Shared ground
Exodus 10:1–2 pauses the plague story to explain why it continues. The text is explicit that Yahweh sends Moses back to Pharaoh and says he has made Pharaoh and his officials “stubborn” so that Yahweh can display “my signs” publicly in Egypt. It is also explicit that these events are meant to be retold inside Israel’s families (“son” and “son’s son”), and that the long-term goal is recognition: “that you may know that I am Yahweh” (Exodus 10:1–2).
Where interpretation differs
The main question is how Yahweh’s hardening relates to Pharaoh’s own choices. Some readers take the wording to mean Yahweh directly and decisively causes Pharaoh’s resistance at this point, so the continued refusal mainly serves Yahweh’s stated purpose of multiplying signs. Others read the hardening as Yahweh confirming or strengthening a stubborn direction Pharaoh and his officials have already chosen, so the text highlights both human refusal and divine resolve working together in the same storyline.
A smaller question concerns who “you” addresses in v. 2. It clearly speaks to Moses in the scene, but many readers see Moses as representing Israel’s wider responsibility to preserve the story across generations.
Why the disagreement exists
The passage itself gives a clear divine purpose (“that I may show…signs,” “that you may tell,” “that you may know”), but it does not spell out the mechanics of how “hardened” works in relation to Pharaoh’s will. Across the wider plague narrative, Pharaoh is also described as hardening his own “heart” (mind/resolve), which leads readers to weigh the different statements in different ways.
What this passage clearly contributes
These verses frame the signs as more than crisis-management. They are presented as public disclosures of Yahweh’s power within Egypt and as foundational memory for Israel’s identity. The end-point is knowledge of Yahweh’s name/identity (Yahweh): not only that a powerful act occurred, but who was acting and what that means for Israel’s understanding of their God.
