שמות, פרק ט׳, פסוק ל״ד

The moment a crisis passes, the true character of a leader is revealed. As the devastating storm of hail and fire finally ceased over Egypt, the immediate relief brought a profound psychological and spiritual reversal for Pharaoh and his court. Once the immediate danger vanished, Pharaoh's terror subsided, and a false sense of security quickly took its place [ביאור שטיינזלץ, קאסוטו]. This sudden shift illustrates a fundamental trait of wicked individuals. During moments of intense distress, they may surrender, feign righteousness, and openly confess their wrongdoings. Yet, the instant the hardship resolves, they revert to their arrogance and corruption, standing in stark contrast to righteous individuals who maintain a steady, enduring humility [רבנו בחיי, צאינה וראינה, חזקוני].

By going back on his word, Pharaoh actively compounded his guilt. Earlier, he had openly declared his own guilt and God's justice. Retracting that explicit confession constituted a brand new transgression [אבן עזרא, חזקוני, קאסוטו]. Prior to this moment, Pharaoh's stubbornness could be seen as a passive or less calculated resistance. However, after openly admitting that he and his people were wicked, his subsequent reversal transformed his defiance into a deliberate, fully conscious rebellion [רשב״ם, ריב״א]. While during earlier plagues Pharaoh might have felt some shame in breaking his promises, his heart had now become like stone, allowing him to lie boldly and show complete disrespect toward God's prophets [ביאור יש״ר]. Furthermore, having witnessed such an undeniable and overwhelming miracle, Pharaoh's previous level of cruelty was no longer sufficient to justify continuing the enslavement of the Israelites. He had to actively generate a deeper, more intense level of wickedness within himself to sustain his defiance [אור החיים].

A crucial element of Pharaoh's rationalization involved the sudden end of the rain. Originally, he had only asked Moses to stop the destructive thunder and hail. The primary approach among commentators is that Pharaoh was actively searching for a pretext to break his promise. Because Egypt receives very little rainfall, he secretly hoped the rain would continue and serve as an agricultural blessing. When Moses stopped the rain as well, Pharaoh used this as an excuse, claiming that Moses had either failed to fulfill the exact request or had deceived him, thereby justifying his continued rebellion [העמק דבר, ביאור יש״ר, חזקוני]. Alternatively, the abrupt and complete end of all the severe weather patterns allowed Pharaoh to delude himself. He convinced himself that the storm was not a divine miracle at all, but merely a passing natural phenomenon or an astrological event that had simply run its course [תולדות יצחק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another unique perspective suggests that Pharaoh waited to see if the fallen hail would melt into water and provide some practical benefit. When the ice simply vanished without leaving a single drop of moisture, it cemented his flawed belief that God only intervenes in the world to cause destruction, never to bestow good [פרדס יוסף].

This renewed stubbornness was not limited to Pharaoh alone; his royal advisors and servants fully participated in the rebellion. Their inclusion in this defiance served as a direct fulfillment of Moses's earlier prediction that the Egyptian leadership did not yet truly fear God [אבן עזרא, הטור הארוך, חזקוני, ברכת אשר על התורה]. The servants joined in this hardened resolve for several reasons. Some believed in a principle that God never strikes with the exact same plague twice, leading them to feel entirely secure once the hail ended [בכור שור, חזקוני]. Others operated under the assumption that there would be exactly ten plagues in total. Because the plague of hail contained four distinct destructive forces simultaneously, they mistakenly calculated that this was the final blow. Believing the worst was finally over, they shed their fear [הטור הארוך]. Ultimately, God allowed the hearts of the servants to harden so they would stand firmly behind their king. When individuals in power mutually reinforce and validate one another's flawed logic, it becomes far easier for them to persist in their collective rebellion [ביאור יש״ר].