When the book of Exodus opens, the Hebrews are subjected to “hard” bondage (1:14; 6:9). Yahweh sees it, and graciously delivers them from the bondage, but hardness returns. Four times in Exodus, Yahweh charges that Israel, though delivered from the hard bondage of hard-hearted Pharaoh, has become “hard” of heart themselves (Exodus 32:9; 33:3, 5; 34:9). They haven’t fully been delivered from their hard bondage until they are delivered from hardness of heart.

In Isaiah 19:4, the prophet warns that Israel is going to suffer the same hardness. When Yahweh comes to judge Egypt, He is going to turn them over to the kind of bondage that they once imposed on Israel: “I will give the Egyptians into the hands of a cruel masters” (the plural is in the Hebrew text). Ultimately, this is good news, since the God who gives into hard bondage also delivers from all manner of hardness.