Pharaoh turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. Pharaoh's response to the Nile turning to blood is to turn away. The Egyptian word for Pharaoh means great house — and into his great house he retreats, insulating himself from the reality in front of him. The phrase did not take even this to heart uses the same word as the hardening of heart — he does not let what he has seen penetrate. Proverbs 4:23 says above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Pharaoh guards his heart against the only knowledge that could save him: the knowledge that the Lord is God. Every successive plague is an attempt to break through the insulation. Each refusal thickens the walls. The retreat into the palace is the first of many retreats from a reality he cannot ultimately outrun.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse