Pharaoh's heart is hardened - where the JST departs

[GoCeltics]

Something that stood out to me in the church's Old Testament Study Guide was a clarification about Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus.

Exodus 7:3, footnote a, includes an important clarification from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. It explains that the Lord did not harden Pharaoh’s heart but that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. As the Prophet Joseph Smith was working on his inspired translation of the King James Version of the Bible, he corrected each indication that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart because in each case, Pharaoh had hardened his own heart (see Joseph Smith Translation, Exodus 7:13 [in Exodus 7:13, footnote a]; 9:12 [in Exodus 9:12, footnote a]; 10:1 [in Exodus 10:1, footnote a], 20 [in Exodus 10:20, footnote a], 27 [in Exodus 10:27, footnote a]; 11:10 [in Exodus 11:10,footnote a]).

This lines up with a shorter note in this week’s Come Follow Me lesson - “Note the clarification in the Joseph Smith Translation of Exodus 7:3, 13; 9:12.”

I’d argue it’s less about clarification and more about replacing what the Bible teaches.

Across the broader biblical text, the King James Version’s wording about who hardens Pharaoh’s heart is actually consistent with other major sources, including the English Standard Version (ESV), the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), and the Hebrew Masoretic Text. In passages where Pharaoh is the one hardening his own heart, all of these sources say so. And in passages where God is described as hardening Pharaoh’s heart, they consistently attribute it to God as well.

Below, I’ll look at how the JST approaches the biblical passages.
 

Where the JST reassigns the hardening from God to Pharaoh (the first being the king of Heshbon)

Deuteronomy 2:30; Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:3, 9:12, 10:1,20,27, 11:10, 14:4,8,17

In Joshua 11:20, the JST alters the meaning of the verse and re-orders the words.

KJV:

“For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.”

JST:

“For it was of the LORD to destroy them utterly, because they hardened their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that they might have no favour, that they might destroy them in battle as the Lord commanded Moses.”

 

Where Pharaoh is already said to harden his own heart

The KJV attributes the hardening to Pharaoh in several places; the JST leaves them unchanged:

Exodus 8:15,32, 9:34–35

The notion that God hardens people’s hearts shows up in several other parts of the Bible. The JST leaves them unchanged.

Isaiah 63:17

KJV:

“O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake.”

JST:

“O LORD, why hast thou suffered us to err from thy ways, and to harden our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake.”

John 12:40

KJV:

“He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart.”

JST:

“He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart.”

Romans 9:18

KJV:

“Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

JST:

“Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

[JAHS]

Besides the correction from JST some people interpret such scriptures to mean God allowed Pharaoh to act according to his own predetermined wickedness, rather than forcing him against his will.

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, JAHS said:

Besides the correction from JST some people interpret such scriptures to mean God allowed Pharaoh to act according to his own predetermined wickedness, rather than forcing him against his will.

They do but they do it in defiance of the text and not due to any nuanced textual reading. This reading is due to people bringing their conception of who and what God is to the text and then selectively editing it to fit with their worldview. This is helpful in resolving the inconsistencies in the Bible to the advantage of the reader but it also means the reader is unlikely to gain much from the text or understand what the original writers were actually saying.