Discovery BoxExodus 7:22 
Context7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same 1 by their secret arts, and so 2 Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 3 and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron 4 – just as the Lord had predicted.
Exodus 8:19
Context8:19 The magicians said 5 to Pharaoh, “It is the finger 6 of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 7 and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.
Exodus 9:7
Context9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, 8 and indeed, not even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, 9 and he did not release the people.
Exodus 10:19
Context10:19 and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, 10 and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. 11 Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt.
1 tn Heb “thus, so.”
2 tn The vav consecutive on the preterite introduces the outcome or result of the matter – Pharaoh was hardened.
3 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
4 tn Heb “to them”; the referents (Moses and Aaron) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “and the magicians said.”
6 tn The word “finger” is a bold anthropomorphism (a figure of speech in which God is described using human characteristics).
sn The point of the magicians’ words is clear enough. They knew they were beaten and by whom. The reason for their choice of the word “finger” has occasioned many theories, none of which is entirely satisfying. At the least their statement highlights that the plague was accomplished by God with majestic ease and effortlessness. Perhaps the reason that they could not do this was that it involved producing life – from the dust of the ground, as in Genesis 2:7. The creative power of God confounded the magic of the Egyptians and brought on them a loathsome plague.
7 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
8 tn Heb “Pharaoh sent.” The phrase “representatives to investigate” is implied in the context.
9 tn Heb “and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.” This phrase translates the Hebrew word כָּבֵד (kaved; see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53). In context this represents the continuation of a prior condition.
10 tn Or perhaps “sea wind,” i.e., a wind off the Mediterranean.
11 tn The Hebrew name here is יַם־סוּף (Yam Suf), sometimes rendered “Reed Sea” or “Sea of Reeds.” The word סוּף is a collective noun that may have derived from an Egyptian name for papyrus reeds. Many English versions have used “Red Sea,” which translates the name that ancient Greeks used: ejruqrav qalavssa (eruqra qalassa).
sn The name Red Sea is currently applied to the sea west of the Arabian Peninsula. The northern fingers of this body of water extend along the west and east sides of the Sinai Peninsula and are presently called the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba or the Gulf of Eilat. In ancient times the name applied to a much larger body of water, including the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf (C. Houtman, Exodus, 1:109-10). See also Num 14:25; 21:4; Deut 1:40; 2:1; Judg 11:16; 1 Kgs 9:26; Jer 49:21. The sea was deep enough to drown the entire Egyptian army later (and thus no shallow swamp land). God drives the locusts to their death in the water. He will have the same power over Egyptian soldiers, for he raised up this powerful empire for a purpose and soon will drown them in the sea. The message for the Israelites is that God will humble all who refuse to submit.
