The Heart of Pharaoh in Exodus 4–15

The exegetical problems surrounding the hardening of Pharaoh's heart motif in Exodus 4–15 have long been noted by scholars. In one's attempt to grapple with the interpretive issues that arise from this familiar episode, it is expedient that one's efforts are firmly anchored in the grammar and syntax of the text itself. The following study attempts to analyze the heart-of-Pharaoh motif in light of three concerns: lexical, grammatical, and contextual. The aim of a threefold approach such as this is to offer a reanalysis of this text for the purpose of further elucidating the hardening of Pharaoh's heart as presented in the Exodus narrative.