Parashat Va-Era: the Antinomy of Free Will and God’s
Predestination Number of visits: 333 | Number of downloads: 0
Exodus 7:1-3 states: The L-RD replied to Moses, “See, I make you
an oracle to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your
spokesman. You shall repeat all that I command you, and your
brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh, to let the Israelites
depart from his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that I
may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt (JPS
translation). Prima facie (at first blush), this last verse is
predestinarian. It implies that God predestined that Pharaoh
would harden his heart. Now, an antinomy exists between the
doctrine of human free will and the scriptural verses that imply
predestination. How can one uphold both propositions? How does
one resolve the contradiction? Hazal, in Shemot Rabbah (13:3)
declare that Pharaoh was an exceptional sinner, and therefore he
did not merit the human gift of free will. Two of the earlier
medieval Jewish philosophers, R. Sa‘adi