John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. Harden not you hearts , etc..] There is a natural hardness of the heart; the heart of man is like a stone, destitute of spiritual life, motion, and activity; it is senseless, stupid, impenitent, stubborn, and inflexible, on which no impressions can be made, but by powerful grace: and there is an acquired, habitual, and voluntary hardness of heart, to which men arrive by various steps; as entertaining pleasing thoughts of sin; an actual commission of it, with frequency, till it becomes customary, and so habitual; an extenuation or justification of it, and so they become hardened against all reproofs and sermons, and to all afflictions and judgments; are insensible and past feeling, and openly declare for sin, and glory in it: and there is a hardness which God's people are liable to, and should guard against; and which is brought on by a neglect of private and public worship, and by keeping bad company, and through the ill examples of others, and by giving way to lesser sins; for all sin is of an hardening nature: as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness ; the Jews provoked God in the wilderness by their unbelief, murmurings, ingratitude, and idolatry; and they tempted him there by distrusting his power and goodness; hence one of the places in which they murmured against him was called Massah and Meribah, ( Exodus 17:7) and it is an aggravation of their sin, that it was in the wilderness, after they had been just brought out of bondage into liberty, and had lately had such an instance of the power and goodness of God, in bringing them through the Red sea; and where they could have no human supplies, and therefore should have been entirely dependent on God, and trust in him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 7-13 - Days of temptation are often days of provocation. But to provoke God when he is letting us see that we entirely depend and live upon him, in a provocation indeed. The hardening of the heart is the spring of all other sins. The sins of others, especially of our relations, should be warnings to us. All sin, especially sin committed by God's professing privileged people, not only provokes God, but it grieves him. God is loth to destroy any in, or for their sin; he waits long to be graciou to them. But sin, long persisted in, will make God's wrath discove itself in destroying the impenitent; there is no resting under the wrath of God. "Take heed:" all who would get safe to heaven must loo about them; if once we allow ourselves to distrust God, we may soo desert him. Let those that think they stand, take heed lest they fall Since to-morrow is not ours, we must make the best improvement of thi day. And there are none, even the strongest of the flock, who do no need help of other Christians. Neither are there any so low an despised, but the care of their standing in the faith, and of their safety, belongs to all. Sin has so many ways and colours, that we nee more eyes than ours own. Sin appears fair, but is vile; it appear pleasant, but is destructive; it promises much, but performs nothing The deceitfulness of sin hardens the soul; one sin allowed makes wa for another; and every act of sin confirms the habit. Let every on beware of sin.
Greek Textus Receptus
μη 3361 PRT-N σκληρυνητε 4645 5725 V-PAS-2P τας 3588 T-APF καρδιας 2588 N-APF υμων 5216 P-2GP ως 5613 ADV εν 1722 PREP τω 3588 T-DSM παραπικρασμω 3894 N-DSM κατα 2596 PREP την 3588 T-ASF ημεραν 2250 N-ASF του 3588 T-GSM πειρασμου 3986 N-GSM εν 1722 PREP τη 3588 T-DSF ερημω 2048 A-DSF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
8. Harden not (mh sklhrunhte). In N.T. mostly in this epistle. Comp. Acts xix. 9; Rom. ix. 18, see note. The group of kindred words consists of sklhrov hard (see on Matthew 25;24; Jude 14); sklyrothv hardness (Rom. ii. 5); sklhrunein to harden (Acts xix. 9; Rom. ix. 18); and the compounds sklhrokardia hardness of heart (Matt. xix. 8; Mark x. 5), and sklhrotrachlov stiff-necked (Acts 7;5). All occur in LXX, with the addition of sklhrwv hardly, painfully (not in N.T.). In the provocation (en tw parapikrasmw). Only here and ver. 15. In LXX only Psalm xciv. 8. The verb parapikraineinto provoke, only in ver. 16. Often in LXX. The simple verb pikrainein to make bitter, Col. iii. 19; Apoc. viii. 11; x. 9, 10. From pikrov bitter, pungent: hence to stir up to bitterness, to irritate. Comp. LXX Ezek. ii. 4. In the day (kata thn hJmeran). Kata in a temporal sense, as Acts xii. 1; xix. 23; xxvii. 27. Comp. kat' ajrcav in the beginning, ch. i. 10. Of temptation (tou peirasmou). Rend. "of the temptation," referring to a definite event, the murmuring against Moses at Rephidim on account of the lack of water, Exod. xvii. 1-7. In that passage the LXX gives for the two proper names Massah and Meribah, peirasmov temptation, which is correct, and loidorhsiv railing or reviling, which is loose, since Meribah signifies strife. 181 In Psalm 94, LXX renders Meribah parapikrasmov provocation, which is inexact, and Massah peirasmov temptation, which is correct.
