Pharaoh’s hardened heart

This week’s Torah portion covers the first seven of the ten plagues. One of the great problems we come across are repeated references to God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. This seems to fly in the face of the major principle of the Torah that humans are responsible for their actions because we have free will.

There have been several ways in which this issue has been approached. I’d like to share one developed by R’ Ovadiah Sforno of Rome (1470-1550). He suggests that it was actually the plagues that were infringing on Pharaoh’s free will. Like having his arm twisted behind his back, he wouldn’t really be making a free-will decision to set the people of Israel free as a result of the pressure of the plagues.

Therefore, in order to RESTORE Pharaoh’s free will – God hardened his heart so that he could resist the pressure of the plagues.

Sharing is caring!

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

Leave a Reply

Don’t Stop Here

More To Explore

Wanting God

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob…” (Exodus 6:3). This seems to be a very straightforward and unambiguous statement by God to Moses.

Question, Challenge, Pray

“You don’t learn by having faith. You learn by questioning, by challenging, by re-examining everything you’ve ever believed. And yet, all this is a matter

Flaunt not

“You have enough. Circle the mountain and turn to the north” (Deuteronomy 2:3). Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, in his commentary Kli Yakar, spins this verse

contact