Calvin — both in this place (as we saw above), and on Exod. ch. 4 and 7, likewise bk. 1 of the Institutes, ch. 18, §2 — and also other heretics, concerning whom Bellarmine [treats] (bk. 2, On the Loss of Grace, ch. 3 and 4), say [that] the chief, proper, and positive cause “is God himself.” Secondly: [that] “Satan [hardens], by the impulse of God,” as Calvin speaks in the Institutes. It is to be observed, therefore, [that] “a double efficient cause of this hardening is noted in the Scriptures.” One is “the man himself” (ch. 8, v. 15): “He made his own heart heavy,” “vaiechbed Leb Parhoh,” as [it were], “and he hardened the heart of Pharaoh.” For in [the conjugation] “Kal” it is as [it were] neuter [intransitive], as indeed it is now pointed. Otherwise, if we read “vaiechazzek Leb, Paroh,” it will be, “and Pharaoh hardened [his] heart (namely, his own, at his pleasure)” — [Pharaoh] himself, namely. The 70: ἐβαρύνθη ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ [ebarynthē hē kardia autou, “his heart was made heavy”]. And (v. 27), in the Hebrew, “vaiechbed Paroh eth libbo” [Pharaoh made his heart heavy]. The 70: ἐβάρυνε [ebaryne, “he made heavy”]. And ch. 7, v. 14, [is] as ch. 8, v. 15 — except that here “maccaph” [the maqqeph hyphen] is not interposed between “Leb” and “Paroh.” The 70: κατίσχυσεν ἡ καρδία Φαραώ [katischysen hē kardia Pharaō, “the heart of Pharaoh was strengthened”], as Theodoret explains (q. 12). And (v. 22), as (v. 15) above, the 70: ἐσκληρύνθη ἡ καρδία Φαραώ [esklērynthē hē kardia Pharaō, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened”]. So [also] Deut. 2:30; 4 Kings [2 Kings] 7:2; 2 Chron. 30 and 36; Isaiah; Ps. 94[95]; Rom. 2; Heb. 3. The other cause, God (above, ch. 7, v. 3): “aksheh, ἐγὼ σκληρυνῶ τὴν καρδίαν Φαραώ [aksheh, egō sklērynō tēn kardian Pharaō, ‘I will harden the heart of Pharaoh’]”; below (ch. 9, v. 12): “vaiechazzek Iehova eth Leb, Paroh” [and Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh]. The 70, in the same words: ἐσκλήρυνε Κύριος τὴν καρδίαν Φαραώ [esklēryne Kyrios tēn kardian Pharaō, “the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh”]. Rom. 9:18.
(col. 1077)