But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse reveals a crucial, often missed, purpose behind God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart: it's not just about punishment, but about creating a stage for God to display His power through an abundance of signs and wonders. This intense demonstration is designed so that all of Egypt, not just Pharaoh, will come to know the true identity of Jehovah.
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
English Standard Version (ESV)
Moses and Aaron have just been commissioned by God to confront Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. God has equipped them with signs to prove His power, but Pharaoh is known for his stubbornness. This verse reveals God's foreknowledge and intention to further demonstrate His mighty power through a series of miracles, even in the face of Pharaoh's hardened heart.
The Bible says God will harden Pharaoh's heart. How does this fit with Pharaoh's own choices? Isn't God making him sin?
This verse is crucial for understanding divine sovereignty and human responsibility. When God says, 'I will harden Pharaoh's heart,' it doesn't mean God forces Pharaoh to sin or creates evil within him.
God's Sovereign Plan
Instead, it reflects God's sovereign control over all circumstances, including the choices of sinful people. God permits Pharaoh's existing stubbornness to remain and even uses it for His purposes.
Think of it like this: Pharaoh already had a proud and rebellious heart. God's actions and the escalating plagues were designed to reveal this heart and to demonstrate His own power, not to create Pharaoh's sinfulness. God's hardening is often described as withholding grace or intensifying the consequences of Pharaoh's own rebellion, rather than implanting evil.
The Purpose of the Plagues
The 'signs and wonders' are multiplied specifically so that all of Egypt, and eventually Israel, would know the power and identity of the one true God. Pharaoh's hardened heart becomes the stage upon which God's majestic power is displayed for all to see.
Why does God send so many 'signs and wonders'? Are they just for show, or do they have a deeper purpose?
The verse mentions God will 'multiply my signs and my wonders.' These aren't random magic tricks; they serve as divine credentials.
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Signs as Proof
The Hebrew word for 'signs' often refers to miracles performed to authenticate God's messengers and their message. They were meant to prove that Moses and Aaron were acting on God's authority.
Wonders as Displays of Power
'Wonders' (or portents) highlight the awe-inspiring and often terrifying nature of these events, showcasing God's power over nature and Egypt's gods. They were designed to grab attention and force a confrontation with the divine.
Together, these miracles were God's irrefutable evidence, meant to persuade Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and to make His name known throughout the world.
Understand the original words
qashah · Hebrew Verb
To make stubborn, resolute, or unresponsive; it often involves God confirming a person’s existing rebellious trajectory to fulfill His sovereign purposes in judgment or redemption.
mopheth · Hebrew Noun
Extraordinary events or miracles that serve as supernatural evidence of divine power, intended to authenticate a message or messenger and reveal the character of God.
This verse is pivotal as it marks God's direct intervention to escalate the confrontation with Pharaoh, ensuring His power would be undeniably demonstrated through a series of escalating plagues, leading to the liberation of His people.
c. 1446 BC
Israel's enslavement in Egypt
The Israelites, originally welcomed, had become a numerous population in Egypt, leading to fear and subsequent enslavement by the Egyptian rulers.
c. 1446 BC
Moses' Commission at the Burning Bush
God appeared to Moses, commissioning him to return to Egypt and demand the release of the Israelites from Pharaoh's oppressive rule.
c. 1446 BC
Moses and Aaron Confront Pharaoh
Moses and Aaron presented God's demand to Pharaoh, initially with only spoken words and the sign of Aaron's staff becoming a serpent.
c. 1446 BC— this verse
God Promises Multiple Signs and Wonders
God forewarns Moses that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, and He will perform numerous signs and wonders to demonstrate His power to Egypt.
c. 1446 BC
The Ten Plagues Begin
Following Pharaoh's refusal, God begins to send a series of devastating plagues upon Egypt, escalating in severity.
c. 1446 BC
Pharaoh's Heart is Judicially Hardened
After resisting multiple plagues, God allows Pharaoh's already self-hardened heart to become even more resistant, ensuring His full power is displayed.
c. 1446 BC
Israel Departs Egypt
After the tenth plague, Pharaoh finally relents, and the Israelites leave Egypt, beginning their journey to the Promised Land.
This passage directly parallels God's sovereignty in hardening hearts with His mercy, showing that His actions are for His own glory and to demonstrate His power.
John 12:37-40Jesus quotes from Isaiah, explaining that even though His signs were clear, some hearts remained hardened, fulfilling a prophecy and demonstrating God's sovereign will.
Deuteronomy 2:30This verse describes God hardening the spirit of Sihon, king of Heshbon, which demonstrates a pattern of God sovereignly influencing hearts for His purposes, similar to Pharaoh's case.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12This passage speaks of God sending a powerful delusion on those who reject truth, illustrating how God can actively contribute to the hardening of hearts that have already chosen to turn away from Him.
clarkeExodus 7:3: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt."
I will harden Pharaoh's heart - I will permit his stubbornness and obstinacy still to remain, that I may have the greater opportunity to multiply my wonders in the land, that the Egyptians may know that I only am Jehovah, the self-existent God. See Clarke's note on Exodus 4:21 .
ellicottExodus 7:3: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt."
(3) I will harden Pharaoh’s heart. —See the comment on Exodus 4:21 . My signs and my wonders.—“Signs” (‘othoth) were miracles done as credentials, to prove a mission (Exodus 4:8-9; Exodus 4:30). “Wonders” (môphôth) were miracles generally; niphle’oth, also translated” wonders” (Exodus 3:20), were miracles, wrought in the way of punishment. These last are called also shôphëtiin, “judgments…
This verse reveals a crucial, often missed, purpose behind God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart: it's not just about punishment, but about creating a stage for God to display His power through an abundance of signs and wonders. This intense demonstration is designed so that all of Egypt, not just Pharaoh, will come to know the true identity of Jehovah.
Moses and Aaron have just been commissioned by God to confront Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. God has equipped them with signs to prove His power, but Pharaoh is known for his stubbornness. This verse reveals God's foreknowledge and intention to further demonstrate His mighty power through a series of miracles, even in the face of Pharaoh's hardened heart.
Moses and Aaron have just been commissioned by God to confront Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. God has equipped them with signs to prove His power, but Pharaoh is known for his stubbornness. This verse reveals God's foreknowledge and intention to further demonstrate His mighty power through a series of miracles, even in the face of Pharaoh's hardened heart.
"But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt," — This verse reveals a crucial, often missed, purpose behind God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart: it's not just about punishment, but about creating a stage for God to display His power through an abund…
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Last reviewed October 2026