Discovery BoxExodus 8:15 
Context8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, 1 he hardened 2 his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. 3
Exodus 9:12
Context9:12 But the Lord hardened 4 Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted to Moses.
Exodus 11:9
Context11:9 The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders 5 may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 20:19
Context20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak 6 to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
1 tn The word רְוָחָה (rÿvakhah) means “respite, relief.” BDB 926 relates it to the verb רָוַח (ravakh, “to be wide, spacious”). There would be relief when there was freedom to move about.
2 tn וְהַכְבֵּד (vÿhakhbed) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, functioning as a finite verb. The meaning of the word is “to make heavy,” and so stubborn, sluggish, indifferent. It summarizes his attitude and the outcome, that he refused to keep his promises.
3 sn The end of the plague revealed clearly God’s absolute control over Egypt’s life and deities – all at the power of the man who prayed to God. Yahweh had made life unpleasant for the people by sending the plague, but he was also the one who could remove it. The only recourse anyone has in such trouble is to pray to the sovereign Lord God. Everyone should know that there is no one like Yahweh.
4 tn This phrase translates the Hebrew word חָזַק (khazaq); see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 53.
5 sn The thought is essentially the same as in Exod 7:3-4, but the wonders, or portents, here refer to what is yet to be done in Egypt.
6 tn The verb is a Piel imperative. In this context it has more of the sense of a request than a command. The independent personal pronoun “you” emphasizes the subject and forms the contrast with God’s speaking.
