Question 1

What exactly does Pharaoh observe in v.34, and why is that observation important to the story’s turn?

Accepted Answer

Pharaoh “saw” that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped. That observation matters because it marks the moment when immediate pressure is gone and a decision is exposed. In the prior scene, Pharaoh had responded to the storm by asking for prayer and sounding willing to let Israel go. Here, once the danger passes, the narrator presents Pharaoh’s sight of relief as the trigger for reversal. The text does not portray him as confused about what happened; he recognizes the change and then chooses a different path.

Question 2

How does the passage describe Pharaoh’s response after the storm stops, and what moral assessment does it attach?

Accepted Answer

After the storm ends, the narrator says Pharaoh “sinned yet more.” That is an explicit moral judgment, not just a report that Pharaoh changed his mind. It also suggests an escalation: his wrongdoing increases rather than simply continuing at the same level. The text then pairs that moral evaluation with the language of hardening (“hardened his heart”), implying that his internal resolve and his outward policy are moving in a more stubborn direction, not toward compromise.

Question 3

What role do “his servants” play in v.34, and what does that suggest about how the refusal was maintained?

Accepted Answer

The verse says Pharaoh hardened his heart “he and his servants.” In context, “servants” most naturally refers to court officials and administrators who help enforce royal policy. The wording suggests Pharaoh’s resistance is not only an individual personality trait; it is reinforced within a governing circle. The refusal to release Israel is therefore portrayed as a shared stance with institutional backing. This helps explain how oppression can persist: it is supported by a leadership group with aligned interests, not only by a single ruler’s private will.

Question 4

How does v.35 restate the outcome of v.34, and what effect does the repetition create?

Accepted Answer

Verse 35 repeats the core outcome in summary form: Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go. This restates, in simpler terms, what v.34 described with more narrative detail (relief → increased sin → hardening with servants). The repetition functions like a closing refrain for the hail episode. It emphasizes the stubborn pattern that keeps recurring in the plague cycle: momentary movement under pressure followed by renewed refusal once pressure lifts.

Question 5

What does the phrase “as Yahweh had spoken through Moses” contribute to the meaning of v.35?

Accepted Answer

That closing phrase connects the immediate scene to earlier divine speech delivered through Moses. The text explicitly claims that Pharaoh’s continued refusal is not random but fits what Yahweh had already announced would happen. This does not explain every step of causation inside these two verses, but it does frame the storyline: the narrator wants the reader to see a match between prior words and present events. It also reinforces Moses’ role as the human messenger through whom Yahweh’s words were communicated.

Question 6

How can the two hardening statements (“Pharaoh hardened his heart” and “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened”) be read together while staying close to the text?

Accepted Answer

At minimum, both statements point to the same concrete result: Pharaoh remains stubborn and continues refusing to release Israel. Verse 34 emphasizes Pharaoh’s active stance, including his servants, immediately after relief. Verse 35 restates the hardened condition more generally and ties the outcome to Yahweh’s prior word through Moses. Readers differ on whether the second phrasing hints at a cause beyond Pharaoh. But even without settling that question, the text clearly presents Pharaoh’s post-relief decision as morally culpable (“sinned yet more”) and as a repeated pattern.

Exodus 9:34-35

Scripture