted by Forster and Marston. “But since . . . we (regard God) as one who is at the same time good and just, let us consider how the good and just God could harden the heart of Pharaoh.” He refers to Hebrews 6:7, “The earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” “As respects the rain, then, there is one operation; and there being one operation as regards the rain, the ground which is cultivated produces fruit, while that which is neglected and is barren produces thorns. Now it might seem a defamation for (the rain) to say, ‘I produced the fruits, and the thorns that are in the earth;’ and yet, although a defamation, it is true. For, had rain not fallen, there would have been neither fruits nor thorns; but having fallen at the proper time and in moderation, both were produced. The ground, now, which drank in the rain which often fell upon it, and yet produced thorns and briars, is rejected and nigh to cursing. The blessing, then, of the rain descended even upon the inferior land; but it, being neglected and uncultivated, yielded thorns and thistles. In the same way, therefore, the wonderful works also done by God are, as it were, the rain; while the differing purposes are, as it were, the cultivated and neglected land, being (yet), like earth, of one nature. . . . so the same operation, which was performed through the instrumentality of Moses, proved the hardness of Pharaoh on the one hand, the result of his wickedness, and (proved) the yielding of the mixed multitude who took their departure with the Hebrews. . . . Paul accordingly, having examined these points clearly, says to the sinner: ‘Or despise you the riches of His goodness and forbearance, and long-suffering: not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? but, after your hardness and impenitent heart, was treasuring up unto himself wrath; seeing that his hardness would not have been proved nor made manifest unless miracles had been performed, and miracles too, of such magnitude and importance.’

“We have found, then, that both Hebrew scholarship and early Christian commentary point to a similar line of interpretation. This is, basically, that when it says God hardened Pharaoh, it simply implies that the effect of God’s whole course of actions was to stimulate the unrepentance in Pharaoh. Our own conclusions would quite definitely be, therefore, that the uses of qashah in 7:3 and 13:15 refer to the effects of the whole process of God’s dealings with Pharaoh. They do not refer to any specific action of God on his heart.”

Dr. G.A. Chadwick wrote the following passage about Pharaoh in his commentary on Exodus, pp. 112-117. “Let us in the first place find out how soon this dreadful process began; when was it that God fulfilled His threat, and hardened, in any sense whatever, the heart of Pharaoh? Did He step in at the beginning, and render the unhappy king incapable of weighing the remonstrance’s which He then performed the cruel mockery of addressing him? Were these as insincere and futile as if one bade the avalanche to pause which his own act had started down the icy slopes? Was Pharaoh as little responsible for his pursuit of Israel as his horses were -- being, like them, the blind agents of a superior force? We do not find it so. In the fifth chapter, when a demand is made, without any sustaining miracle, simply appealing to the conscience of the ruler, there is no mention of any such process, despite the insults with which Pharaoh then assails both the messengers and Jehovah Himself, Whom he knows not. In the seventh chapter there is clear evidence that the process is yet unaccomplished; for, speaking of an act still future, it declares, ‘I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt’ (vii. 3). And this terrible act is not connected with the remonstrances and warnings of God, but entirely with the increasing pressure of the miracles.

“The exact period is marked when the hand of doom closed upon the tyrant. It is not where the Authorized Version places it. When the magicians imitated the earlier signs of Moses, ‘his heart was strong,’ but the original does not bear out the assertion that at this time the Lord made it so by any judicial act of His (vii. 13). That only comes with the sixth plague; and the course of events may be traced, fairly well . . . . [Confer our word studies.]

“After the plague of blood ‘Pharaoh’s heart was strong [chazaq], and this is distinctly ascribed to his own action, because ‘he set his heart even to this’ (vii. 22,23). After the second plague, it was still he himself who ‘made his heart heavy’ [kabad] (viii. 15). After the third plague the magicians warned him that the very finger of some god was upon him indeed: their rivalry, which hitherto might have been somewhat of a palliation for his obstinacy, was now ended; but yet ‘his heart was strong’ [chazaq] (viii. 19). Again, after the fourth plague he ‘made his heart heavy’; and it ‘was heavy’ after the fifth plague [kabad] (viii. 32, ix. 7). Only thenceforward comes the judicial infatuation upon him who has resolutely infatuated himself hitherto.

“But when five warnings and penalties have spent their force in vain, when personal agony is inflicted in the plague of boils, and the magicians in particular cannot stand before him through their pain, would it have been proof of virtuous contrition if he had yielded then? If he had needed evidence, it was given to him long before. Submission now would have meant prudence, not penitence; and it was against prudence, not penitence, that he was hardened. Because he had resisted evidence, experience, and even testimony of his own magicians, he was therefore stiffened against the grudging and unworthy concessions which must otherwise have been wrested from him, as a wild beast will turn and fly from fire. He was henceforth himself to become an evidence and a portent; and so ‘The Lord made strong [chazaq] the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them’ (ix. 12). It was an awful doom, but it is not open to the attacks so often made upon it. It only means that for him the last five plagues were not disciplinary, but wholly penal.

“Nay, it stops short of asserting even this; they might still have appealed to his reason; they were only not allowed to crush him by the agency of terror. Not once is it asserted that God hardened his heart against any nobler impulse than alarm, and desire to evade danger and death. We see clearly this meaning in the phrase, when it is applied to his army entering the Red Sea: ‘I will make strong [chazaq] the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in’ (xiv. 17). It needed no greater moral turpitude to pursue the Hebrews over the sands than on the shore, but it certainly required more hardihood. But the unpursued departure which the good-will of Egypt refused, their common sense was not allowed to grant. Callousness was followed by infatuation, as even the pagans felt that whom God wills to ruin He first drives mad. This explanation implies that to harden Pharaoh’s heart was to inspire him, not with wickedness, but with nerve. And as far as the original language helps us at all, it decidedly supports this view. . . [D]ifferent expressions have been unhappily rendered by the same English word, to harden; but they be discriminated throughout the narrative in Exodus [by our word studies]. One word, which commonly appears without any marginal explanation, is the same which is employed elsewhere about ‘the cause which is too hard [qashah] for’ minor judges (Deu. i 17, cf. xv. 18, etc.). Now, this word is found (vii. 13) in the second threat that ‘I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,’ and in the account which was to be given to posterity of how ‘Pharaoh hardened himself to let us go’ (xiii. 15). And it is said likewise of Sihon, king of Heshbon, that he ‘would not let us pass by him, for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart strong’ (Deu. ii 30). But since it does not occur anywhere in all the narrative of what God actually did with Pharaoh, it is only just to interpret this phrase in the prediction by what we read elsewhere of the manner of its fulfillment.

“The second word is . . . to make strong [chazaq]. Already God had employed it when He said ‘I will make strong his heart’ (iv. 21), and this is the term used of the first fulfillment of the menace, after the sixth plague (ix. 12). God is not said to interfere again after the seventh, which had few special terrors for Pharaoh himself; but from henceforth the expression ‘to make strong’ alternates with the phrase ‘to make heavy.’ ‘Go in unto Pharaoh, for I have made heavy his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show these My signs in the midst of them’ (x. 1). It may be safely assumed that these two expressions cover between them all that is asserted of the judicial action of God in preventing a recoil of Pharaoh from his calamities. . . . Pharaoh was prevented from cowering under the tremendous blows he had provoked.

“It appears, then, that the Lord is never said to debauch Pharaoh’s heart, but only to strengthen it against prudence and to make it dull; that the words used do not express the infusion of evil passion, but the animation of a resolute courage, and the overclouding of a natural discernment; and, above all, that every one of the three words, to make hard, to make strong, and to make heavy, is employed to express Pharaoh’s own treatment of himself, before it is applied to any work of God, as actually taking place already.

With these explanations in mind let’s look at Romans nine. Romans nine is the most important single passage in the Bible for us to understand on the subject of God’s sovereignty and man’s ability to choose. This is the one extended passage which seems to show that God chooses some to be saved and others to be lost. However, the predetermination in this passage has nothing to do with salvation. It only concerns service. It is clear from the context of the book of Romans as a whole and from the passage itself that it has nothing to do with salvation.

6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel

I think that God inspired Paul to confront the arrogancy of the questioning Jew. The Jew was relying on his race and the merits of the patriarchs to save him. Paul shows them in this chapter that just because they are of Israel or Abraham, it doesn’t make any difference. How can anyone determine that he is part of the special seed, the redeemed? Because one was a Jew by race or religion, that had no effect on his status in regards to the seed of Abraham or Israel. We also see that it is not action done in the strength of the flesh which counts, that is, actions which do not rely completely on God. But, we see the seed is the group of those who live according to promise. In other words, Abraham believed God and righteousness was imputed to him. So, the meaning of “those according to promise,” is those who believe God. This is confirmed in verse

7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

Even though there were others in included in the physical seed of Abraham, not all were true children. The spiritual seed, the true seed came through Isaac. Isaac was the seed of God’s promise. The Israelites who had faith were counted the true seed. This is very important. Gal 3:5-9 backs this up. Gal 3:5-9 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?; 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. God is making His case in Romans 9:7. Just because you are a Jew, that doesn’t cut it. In Romans, God is saying that He has the freedom to make the rules for how a person will be counted as the seed. The main rule is, you must have faith. When God gets done with His argument against Israel, He makes this summation: “But Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone (Rom 9:31-32).

8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls)

Although the usage of the phrase, “the children of the flesh,” in verse 8 may refer to flesh in respect to physical lineage, I think it has more to do with the reliance upon the flesh rather than God. The physical lineage was important only if one saw that faith was the important thing. Have you become identified with Abraham in the right way, as a child of promise, Isaac, and then in verses 10 and 11, Jacob? This is the key in Romans 9. We must limit Paul’s statements to the context of Romans 9 and the question burning in these Jews’ minds: “How could God have abandoned Israel as the nation God favored above all others and chose to bring redemption through?”

God has always limited the true Israelites to the one coming through the promise, that is, Isaac and Jacob, and not simply through Abraham, that is, Ishmael and Esau. God has always chosen His own special paths to Himself, Jacob, not Esau, and Isaac, not Ishmael. He has the right to choose individual people as representatives for the promise. God can do this and be perfectly just because God can have mercy on whomever He pleases. Therefore, we have no right to question God, for God can do whatever He want to with His creation. God is so powerful that He can endure with those who are fit for destruction and demonstrate His riches on the vessels of mercy by calling from Jews and Gentiles a group. This group is the “us” of verse 24, referring to Christians. Therefore, the Gentiles gained righteousness though they didn’t pursue it. This was possible because Jesus Christ made God’s righteousness available by His faithfulness culminating in His death (Rom 3:21-26). However, Israel didn’t attain righteousness because they sought it by the works of the law instead of faith. In fact, they stumbled over true righteousness (Rom 9:30-33). So, the answer to the question, “How could God have abandoned Israel?” is clear. God can do as He pleases. He chose Israel. Now He has decided to choose a group from Israel and the Gentiles based on the righteousness of faith. If Israel misses out, it’s her fault.

These concepts are illustrated frequently in this chapter. Ishmael was rejected. He was the child of the flesh. He was the child of the flesh because Abraham and Sarah had take it into their own hands to produce the promised seed. This was a flesh trip. It was apart from God. Abraham went in to Hagar, and she conceived. This does not mean Ishmael couldn’t become a believer. He could have been saved but he was not a man of faith. He persecuted Isaac (Gal 3:28,29). We see then that Ishmael becomes the personification of a child of the flesh.

In verse 11, we see that God’s principle as recorded in Hebrews 10:9 is, “He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” This seems to be the basis of His purpose according to election. It’s not of works but is based on His calling. This election is not to salvation. It is for God’s purpose. I think that His primary purpose is the provision of salvation by our Savior.

12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

To begin with, even though Jacob consistently duped Esau, Esau never really served Jacob. In fact, almost the opposite was true. How then was this prophecy true? We must look at the context from which this was quoted, Gen 25:23. “And the LORD said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” Notice, it explicitly says, “Two nations are in your womb.” God was not dealing with the individuals here. He was dealing with two nations. Israel was His chosen people. Edom (Esau) was not. In the future, Edom will be the servant of Israel.

13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

This verse is like the previous one with one great exception. This reference is from the last book of the Old Testament. This was about a thousand years after Jacob and Esau were born. When we look at the context of Malachi 1, we see that He is again talking about the two nations. It doesn’t mean He loved everyone in Israel or hated everyone in Edom, for we find repeatedly how wrathful He got with Israel and destroyed some among them. Therefore, this love and hate was not against the individual men Jacob and Esau, but towards the nations. It was recorded after the nations had been in existence for a long time.

We must consider another point. This hate is not necessarily absolute. In Luke 14:26, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple, the hate is certainly relative. I think the hate in Malachi and Romans 9:13 is too. It may relate to God’s sovereign choice among the nations.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

There is no unrighteousness with God. He always conducts Himself in a just way. Now He shows us how He conducts Himself. He shows us that the Jews can’t restrict Him to the only option they think He must take, always treating Israel as the top nation. God shows that He makes His decisions based on His clearly defined principles. The fifteenth verse shows that He can display His mercy to anyone He desires. Israel cannot put restraints on Him. In this passage, you can’t escape the issue of selection. God has mercy on whomever He pleases. The point here is, was God unrighteous to choose Jacob as the one to receive favored status as a nation? The Jew would naturally answer, “No!” But, putting ethnic advantage aside, why? Because God has the right to show mercy to whomever He pleases. If He wants to choose one for service but not the other, He can do that. He chose Jacob but not Esau. The Jews like that decision. Esau could have “willed” or “run” as much as he pleased. He could have been saved or have been the most godly man who ever lived. And Jacob could have been a rat (And he was.), but Jacob still would have been chosen. Paul’s point here is, God chose Israel as a favored nation above all others, not because of her worthiness or goodness above others, but simply because He has the right to select one and not the other.

God has the complete freedom to do as He desires. His principle for salvation is laid out when Paul completes this section on Israel’s place by summation in Rom 11:32, “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” Further, we see that His desire is to save everyone, not just Israel. When we consult Ex 33:19, “Then He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,” we see from the context that this quote was a response to Moses because Moses had “found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” Moses had pleased God by his obedience and intercessory behavior. I think the passage should be translated, “I will have mercy on whomever I want to have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I want to have compassion.” Again, we see from Romans 11:32 that for salvation, He wants to have mercy on everyone.

16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

Have you ever considered what is not of the willing or running one? What is of the mercy showing God? It could be His stated purpose. It could be the provision of salvation. It could be the act of election for a purpose. It could be the concept that He wants all to be saved. But it is not talking about being saved. The principles of salvation for the covenant people were laid down by God in Genesis 17 and later in the law. The principles of salvation for this dispensation are laid out in Paul’s epistles and the later part of Acts. The circumcision epistles do not apply to us in the area of salvation. Both sets of principles are of God who shows mercy. But, although the methods of salvation are different for the different dispensations, the means of God’s grace is the same. It is the death of His dear Son. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”

First we must read the context of this statement from Exodus 9:16. We see that the magicians could not stand before Moses. They may have died in this plague while God protected Pharaoh and raised him up for God’s stated purpose. So I don’t think God raised Pharaoh up to become the king of Egypt just to knock him down. He seems to have raised him from the infection of boils and also strengthened his resolve in the face of these awful plagues so He could continue to show in him His power and punish him for his unrepentant heart. Other expositors agree with this idea.[2]

18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

God hardens people? Some believe that God elects some to be saved but reprobates the rest -- actually actively consigns them to hell. Now is that what this verse is teaching? Let’s look at an illustration. Let’s put a lump of moist clay and a lump of hard wax on the window sill of the south side of the building in the hot sun. Now, the sun graciously shine down with its sunlight on a nice sunny Colorado afternoon. If we come back a couple of hours later while the sun is still well up in the sky, we’ll find a hard rock like lump and a puddle of wax. It was the same sunlight that hardened the clay and melted the wax. This is like the rain of Hebrews 6:7-8, “For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” Now let’s think about these two illustrations. Did the sun harden the clay in the sense that it made the clay be the kind of substance that would harden, or was the sun the cause for the clay to harden? Similarly, was the rain the reason one portion of ground brought up briars and the other useful herbs? Do you see the difference? Was the sun the thing that made the clay hard? Was the sun the thing that made the wax melt or soften? Or was it the sun that made the clay do what clay innately does when heat warms it up? Did the wax do what wax does innately when it gets warm?

You may ask what the Bible means in Exodus 3:19 and 4:21 when it reports God speaking to Moses, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand” (3:19). And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (4:21). Pharaoh is an example of how God shows mercy. God didn’t let the pestilence kill him. Verse 18 could be a conclusion: God has mercy on whomever He wills (Jacob and Pharaoh) and hardens whomever He wills (Pharaoh). But this is not a hardening against salvation. Individual salvation is not an issue here. But let’s get back to Exodus 3:19 and 4:21. Here God is speaking to Moses before Pharaoh ever had a chance to harden his own heart. What did God tell Moses? He said, “I am sure (he) will not let you go.” What does that mean? “The king of Egypt has a heart like a lump of clay. I know that is what his heart is like. I know this guy’s heart. It’s not the waxy type. It’s like a lump of clay.” Many expositors agree with this interpretation.[3] In other words, when we see the event of Pharaoh, and God says, “I am going to harden Pharaoh’s heart,” we look at it as the occasion. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. God is going to harden it. What does He mean when He says I’m going to harden that heart? Does He mean, “I’m going to be the cause of Pharaoh’s heart being hardened, like the clay? That’s what I believe He means. We must always consider 1 Timothy 2:4 when we look at this account. God even wanted Pharaoh to be saved. In addition, we must always remember that God does not cause anyone to sin (James 1:13-15). God’s actions are reflected in Psalm 18:25-26, “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 26 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

This question is similar to the previous questions from self righteous Jews who were hassling them in Rome. If we look at this question more closely, we must ask, “Can anyone resist His will? If you mean His counsel, boulh, then the answer is, no one can. But if you mean who can resist His will, qelhma, everyone does. That’s because all are not saved or sanctified, and that is His will. However, no one can keep His counsel from happening. He is going to bring that to pass. That is the word found in this passage. According to 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness but is longsuffering toward us, not counseling any to perish but all to have room for repentance” (My translation.). No one has resisted His counsel. He has determined that the plan of salvation would be accomplished, and it was. Paul doesn’t seem to answer the question directly, but I think the illustration in 9:20,21 really does.

20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

Paul was alluding to Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand,” in addition to the direct quotation from Isaiah 29:16, “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” But I believe he was looking more to the context of Jeremiah 18:1-11, “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2 Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6 O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says the LORD. Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! 7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will repent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will repent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. 11 Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” When the potter (God) tried to make the clay (Israel) into a vessel of honor, it marred in his hand. Would that be the potter’s (God’s) fault or the clay’s (Israel’s). Was the clay (Israel) resisting? When it was made into another vessel, one which didn’t have the honor that the first vessel would have had, was that the potter’s (God’s) fault? Absolutely not! Further, repentance comes into the picture on the nation’s part and God’s. This is illustrated in 2 Timothy 2:20,21, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

When God desired “to make known what is possible with Him” (Weymouth), we find that He endures with the vessels of wrath which fitted themselves to destruction. The participle, fitted, kathrtismena, can be either a middle or a passive. I have translated it as a middle because the middle concept in the material of Acts 13:46,48, “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed disposed themselves, hsan tetagmenoi, to eternal life believed.[4]

23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

The best commentary on this verse is Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that He works with those who love God, with those who are the called according to His purpose all things for good [My translation]. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” The corporate body of Christ was fitted for glory. As we believe and become part of His body, we then become glorified. He works with not just Israel but with us too. He did not foreknow individuals. He foreknew and elected Christ. When we trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit identifies us with Christ. We then become part of His predestined purpose. Once we are saved we are predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image. It does not say we are predestined to be saved. This verse is excellent to show our security. It is predestined. Our salvation is not. Ephesians 1:4-14 is similar to this passage.

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[1]God's Strategy in Human History, pp. 160-175. I will change the paragraphing and add Hebrew words in brackets.

[2]Rotherham translates this passage in his The Emphasized Bible as follows: "For now might I have put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou shouldst have secretly disappeared from the earth; but indeed for this very purpose have I let thee remain, for the purpose of showing thee my might, and that my name may be celebrated in all the earth." Adam Clarke translated this, "But truly, on this very account, I have caused thee to subsist, that I may . . ." Forster and Marston said in God's Strategy in Human History, "The context of Paul's reference is, after all, that of God's general dealings ('raising up' or 'making to stand'), not of any specific act of God.

[3]Rotherham translates this, "I will let his heart wax bold, and he will not suffer the people to go." Further, he writes, "That Hebrew grammars distinctly avow occasion or permission to be sometimes the sense of verbs which ordinarily signify cause can be verified by a reference to the Hebrew Grammar of Gesenius, . . . After stating that the verbal form . . . called piel denotes intensity and repetition, this grammar adds: 'It often takes the modifications expressed by permit, . . . . Of this, a good example is found in the verb shalach, 'to send.' Notice its modification with reference to the raven and the dove in Gen. VIII. 7,8. Noah sent them 'forth'; that is he simply 'let them go.' So with regard to hayah, 'to live'; in piel, 'to cause to live.' Moses said that the midwives (literally) 'caused the male children to live' (Ex. 1.17) -- plainly, 'permitted them,' 'refrained from putting them to death.'" There are other examples of this usage. Cf. The Emphasized Bible, p. 919. The reference most similar to our text is Psalm 81:11,12. "But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels." Here, we see that the result of letting them have their own stubborn heart was to walk in their own counsels. Rotherham quotes Kalisch: "As the external, often accidental, occasion of an event is mostly more obvious, even to the reflecting mind, than its primary cause or its true (often hidden) originator, it has become a linguistic peculiarity in most ancient, especially the Semitic, languages, to use indiscriminately (the occasion) rather than (the cause) so that the phrase, 'I shall harden the heart of Pharaoh' means: 'I know that I shall be the cause of Pharaoh's obstinacy; my commands and wonders will be an occasion, an inducement to an increasing obduration of his heart." Also cf. Forster and Marston, God's Strategy in Human History, pp. 160-175.

[4]It is hard to read Acts 13:48 as a verse for predestination in the context of the thirteenth chapter. Luke is describing the dramatic events at Antioch which center around the rejection of the gospel by the Jews (45) and the acceptance of it by the Gentiles (46-48), The point of the passage is to castigate the Jews for rejecting Christ and praise Gentiles for accepting Him. For Luke to slip a predestinarian commentary in on this scene would work against the mood he is trying to create. "Oh, that's why the Jews rejected the gospel and the Gentiles accepted it. They were predestined to do so. It really wasn't their fault." That's the kind of conclusion we could make from this kind of interpretation. But Luke is trying to fault the Jews. This would work against his purpose for writing about this event.

We read in Acts 13:48, "And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." The phrase, "had been appointed," is the Greek periphrastic pluperfect, hsan tetagmenoi. This can be either middle or passive in meaning since perfect participles only have one form to express the passive and the middle (reflexive) meaning. I think it has a middle meaning here. When we see the word used in the aorist, which has different forms for the middle and passive, its normal use seems to be in the middle. Acts 28:23 looks as though it would be active when you read the New King James translation, but when we look at the Greek, it's a middle. Also, in 1 Corinthians 16:15, the word is active in the Greek, but the meaning of the thought is definitely middle.

If we took the meaning of the clause in 1 Corinthians 16:15 and used it in Acts 13:48, we would have, "As many as had devoted themselves unto eternal life, believed." This verb, tassw, can have a number of meanings. Bauer's second American edition and Moulton and Milligan give the following meanings: to classify, place or station something in a fixed spot, appoint to or establish in an office, to put someone in charge, assign, be classed among those possessing, devote, order, fix, determine, allot, pay, tell, arrange, or agree. I think dispose fits just fine in the ideas related by all these words.

What word fits in the context of Acts thirteen without forcing anything? We find from verse 46 that the Jews judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. This is a reflexive middle idea. The statement we're dealing with is the corresponding statement about the believers. They had devoted themselves, disposed themselves, arranged themselves, or classified themselves unto eternal life. Certainly, ordained, of the King James Version, is too strong. There is no reason to consider this a passive with the context of the previous middle (reflexive) concept of verse 46. Therefore, this portion should be translated, "As many as had disposed themselves to eternal life, believed."

But, we don't really need a middle or weak verb meaning here. We can accept the strong meaning of the New King James Version, "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Just as the Jews pushed the word of God away from themselves in verse 46, the Gentiles rejoice and are glad and believed, in verse 48. This could mean that the ones who believed were the ones who had been appointed (passive) to eternal life by their own continuance in the grace of God (43). This would account for the process implied by the pluperfect. They were not the ones who thrust eternal life from themselves. They were the ones who rejoiced in it. So, their own response to the gospel had the effect of ordaining them to eternal life.

Theologically speaking, this could show the divine-human nature of conversion. Left to himself, no one would seek God. But a positive response to the gospel sets powerful forces in motion. The Holy Spirit continues to draw the person to Himself. A chain reaction is set in motion. As the person continues to yield (in contrast to those like the Jews of Luke 7:30), the Holy Spirit draws more powerfully. The person could always back out at this point, but God is on the move on the person. Therefore, to see this as passive activity is no problem as long as it includes an active yielding. Thus, the interpretation of the entire passage yields a theologically middle concept. So, verse 48 could be passive because it views the belief as more than simply the person's response. God is at work too.

Now this theology has nothing to do with the passage itself. This passage fits this theology without sacrificing the context, grammar, or language. This respects both context and language. Context is always the most important thing to consider when interpreting a small portion of scripture.