Exodus 10:20

Summary

The verse reports that Yehovah made Pharaoh's heart strong/hard, and as a result Pharaoh did not release the Israelites. It is a two-clause narrative statement connecting divine action to Pharaoh's refusal.

Key words

• va-yechazzeq ("and he made strong", H2388G) — piel narrative verb form; the piel stem is intensive, indicating a strengthening/hardening process, and the narrative vav links this action as the next event in sequence.
• YHWH ("Yehovah", H3068G) — proper name of the deity, grammatical subject of the verb yechazzeq.
• lev ("heart of", H3820A) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must attach to what follows (par'oh, "Pharaoh"); the construct chain produces "heart of Pharaoh."
• shillach ("he let go", H7971H) — piel perfect verb, expressing a completed (non-)action; negated by lo' ("not", H3808), producing "did not let go."
• bene ("sons of / people of", H1121G) — masculine plural construct noun, forming a construct chain with Yisra'el ("Israel") to yield "sons/people of Israel."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built from two coordinated clauses joined by vav. The first clause has Yehovah as subject performing the verb yechazzeq ("he made strong/hard") in the piel stem, which carries an intensive nuance beyond a simple qal action — the piel here suggests a deliberate, forceful causation rather than a passive state. The direct object is marked by 'et and is the construct phrase lev par'oh ("heart of Pharaoh"), where lev ("heart") is grammatically bound to par'oh ("Pharaoh") as a construct chain, meaning literally "heart of Pharaoh" as a single conceptual unit.

The second clause, introduced by ve-lo' ("and not"), presents Pharaoh's response: shillach ("he let go"), a piel perfect verb also carrying intensive force ("release, send away" rather than merely "let"), is negated. The object is 'et bene Yisra'el ("the sons/people of Israel"), another construct chain. The grammatical subject of shillach is implied (Pharaoh), continuing from the previous clause without being restated by name — the Hebrew relies on context rather than explicit repetition of "Pharaoh" as subject.

The sequence of a piel verb (yechazzeq) followed by a negated piel perfect (lo' shillach) creates a tight cause-and-consequence structure within the verse itself, though the grammar does not specify causal subordination — it is simply two coordinated clauses joined by "and."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders yechazzeq ("he made strong", H2388G) with esklērynen ("hardened"), and the Vulgate similarly uses induravit ("hardened"), both selecting a translation emphasizing rigidity/hardness rather than the more general "strength" sense embedded in the Hebrew root of chazaq.