This is the first time that the text has used both key phrases at once—kibbud halev and chizuk halev—to describe Pharaoh’s state of mind: When Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail and the thunders had ceased—he continued to sin, and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. And Pharaoh’s heart became strengthened, and he did not send out the Children of Israel (Exodus 9:34–35)
