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Who is the Lord? I will not listen to his voice. I do not know the Lord and I will not send Israel away ". Then when the staff was changed into a serpent, the divine scripture says: " and Pharaoh's heart was strengthened and he did not listen to them 106 just as the Lord had spoken to them ". And immediately it adds: " But the Lord said to Moses: Pharaoh's heart is heavy so that he will not send the people away ". But both signify the free will of his judgment, both, " Pharaoh's heart was strengthened ", and, " Pharaoh's heart is heavy ". For a heart is weighed down when it is dragged down by wickedness. And the blessed David clearly teaches us this: " For my iniquities," he says, "have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they have been weighted down upon me ". And Zechariah saw iniquity bearing a talent of lead in its mouth. But that which employs recklessness is said to be strengthened, as it resists the Lord God, and boasts of conquering His power. For the pious one submits according to the prophetic exhortation which says, " Be subject to the Lord, and supplicate him "; but that which is resistant and as if of stone is hardened. Whence the God of all things through the prophet Ezekiel said concerning the Jews: " and I will take away the heart of stone from them ". For this very reason the blessed Moses, singing the song of victory concerning Pharaoh and the Egyptians has said: " they sank into the deep like a stone ". And again: " they sank like lead in the mighty water ". For since they weighed down their own heart, " they sank like lead "; but since they also hardened it, " they sank into the deep like a stone ". But that the resistance of the heart and its hardness comes from ourselves, the divine apostle is a witness, saying: " not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance; but according to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath on 107 the day of wrath and revelation and of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his works ". In addition to these things, one must also consider that, if Pharaoh were wicked by nature, he would not have changed his mind; but now we see him being softened by the discipline but being hardened by the long-suffering. For being disciplined, he beseeched the lawgiver, saying "Pray for me"; and again, " the Lord is righteous, but I and my people are wicked ". But when the punishment ceased, he was weighed down, and was hardened, and spoke against the divine commands; and when the dog-fly was brought upon them, he ordered them to sacrifice to God in Egypt; but when the most divine Moses said that he could not do this on account of the Egyptians; " for we will sacrifice," he says, "the things that are deified by them, and they will stone and kill us ", he permitted them to go into the desert and perform the sacrifices. Upon this, when the prophet prayed and made the dog-fly vanish, " he weighed down," it says, "his heart also at this time, and was not willing to send the people away ". This also happened at the time of the plague of the livestock; " Pharaoh saw," it says, "that not one had died from all the livestock of the sons of Israel, and Pharaoh's heart was weighed down and he did not send the people away "; In all these things having shown the free will of his judgment, and having taught how was brought upon them the affliction of boils, and that the disease fell upon the magicians, " and the magicians were not able to stand before Moses because of the ulcers ". For they were ashamed, being covered with ulcers, and not able to help themselves, he added: " and 108 the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had commanded them ", and after a little while he said to Pharaoh himself: " For this purpose you have been preserved, that I might show my strength in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth ". And again after a little while he said these things also: " For Pharaoh saw," it says, "that the rain had ceased and the hail and the voices, and Pharaoh sinned yet more; and he weighed down his heart, and that of his servants, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not send away the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had spoken to

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τίς ἐστι Κύριος; οὐκ εἰσακού σομαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ. οὐκ οἶδα τὸν Κύριον καὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐξαποστελῶ ". ἔπειτα δὲ τῆς ῥάβ δου μεταβληθείσης εἰς ὄφιν φησὶν ἡ θεία γραφή· " καὶ κατίσχυ σεν ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν 106 καθάπερ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς Κύριος ". καὶ εὐθὺς ἐπά γει· " εἶπε δὲ Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν· βεβάρηται ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ τοῦ μὴ ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν λαόν ". ἀμφότερα δὲ σημαίνει τὸ τῆς γνώμης αὐθαίρετον, καὶ τό, " κατίσχυ σεν ἡ καρδία Φαραώ ", καὶ τό, " βεβάρηται ἡ καρ δία Φαραώ ". βαρύνεται μὲν γὰρ καρδία ὑπὸ πονηρίας καθελκο μένη. καὶ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἡμᾶς διδάσκει ὁ μακάριος ∆αβίδ· " αἱ ἀνομίαι μου, γάρ φησιν, ὑπερῆραν τὴν κεφαλήν μου, ὡσεὶ φορτίον βαρὺ ἐβαρύνθησαν ἐπ' ἐμέ ". καὶ ὁ Ζακχα ρίας τὴν ἀνομίαν ἐθεάσατο μολίβδου τάλαντον ἐν τῷ στόματι φέρουσαν. ἡ δέ γε ἀπονοίᾳ χρωμένη κατισχύειν λέγεται, ὡς ἀνθισταμένη τῷ δεσπό τῃ Θεῷ, καὶ νικᾶν αὐτοῦ νεανιευομένη τὴν δύναμιν. ἡ γὰρ εὐσεβὴς ὑπο τάττεται κατὰ τὴν προφητικὴν παραίνεσιν τὴν λέγουσαν, " ὑποτά γηθι τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἱκέτευσον αὐτόν "· ἡ δέ γε ἀντίτυπος καὶ οἱονεὶ λιθίνη σκληρύνεται. ὅθεν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰεζεκιὴλ περὶ τῶν ἰουδαίων ἔφη· " καὶ ἐκσπάσω τὴν καρδίαν τὴν λιθίνην ἐξ αὐτῶν ". διά τοι τοῦτο καὶ ὁ μακάριος Μωϋσῆς, τὴν ἐπινίκιον ᾄδων ᾠδὴν περὶ τοῦ Φαραὼ καὶ τῶν αἰγυπτίων εἴρηκε· " κατέδυσαν εἰς βυθὸν ὡσεὶ λίθος ". καὶ πάλιν· " ἔδυσαν ὡσεὶ μόλιβδος ἐν ὕδατι σφο δρῷ ". ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐβάρυναν αὑτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, " ἔδυσαν ὡσεὶ μόλιβδος "· ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ ἐσκλήρυναν, " κατέδυσαν εἰς βυ θὸν ὡσεὶ λίθος ". ὅτι δὲ ἡ ἀντιτυπία τῆς καρδίας καὶ ἡ σκληρότης ὑφ' ἡμῶν αὐτῶν γίγνεται, μάρτυς ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος λέγων· " ἀγνο ῶν ὅτι τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς μετάνοιάν σε ἄγει· κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητά σου καὶ ἀμετα νόητον καρδίαν, θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν 107 ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως καὶ δικαιοκρι σίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔρ γα αὐτοῦ ". πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κἀκεῖνο σκοπητέον, ὡς εἰ φύσει πο νηρὸς ἦν ὁ Φαραώ, οὐκ ἂν αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην ἐνήλλαξε· νῦν δὲ ὁρῶμεν ὑπὸ μὲν τῆς παιδείας αὐτὸν μαλαττόμενον ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς μακροθυμίας σκλη ρυνόμενον. παιδευόμενος γὰρ ἠντιβόλει τὸν νομοθέτην, " προσεύ ξασθε περὶ ἐμοῦ " λέγων· καὶ πάλιν, " ὁ Κύριος δί καιος, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ὁ λαός μου ἀσεβεῖς ". τῆς δὲ τι μωρίας παυομένης ἐβαρύνετο, καὶ ἐσκληρύνετο καὶ τοῖς προστάγμασι τοῖς θείοις ἀντέλεγε· καὶ τῆς μὲν κυνομυίας ἐπενεχθείσης, ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ θῦσαι προσέταξε τῷ Θεῷ· τοῦ θειοτάτου δὲ Μωϋσέως εἰρηκότος μὴ δύνασθαι τοῦτο δρᾶσαι διὰ τοὺς αἰγυπτίους· " τὰ γὰρ ὑπ' ἐκεί νων, φησί, θεοποιούμενα θύσομεν καὶ καταλεύον τες ἡμᾶς ἀποκτενοῦσιν ", ἐπέτρεψεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ἀπελθεῖν καὶ τὰς θυσίας ἐπιτελέσαι. ἐπὶ τούτοις τοῦ προφήτου προσευξαμένου καὶ τὴν κυνόμυιαν ἀποφήναντος φροῦδον, " ἐβάρυνε, φησί, τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου τοῦ καιροῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν λαόν ". τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λοιμοῦ γεγένηται τῶν κτηνῶν· " εἶδε, φησί, Φαραώ, ὅτι οὐκ ἐτελεύτησεν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν κτηνῶν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ οὐδὲ ἕν, καὶ ἐβαρύνθη ἡ καρ δία Φαραὼ καὶ οὐκ ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν λαόν "· ἐν τούτοις ἅπασι δείξας τὸ τῆς γνώμης αὐθαίρετον, καὶ διδάξας ὅπως αὐτοῖς ἐπηνέχθη τῶν φλυκταινῶν τὸ πάθος, καὶ ὅτι τοῖς φαρμακοῖς ἡ νόσος ἐπέσκηψε, " καὶ οὐκ ἠδύναντο οἱ φαρμακοὶ στῆναι ἐναντίον Μωϋσῆ διὰ τὰ ἕλκη ". ᾐσχύνοντο γὰρ καθηλκω μένοι καὶ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπαμῦναι μὴ δυνάμενοι, ἐπήγαγε· " καὶ 108 ἐσκλήρυνε Κύριος τὴν καρδίαν Φαραὼ καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν καθὰ συνέταξεν αὐτοῖς Κύ ριος ", καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη τὸν Φαραώ· " ἕνεκεν τούτου διετηρήθης, ἵνα ἐνδείξωμαι ἐν σοὶ τὴν ἰσχύν μου καὶ ὅπως διαγγελῇ τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ ". καὶ αὖθις μετ' ὀλίγα καὶ ταῦτα ἔφη· " ἰδών, γάρ φησι, Φαραὼ ὅτι πέπαυται ὁ ὑετὸς καὶ ἡ χά λαζα καὶ αἱ φωναί, καὶ προσέθετο Φαραὼ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν· καὶ ἐβάρυνε τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῶν θεραπόντων αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐσκληρύνθη ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ καὶ οὐκ ἐξαπέστειλε τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, καθάπερ ἐλάλησε Κύριος τῷ