As Moses is en route to Egypt, the Lord declares that his signs and wonders will parallel the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. God’s hardening and Pharaoh’s responsibility in hardening his own heart are inextricably interwoven. In both Israelite and Egyptian contexts the heart was viewed as the center of volitional, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual capacities. Three Hebrew words are used for hardening: hazaq, “to strengthen” (4:21; 7:13, 22; 8:19; 9:12, 35; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17); qashah, “to be difficult, harsh, or hard” (7:3; 13:15); and kabed, “to be heavy” (7:14; 8:15, 32; 9:34; 10:1). Hazaq has implications of power in order to perform a function. Kabed would have been particularly significant in the Egyptian context. After death the heart was weighed in a scale opposite a…