<\/p>
Yahweh\u2019s opening speech in Exodus 10 is arranged as a parallel structure: <\/p>\n
A. Go; I have hardened Pharaoh\u2019s heart <\/p>\n
B. That I may perform signs <\/p>\n
C. that you may tell to sons and sons of sons <\/p>\n
A\u2019. I made a mockery of Egypt <\/p>\n
B\u2019. I performed signs <\/p>\n
C\u2019. that you may know I am Yahweh <\/p>\n
A few observations on the contents. <\/p>\n
First, the verb translated as \u201charden\u201d in verse 1 is kabad <\/em> , which can mean \u201cglorify.\u201d\u00a0 Pharaoh lifts up, glorifies His heart against Yahweh; Yahweh judges him by giving him to his self-glory.\u00a0 Second, for the first time Yahweh hardens not only Pharaoh\u2019s heart but the hearts of Pharaoh\u2019s servants.\u00a0 The same pattern is at work: Pharaoh and his officials <\/em> hardened their hearts after the plague of hail and thunder, and so Yahweh gives them over to their hardness.\u00a0 Egypt\u2019s leaders as a unit are being hardened. <\/p>\n Third, the repetitions in the A and C sections create a musical feel to the verses.\u00a0 The word \u201cheart\u201d ( leb <\/em> ) is doubled; Yahweh hardens Pharaoh\u2019s heart and the heart of His servants.\u00a0 In verse 2, the word son ( ben <\/em> ) is repeated three times: Yahweh acts so that Israel can tell stories of Yahweh\u2019s acts to sons and sons of sons.\u00a0 The result is a rhyming phrase: binka uven-binka <\/em> . \u00a0Verse 6 continues the music: Locusts are going to come such as \u201cneither your fathers nor the fathers of your fathers have seen\u201d \u2013 avoteka wavot avoteka <\/em> , another rhyme. <\/p>\n Fourth, Yahweh performs signs so that ( lema\u2019an <\/em> ) the Hebrews will have something to recount.\u00a0 The verb for \u201ctell\u201d is safar <\/em> , which means \u201cwrite\u201d in many contexts.\u00a0 Yahweh is the great hero of an epic poem, and He does glorious deeds so bards throughout the ages will sing and write His praise. <\/p>\n Finally, the A\u2019 section uses the very flexible verb \u2018alal <\/em> .\u00a0 The root of the verb means \u201cdrink deeply\u201d or \u201cquench thirst completely,\u201d but the various uses deviate from that root meaning in all sorts of odd ways.\u00a0 \u2018alal <\/em> is the verb for \u201cglean\u201d (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 24:21), which can be used metaphorically for the preservation of a remnant (Jeremiah 6:9) or for pressing men into military service (Judges 20:45).\u00a0 Yet the word is also translated as \u201cabuse\u201d \u2013 the deadly abuse of the Levite\u2019s concubine (Judges 19:25); Saul\u2019s fears that the Philistines would abuse him (1 Samuel 31:4), which is echoed by Zedekiah (Jeremiah 38:19 \u2013 the last king of Judah echoes the first); the abuse of heart that Jeremiah feels when he looks at Jerusalem (Lamentations 3:51).\u00a0 Consistent with the meaning \u201cabuse,\u201d the word sometimes means vexing or toying with someone to cause pain. <\/p>\n In Exodus 10:2, several of these possible meanings are in play.\u00a0 Yahweh \u201csatisfies Himself\u201d by performing signs on Pharaoh.\u00a0 Yahweh abuses Pharaoh.\u00a0 Yahweh toys with Pharaoh.\u00a0 I cannot help but suspect that a whisper of hallal <\/em> is linked with \u2018alal <\/em> : Pharaoh glorifies himself with self-praise, so Yahweh gives him a kind of inverted praise, not hallal <\/em> but \u2018alal <\/em> . <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yahweh\u2019s opening speech in Exodus 10 is arranged as a parallel structure: A. Go; I have hardened Pharaoh\u2019s heart B. That I may perform signs C. that you may tell to sons and sons of sons A\u2019. I made a mockery of Egypt B\u2019. I performed signs C\u2019. that you may know I am Yahweh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-exodus"],"yoast_head":"\n