And Hashem said to Moshe: Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants' in order that I might place these' My signs, in his midst (10:1). The question is, Why did Hashem harden Pharaohws heart in order to force him to continue to disobey Him? The answer could be that when one wants to sin' Hashem gives him an option to do so, but we donwt find that Hashem actually helps a person to sin absent that prior willingness!
Pharaoh hardened his heart of his own choice, and so continued to refuse to release Klal Yisrael from bondage/ So why then did Pharaoh stubbornly continue to refuse to obey Hashem? Was he not afraid of being killed by epidemic disease' by the sword or some other punishment? Surely he had already seen how many of his people had been harmed by the plagues!
The main reason for his refusal was that he erred in his assessment of Hashemws abilities/ He witnessed Hashemws sending first the plague of blood and then the plague of frogs/ His illusion was that the plagues were the result of witchcraft. Egypt was a land full of sorcerers, and were experts in making witchcraft, therefore, the sorcerers were able to duplicate the plagues of blood and frogs.
And the sorcerer’s did likewise with their secret rites, and they brought up the frogs on the land of Egypt. (8 : 3) Then came the third plague of lice, and again Posuk 14 says And the sorcerer’s did likewise with their secret rites to bring out the lice, but they could not, and the lice were upon man and beast. So the sorcerer’s said to Pharaoh, "It is the finger of G-d," but Pharaoh's heart remained steadfast, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.
Which leaves us to wonder, after the sorcerer’s admitted that the plagues were the work of Hashem, Pharaoh should heve been softened. Yet the Torah states that his heart had hardend! Which one must wonder what was the logic of Pharaon? However, Pharaoh had a false conception of the ways of Hashem. He observed that if Hashem really wanted to redeem Klal Yisrael from Egypt, He could have simply killed off all of the Egyptians through a epidemic plague. Then, Hashem could have liberated Klal Yisrael immediately' without the need for multiple plagues/ Why then did Hashem not follow this course of action from the start?
Pharaoh, who considered himself a Lord as we see in the Torah Go to Pharaoh in the morning; behold, he is going forth to the water, and you shall stand opposite him on the bank of the Nile, and the staff that was turned into a serpent you shall take in your hand. Rashi quotes many Midrashim to relieve himself, for he had consider himself as a god and said that he did not need to relieve himself; so, early in the morning he went out to the Nile and there he would perform his needs. Therefore, he mistakenly thought that Hashemws mastery was not uniform and consistent in all matters and times, and consequently believed that Hashem did not have the power to decimate Egypt completely' and thus he hardened his own heart and refused to release the Jews/
The truth is that Hashem always repays measure for measure' and as the Midrash explains' every plague was a targeted' calculated punishment for the Egyptian mistreatment of Klal Yisrael/
This is the meaning of Hashemws wordsww: Come to Pharaoh' for I have hardened his heart/w The multiplicity of plagues unleashed upon Egypt caused Pharaoh to harden his own heart' because he mistakenly thought that Hashem was unable to do whatever He wants, whenever He wishes. In a self-contradictory way, Pharaoh unreasonably viewed the multiplicity of Plagues as proof that Hashem was not supreme and that His power to punish was limited. In the face of Pharaohws willfully-imposed ignorance and defiance' Hashem explained the true reason why he had sent the various plagues": in order that I might place these, My signs' in his midst/ " I want to punish him specifically with these targeted miracles, because they are a measure for measure punishment for their numerous crimes against Klal Yisrael
Everything Hashem does is very calculated to a tee. Every punishment is for something done wrong. The fool always seem to find answers and rightfulness to his misdoings. (Sefer Imrei Shefer, Hagaon Reb Shlome Kluger)
