Bible Contradiction? Who hardened the Pharaoh’s heart?

For today’s post we will tackle the question the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: Who hardened the Pharaoh’s heart?

Here are the answers which the skeptic believes indicate a Bible contradiction:

God did.

“The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” (Exodus 4:21)

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 7:3)

“Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (Exodus 7:13)

“And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.” (Exodus 9:12)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have [a]hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may [b]perform these signs of Mine among them” (Exodus 10:1)

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.” (Exodus 10:20)

“But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.” (Exodus 10:27)

“Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” (Exodus 11:10)

“Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.” (Exodus 14:4)

“The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly.” (Exodus 14:8)

“Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen.”” (Exodus 14:18)

The Pharaoh did.

“But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (Exodus 8:15)

“But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.” (Exodus 8:32)

“But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the [a]thunder had ceased, he sinned again and [b]hardened his heart, he and his servants.” (Exodus 9:34)

“Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow [a]the people to go, and they departed?” (1 Samuel 6:6)

(All Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

1. When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is a contradiction.  A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time.  To put it another way, a Bible contradiction exists when there are claims within the Bible that are mutually exclusive in the same sense and at the same time.
2. One should be skeptical of whether this is a Bible contradiction given the Skeptic Annotated Bible’s track record of inaccurately handling the Bible.  See the many examples of their error which we have responded to in this post: Collection of Posts Responding to Bible Contradictions.  Of course that does not take away the need to respond to this claim of a contradiction, which is what the remainder of this post will do.  But this observation should caution us to slow down and look more closely at the passages cited by the Skeptic Annotated Bible to see if they interpreted the passages properly to support their conclusion that it is a Bible contradiction.
3. The skeptic tries to pit eleven verses (Exodus 4:21, Exodus 7:3, Exodus 7:13, Exodus 9:12, Exodus 10:1, Exodus 10:20, Exodus 10:27, Exodus 11:10, Exodus 14:4, Exodus 14:8, Exodus 14:18) as affirming the claim “God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart” against four verses (Exodus 8:15, Exodus 8:32, Exodus 9:34, 1 Samuel 6:6) as affirming “Pharaoh hardened his own heart.”
4. One must always ask if the skeptics properly interpreted the verse they cited.
   1. The eleven verses (Exodus 4:21, Exodus 7:3, Exodus 7:13, Exodus 9:12, Exodus 10:1, Exodus 10:20, Exodus 10:27, Exodus 11:10, Exodus 14:4, Exodus 14:8, Exodus 14:18) were properly interpreted by the skeptics as affirming “God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart” since those verses shows either God speaking in the first person that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart or verses states God hardened Pharaoh’s heart in the third person.
   2. The four verses (Exodus 8:15, Exodus 8:32, Exodus 9:34, 1 Samuel 6:6) does affirm “Pharaoh hardened the Pharaoh’s own heart.”
5. Still we don’t see a Bible contradiction since the Bible elsewhere teaches that man’s will is concurrent with God’s will
   1. “The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:1)
      1. This verse shows that man does have a heart that is “real,” in which the person can plan things which presuppose a will, a mind, etc.
      2. Yet at the same time the Lord is involved and can control what man says.
   2. “The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
      1. Here we see again that man has a mind.
      2. Yet God is still sovereign over the person’s direction and decision.
   3. “Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)
      1. Here we see that man can consider many choices in his heart.
      2. Yet still the Lord is sovereign still with His counsel and plan.
6. Given that the BIble teaches the compatibalism of human will and God’s will we don’t have a contradiction if some passage shows “God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart” while others taught “Pharaoh hardened his own heart.”
   Technically in light of the Bible’s teaching of compatiablism these verses would be contradictory if the verses taught “ONLY God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart” or “ONLY Pharaoh hardened the Pharaoh’s heart.”  Or another set of possibilities in order for the Bible to be contradictory here is if these verses taught “God DID NOT hardened the Pharaoh’s heart” or “Pharaoh DID NOT hardened his own heart.” But none of those verses supply these claims.
7. Thus there is no contradiction here.  Seems the skeptic needs to learn of How to Handle Bible Contradictions.
8. We shouldn’t miss that worldviews are at play even with the skeptic’s objection to Christianity.  The worldview of the author of the Skeptic Annotated Bible actually doesn’t even allow for such a thing as the law of non-contradiction to be meaningful and intelligible.  In other words for him to try to disprove the Bible by pointing out that there’s a Bible contradiction doesn’t even make sense within his own worldview.  Check out our post “Skeptic Annotated Bible Author’s Self-Defeating Worldview.”