2007-03-06 12:08:15 · 13 answers · asked by Contemplative Monkey 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Apparently, God's a bit of a jerk.
Without hardening Pharaoh's heart, he wouldn't have been able to Justify murdering all those first born Egyptian babies, afterall.
2007-03-06 12:11:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 8⤋
I think that is one of the sections that was miss translated or changed.
I believe that it would be better put as Pharaoh hardened his heart
In high school on of my history teachers told us about the history of the King James Bible in the process of teaching about European history. From that and several other sources I found out that one of the less known reasons that King James broke off and formed the Church of England was that he didn't like the clergy of the Church changing the text of the bible to suit their needs. You can read about some of the specific errors that prompted the translation on Wikipedia (it does not mention what my history teacher told me)
According to what I learned the King James Bible was put together by searching for the oldest available scriptural records and then published it. the information on Wikipedia seams to agree with that.
When the Prophet Joseph Smith was commanded to translate the Bible those references were among the ones he translated.
2007-03-06 20:43:36 · answer #2 · answered by Joseph 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, there is a very good theological explanation. The first 6 plagues or so, Pharoah's heart was hardened by choice, but in the last four, God hardened Pharoahs heart as punishment for his ignorance. There are verses that support this, but I don't know them at the moment. Read Exodus and you'll find that God di this to fulfill the deliverance of Israel and to make sure this was God.
2007-03-06 20:15:42 · answer #3 · answered by Levi G 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Pharoh had already made his decision. Based on that decision, God put a plan into effect. 'Hardening' his heart merely ensured that the plan would go through. But in fact, I'm not so sure it was a matter of God hardning anything. People are very good at that sort of thing, as you so aptly demonstrate here.
2007-03-06 20:15:34 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
He did it so when the ppl got out of Egypt, it could show He was workin in the pharaoh's heart.
2007-03-06 20:12:30 · answer #5 · answered by ♥ ☮ ☺ ♫ 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
He did it so that the Pharaoh would learn a valuable lesson about the benefits of wholesome, cholesterol-reducing oatmeal.
2007-03-06 20:12:21 · answer #6 · answered by chrisatmudd 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
He wanted to see the perserverance of Moses and the rest of the Israelites. It was also a test to see if Moses and the Israelites would trust God instead of doubting nomatter what happened.
2007-03-06 20:11:15 · answer #7 · answered by drama.addictt. 1 · 2⤊ 4⤋
it showed the faith of moses and the israelites .. as well as it showed that the idol gods that the egyptians credited to their greatness and empire were no match for God Himself.
2007-03-06 20:15:34 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
by hardening his heart, hashem made it so that the pharoah would release the hebrews because he wanted to and not because he was afraid of punishment
2007-03-06 20:13:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
Guess he felt like a few more plagues were in order.
2007-03-06 20:11:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋