<HTML>I am heartened by the serious discussion my comments have generated.
Regarding R. Avner Taler's comments about the non-usage of "kaved lev" as
a colloquialism in modern Hebrew, apparently the usage was not as
widespread as I had thought. In English, one with a heavy heart is one who
is experiencing regret. I do not understand his suggestion to look at
Yehezkel 2:4 and 3:7, as the phrase "kaved lev" does not appear there.
Instead we find "hizkei lev" and "keshei lev" respectively, apparently
synonymously. The reference to Yeshayah 6:10 speaks not of "kaved lev" but
of "kaved ozen", and there is no compelling reason to suggest that in the
idioms "Kaved peh," "kaved ozen" and "kaved lev" the word "kaved" would
necessarily have the same meaning.
Jeremy Unterman's reference to I Shmuel 6:6 is on target, yet does not
offer any challenge to my reading of "kaved lev" as a change of heart,
as the pasuk appears to be a reference to Shmot 10:1 (the only place where
we find anyone other than Paroh having a "kaved lev").
My suggestion for the reading of "kaved peh" as being of a heavy heart,
i.e., experiencing regret or a change of mind, emerges from the context
in which it is used. Six times in the story we find we find the phrase
used - 7:14, 8:11, 8:28, 9:7, 9:34 and 10:1. Each time, Paroh had either
previously decided to release the Jews only to then change his mind
(8:28, 9:34, 10:1) or seriously contemplated letting them go after being
impressed or frightened (7:14 - the "tannin trick" was the first time
his hartumim were upstaged; 8:11 - Paroh asked Moshe to remove the
frogs; 9:7 - Paroh investigated and discovered that the "dever" did
not afflict the cattle of the Jews).
Of course, if anyone has an alternate suggestion which fits the context
and can explain the different terminologies, I will be happy to be
proven wrong.
Rabbi Zvi Grumet</HTML>
