The Meaning of Exodus 7:3 Explained

Exodus 7:3

KJV: And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

YLT: 'And I harden the heart of Pharaoh, and have multiplied My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt,

Darby: And I will render Pharaoh's heart obdurate, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

ASV: And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And I will harden  Pharaoh's  heart,  and multiply  my signs  and my wonders  in the land  of Egypt. 

What does Exodus 7:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Exodus 7:1-13 - Pharaoh Stubborn Against Israel's Release
How often we say in a similar tone, "I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?" Forty years in the wilderness, in absolute solitude, had robbed Moses of the eloquence with which Stephen credits him in earlier life. Like Jeremiah, he felt himself a child and unable to speak.
It is an awful moment when the human will sets itself in antagonism to the divine. If it will not bend, it must break. For once the scion of an imperial race had met his superior. It were better for the potsherd to strive with the potsherds of the earth! But God is not unreasonable. At the outset He endeavored to prove to Pharaoh who and what He was. One of the chief reasons for the plagues, as well as of these miracles, was to establish the fact that the Jehovah of the Hebrews was the great Being who lives behind the whole apparatus of nature. [source]

Chapter Summary: Exodus 7

1  Moses and Aaron are encouraged to go again to Pharaoh
8  Aaron's rod is turned into a serpent
11  The sorcerers do the like; but their rods are swallowed up by Aaron's
13  Pharaoh's heart is hardened
14  God's message to Pharaoh
19  The river is turned into blood; and the consequent distress of the Egyptians

What do the individual words in Exodus 7:3 mean?

And I will harden - heart of Pharaoh and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt
וַאֲנִ֥י אַקְשֶׁ֖ה אֶת־ לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֧י אֹתֹתַ֛י וְאֶת־ מוֹפְתַ֖י בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם

וַאֲנִ֥י  And  I 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
אַקְשֶׁ֖ה  will  harden 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: קָשָׁה  
Sense: to be hard, be severe, be fierce, be harsh.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
לֵ֣ב  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
פַּרְעֹ֑ה  of  Pharaoh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: פַּרְעֹה  
Sense: the common title of the king of Egypt.
וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֧י  and  multiply 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
אֹתֹתַ֛י  My  signs 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֹות  
Sense: sign, signal.
מוֹפְתַ֖י  My  wonders 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: מֹופֵת  
Sense: wonder, sign, miracle, portent.
בְּאֶ֥רֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
מִצְרָֽיִם  of  Egypt 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.