Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 8:32
And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
32. hardened his heart ] Heb. made his heart heavy, i.e. stubborn, as v. 15a. See on Exo 7:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 32. Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also] See Ex 8:15. This hardening was the mere effect of his self-determining obstinacy. He preferred his gain to the will and command of Jehovah, and God made his obstinacy the means of showing forth his own power and providence in a supereminent degree.
1. As every false religion proves there is a true one, as a copy, however marred or imperfect, shows there was an original from which it was taken, so false miracles prove that there were genuine miracles, and that God chooses at particular times, for the most important purposes, to invert the established order of nature, and thus prove his omnipotence and universal agency. That the miracles wrought at this time were real we have the fullest proof. The waters, for instance, were not turned into blood in appearance merely, but were really thus changed. Hence the people could not drink of them; and as blood in a very short time, when exposed to the air, becomes putrid, so did the bloody waters; therefore all the fish that were in the river died.
2. No human power or ingenuity could produce such frogs as annoyed the land of Egypt. This also was a real, not an imaginary, plague. Innumerable multitudes of these animals were produced for the purpose; and the heaps of their dead carcasses, which putrefied and infected the land, at once demonstrated the reality of the miracle.
3. The lice both on man and beast through the whole land, and the innumerable swarms of flies, gave such proofs of their reality as to put the truth of these miracles out of question for ever. It was necessary that this point should be fully proved, that both the Egyptians and Israelites might see the finger of God in these awful works.
4. To superficial observers only do “Moses and the magicians appear to be nearly matched.” The power of God was shown in producing and removing the plagues. In certain cases the magicians imitated the production of a plague, but they had no power to remove any. They could not seem to remove the bloody colour, nor the putrescency from the waters through which the fish were destroyed, though they could imitate the colour itself; they could not remove the frogs, the lice, or swarms of flies, though they could imitate the former and latter; they could by dexterity of hand or diabolic influence produce serpents, but they could not bring one forward that could swallow up the rod of Aaron. In every respect they fall infinitely short of the power and wonderful energy evidenced in the miracles of Moses and Aaron. The opposition therefore of those men served only as a foil to set off the excellence of that power by which these messengers of God acted.
5. The courage, constancy, and faith of Moses are worthy of the most serious consideration. Had he not been fully satisfied of the truth and certainty of his Divine mission, he could not have encountered such a host of difficulties; had he not been certain of the issue, he could not have preserved amidst so many discouraging circumstances; and had he not had a deep acquaintance with God, his faith in every trial must have necessarily failed. So strong was this grace in him that he could even pledge his Maker to the performance of works concerning which he had not as yet consulted him! He therefore let Pharaoh fix the very time on which he would wish to have the plague removed; and when this was done, he went to God by faith and prayer to obtain this new miracle; and God in the most exact and circumstantial manner fulfilled the word of his servant.
6. From all this let us learn that there is a God who worketh in the earth; that universal nature is under his control; that he can alter, suspend, counteract, or invert its general laws whensoever he pleases; and that he can save or destroy by the most feeble and most contemptible instruments. We should therefore deeply reverence his eternal power and Godhead, and look with respect on every creature he has made, as the meanest of them may in his hand, become the instrument of our salvation or our ruin.
7. Let us not imagine that God has so bound himself to work by general laws, that those destructions cannot take place which designate a particular providence. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are confounded, afflicted, routed, and ruined, while the land of Goshen and the Israelites are free from every plague! No blood appears in their streams; no frogs, lice, nor flies, in all their borders! They trusted in the true God, and could not be confounded. Reader, how secure mayest thou rest if thou hast this God for thy friend! He was the Protector and Friend of the Israelites through the blood of that covenant which is the very charter of thy salvation: trust in and pray to him as Moses did, and then Satan and his angels shall be bruised under thy feet, and thou shalt not only be preserved from every plague, but be crowned with his loving kindness and tender mercy. He is the same to-day that he was yesterday, and shall continue the same for ever. Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also,…. As he did before, when he found the plague was removed, and the flies were gone:
neither would he let the people go; through pride and covetousness, being loath to have the number of those under his dominion so much diminished, and to lose so large a branch of his revenues arising from the labour of these people.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(32) Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.Comp, Exo. 8:15. Again, it is after being impressed, and partially relenting, that Pharaoh hardens his own heart.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Reader! in the awful character of Pharaoh, behold the dreadful history of every hardened transgressor; for in all instances, more or less, it is the same. The afflictions which tend not by divine grace to soften the heart, will tend without grace to harden. And the man that is not made better by corrections, like Pharaoh is made worse! Well may we cry out in that prayer of the church; “From hardness of heart and contempt of thy word and commandment, good Lord, deliver us!
REFLECTIONS
My soul; I charge it upon you as you value the divine favour, pause over this chapter, and take a careful survey of the Lord’s sovereignty, in his justice toward his enemies, and his grace and mercy toward his people. And while a deep sense of sin impresseth the mind with a conviction, that all the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not, ariseth out of divine grace, not human merit; oh! that such views of heavenly mercy may serve to endear God in his covenant relationship to the heart; and direct the soul into the participation and enjoyment of the Father’s love, the Redeemer’s grace, and the Spirit’s unremitting mercy.
Learn, my soul, the vast and infinite importance of having thy God and Saviour for thy friend at all times, and upon all occasions. If such small and inconsiderable instruments as frogs, flies, and vermin, may become so formidable to distress, when commissioned by the divine power; how needful is it to live always under the smiles of his favour, who alone can make thy blessings to become blessings indeed; or can at a moment convert thy very food into poison. If God be for us who can be against us. If he be our enemy it matters not who is our friend. Dearest and ever-blessed Jesus! thou who art the peace of thy people, be thou at peace with me, and then all thy creatures will be at peace with me also. For thou hast said, on that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Ver. 32. And Pharaoh hardened. ] All blows and pressures were so far from mollifying him, that he hardened and emmarbled more and more.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 8:15, Exo 4:21, Exo 7:13, Exo 7:14, Isa 63:17, Act 28:26, Act 28:27, Rom 2:5, Jam 1:13, Jam 1:14
Reciprocal: Exo 9:7 – the heart 2Ch 36:13 – hardened Psa 69:27 – Add Ecc 8:11 – sentence Isa 26:10 – favour
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:32 And Pharaoh {k} hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
(k) Where God does not give faith, no miracles can prevail.