Hardening of the Heart
Hardening of the Heart
The hardening of the heart is described in Scripture as the work of God. Pharaoh’s case is by no means unique; it is a sample of the history of all those who neglect the opportunities which God gives them, and thus lead Him to put in exercise that law to which the whole human race is subject–that moral impressions, if not acted upon, become (subjectively) weaker and weaker, until at last the heart of man becomes altogether callous in the case of Pharaoh three words are used to represent the hardening process: Chazak (), to brace up or strengthen, [This word is also used of God’s bringing Israel out of Egypt ‘with a strong right hand.’ The firmness of the Creat or overcame the firmness of the creature.] points to the hardihood with which he set himself to act in defiance against God, and closed all the avenues of his heart to those signs and wonders that were wrought by the h and of Moses; Caved (), ‘to be heavy, dull, or unimpressible,’ denotes his insensibility and grossness of perception; and Kashah (), to be harsh, marks the restlessness, impatience, petulance, and irritability with which his course was characterised whilst he was resisting the urgent appeals, not of Moses only, but also of his own people. Each of these words is used under similar circumstances in other parts of the O.T. Thus Chazak is found in Jos 11:20, ‘It was of the Lord to harden their hearts.’ Compare Jer 5:3; Eze 3:9. It is usually rendered to be strong, courageous, to hold fast, to be valiant, stout, mighty. Caved is used in 1Sa 6:6, ‘Wherefore do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?’ Eze 3:5-6, ‘ of a hard language.’ It is usually rendered heavy. Kashah is found in Exo 18:26; Deu 1:17; Deu 2:30, ‘The Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand;’ Deu 15:18; Deu 26:6, ‘The Egyptians laid up on us a hard bondage.’ Compare 2Sa 3:39; 2Ki 2:10; 2Ki 17:14; Neh 9:16-17; Neh 9:29; Job 9:4; Psa 60:3; Psa 95:8; Pro 28:14; Pro 29:1; Isa 8:21; Isa 14:3; Jer 19:15; Eze 3:7. The usual renderings are hard, grievous, cruel, stiff. It is to be noticed that in God’s mission to Ezekiel, in the third chapter, the three words now mentioned occur together. Other words of similar meaning are Kashach (), which is found in Job 39:16, and Isa 63:17; and Tekeph (), which occurs in Dan 5:20.