King of Egypt. It should seem that Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt, since we find that both he that knew Joseph, and he that knew him not, were both called Pharaoh. Indeed we find a Pharaoh in the days of Abraham. (Gen. x2: 10 - 15.) The name of Pharaoh implies a destroyer, derived from Parah. But some have thought that the name is a title, and not unsimilar to those used in modern times of royal, and highness, and the like. But it is of little importance what the name meant, or how used. The Pharaoh, the tyrant of Egypt, we know most of in Scripture, was a type of the devil; and as such the Lord’s people should read his history, with the Lord’s striking observation upon him. (Exod. ix. 16.)
a common name of the kings of Egypt. We meet with it as early as Gen 12:15. Josephus says, that all the kings of Egypt, from Minaeus, the founder of Memphis, who lived several ages before Abraham, always had the name of Pharaoh, down to the time of Solomon, for more than three thousand three hundred years. He adds, that, in the Egyptian language, the word Pharaoh means king, and that these princes did not assume the name until they ascended the throne, at which time they quitted their former name.
Pha´raoh, the general title of the kings of Egypt in the Old Testament, and found only there and in the writers who have drawn from that source. It often stands simply like a proper name (Gen 12:15; Gen 37:36; Gen 40:2, sq.; 44:1, sq.; and so generally throughout the Pentateuch, and also in Son 1:9; Isa 19:11; Isa 30:2). ’King of Egypt’ is sometimes subjoined to it (1Ki 3:1; 2Ki 17:7; 2Ki 18:21); and sometimes also the more specific designation or real proper name of the monarch is indicated as Pharaoh Necho (2Ki 23:33), Pharaoh Hophra (Jer 44:30). Josephus intimates that the word signifies ’the king’ in the Egyptian language (Antiq. viii. 6. 2). The idea has, however, been more recently started that Pharaoh corresponds to the Egyptian phra, ’the sun,’ which is written as an hieroglyphic symbol over the titles of kings. It seems to us that this explanation might be admitted without contradicting the other, seeing that it is not only possible, but highly probable, that the Egyptians should make the name of the sun a royal title, and that at length custom rendered it equivalent to ’king.’ The practice of ancient, and, indeed, modern Oriental kings, of associating the idea of their own dignity with the glory of the sun, is well known.
Is properly an Egyptian word adopted into the Hebrew, and signifies king; so that when we find this name it means everywhere the king. Thus, also, Pharaoh Hophra is simply king Hophra.\par Of the kings of Egypt, there are not less than twelve or thirteen mentioned in Scripture, all of whom bore the general title of Pharaoh, except four. Along with this title, two of them have also other proper names, Necho and Hophra. The following is their order. Some of them have been identified, by the labors of Champollion and others, with kings whose proper names we know from other sources, while others still remain in obscurity. Indeed, so brief, obscure, and conflicting are the details of Egyptian history and ancient chronology, which no name before that of Shishak can be regarded as identified beyond dispute.\par 1. Pharaoh, Gen 12:15, in the time of Abraham, B. C. 1920. He was probably a king of the Theban dynasty.\par 2. Pharaoh, the master of Joseph, Gen 37:36 39:1-23 Mal 7:10,13, B. C. 1728. Some suppose that the Pharaoh to whom Joseph became Prime Minister was the son of the one mentioned in Gen 37:36 .\par 3. Pharaoh, who knew not Joseph, and under whom Moses was born, B. C. 1571, Exo 1:8 Mal 7:18 Heb 11:23 .\par Very probably there was another Pharaoh reigning at the time when Moses fled into Midian, and who died before Moses at the age of eighty returned from Midian into Egypt, Exo 2:11-23 4:19 Mal 7:23 .\par 4. Pharaoh, under whom the Israelites left Egypt, and who perished in the Red Sea, Exo 5:1-14:31 2Ki 17:7 Neh 9:10 Psa 135:9 136:13 Ro 9:17 Heb 11:27, B. C. 1491.\par 5. Pharaoh, in the time of David, 1Ki 11:18-22 ; B. C. 1030.\par 6. Pharaoh, the father-in-law of Solomon, 1Ki 3:1 7:8 9:16,24, B. C. 1010.\par 7. Shishak, near the end of Solomon’s reign, and under Rehoboam, B. C. 975, 1Ki 11:40 14:25 2Ch 12:2 . From this time onward the proper name of the Egyptian kings are mentioned in Scripture. See SHISHAK.\par 8. Zerah, king of Egypt and Ethiopia in the time of Asa, B. C. 930; called Osorchon by historians. See ZERAH.\par 9. So, or Sevechus, contemporary with Ahaz, B. C. 730, 2Ki 17:4 . See SO.\par 10. Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia and Egypt, in the time of Hezekiah, B. C. 720, 2Ki 19:9 Isa 37:9 . The Tearcho of Strabo, and the Taracles of Manetho. See TIRHAKAH.\par 11. Pharaoh Necho, in the time of Josiah, B. C. 612, 2Ki 23:29-30 2Ch 35:20-24, etc. Necho, the son of Psammeticus. See NECHO.\par 12. Pharaoh Hophra, contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar. He was the grandson of Necho, and is the Apries of Herodotus. Zedekiah formed an alliance with him against Nebuchadnezzar, and he drove the Assyrians from Palestine, took Zidon and Tyre, and returned to Egypt with great spoil. He seems to have done nothing to prevent the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem, Jer 37:1-5 47:1 Eze 29:21. He reigned twenty-five years, and was dethroned by his army after an unsuccessful expedition against Cyrene, as was foretold, Jer 44:30 .\par
Pha’raoh. The common title of the native kings of Egypt in the Bible, corresponding to P-ra or Ph-ra, "the sun", of the hieroglyphics. Brugsch, Ebers and other modern Egyptologists define it to mean, "the great house", which would correspond to our, "the Sublime Porte." As several kings are mentioned only by the title "Pharaoh" in the Bible, it is important to endeavor to discriminate them:
The Pharaoh of Abraham. Gen 12:15. -- At the time at which the patriarch went into Egypt, it is generally held that the country, or at least, lower Egypt, was ruled by the Shepherd kings, of whom the first, and most powerful line, was the fifteenth dynasty, the undoubted territories of which would be first entered, by one coming from the east. The date at which Abraham visited Egypt was about B.C. 2081, which would accord, with the time of Salatis, the head of the fifteenth dynasty, according to our reckoning.
The Pharoah of Joseph. Gen 41:1. -- One of the Shepherd kings, perhaps, Apophis, who belonged to the fifteenth dynasty. He appears to have reigned from Joseph’s appointment, (or perhaps, somewhat earlier), until Jacob’s death, a period of at least twenty-six years, from about B.C. 1876 to 1850, and to have been the fifth or sixth king, of the fifteenth dynasty.
The Pharoah of the oppression. Exo 1:8. -- The first Persecutor of the Israelites may be distinguished as the Pharaoh of the oppression, from the second, the Pharoah of the Exodus, especially, as he commenced , and probably long carried on the persecution. The general view is that he was an Egyptian. One class of Egyptologists think that Amosis, (Ahmes), the first sovereign of the eighteenth dynasty, is the Pharaoh of the oppression; but Brugsch and others identify him with Rameses II, (the Sesostris of the Greeks), of the nineteenth dynasty. (B.C. 1340).
The Pharoah of the Exodus. Exo 5:1. -- Either Thothmes III, as Wilkinson, or Menephthah, son of Rameses II, whom Brugsch thinks was, probably, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, who with his army pursued the Israelites, and were overwhelmed in the Red Sea. "The events which form the lamentable close of his rule over Egypt are passed over by the monuments, (very naturally), with perfect silence.
The dumb tumults covers the misfortune: which was suffered, for the record of these events was inseparably, connected with the humiliating confession of a divine visitation, to which a patriotic writer at the court of Pharaoh would hardly have brought his mind." The table on page 186 gives some of the latest opinions.
Pharaoh, father-in-law of Mered. -- In the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, mention is made of the daughter of a Pharaoh married to an Israelite -- "Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took." 1Ch 4:18.
Pharaoh, brother-in-law of Hadad, the Edomite. -- This king gave Haadad, as his wife, the sister of his own wife, Tahpenes. 1Ki 11:18-20.
Pharaoh, father-in-law of Solomon. -- The mention that the queen was brought into the city of David, while Solomon’s house and the Temple and the city wall were being built, shows that the marriage took place, not later than the eleventh year of the king, when the Temple was finished, having been commenced in the year that the Pharaoh led an expedition into Palestine. 1Ki 9:16.
Pharaoh, the opponent of Sennacherib. -- This Pharaoh, Isa 36:6, can only be the Sethos, whom Herodotus mentions as the opponent of Sennacherib, and who may reasonably be supposed to be the Zet of Manetho.
Pharoah-necho. -- The first mention in the Bible of a proper name, with the title, Pharaoh, is the case of Pharaoh-necho, who is also called simply, Necho. This king was of the Saite twenty-sixth dynasty, of which Manetho makes him either the fifth or the sixth ruler. Herodotus calls him Nekos, and assigns to him a reign of sixteen years, which is confirmed by the monuments. He seems to have been an enterprising king, as he is related to have attempted to complete the canal, connecting the Red Sea with the Nile, and to have sent an expedition of Phoenicians to circumnavigate Africa, which was successfully accomplished.
At the commencement of his reign B.C. 610, he made war against the king of Assyria, and, being encountered on his way by Josiah, defeated, and slew the king of Judah, at Megiddo. 2Ki 23:29,30; 2Ch 35:20-24. Necho seems to have soon returned to Egypt. Perhaps, he was on his way thither, when he deposed Jehoahaz. The army was probably posted at Carchemish, and was there defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Necho, B.C. 607, that king not being, as it seems, then at its head. Jer 46:1-2; Jer 46:6; Jer 46:10. This battle led to the loss of all the Asiatic dominions of Egypt. 2Ki 24:7.
Pharaoh-hophra. -- The next king of Egypt mentioned in the Bible is Pharaoh-hophra, the second successor of Necho, from whom he was separated by the six-years reign of Psammetichus II. He came to the throne about B.C. 589, and ruled nineteen years. Herodotus who calls him Apries, makes him son of Psammetichus II, whom he calls Psammis, and great-grandson of Psammetichus I.
In the Bible, it is related that Zedekiah, the last king of Judah was aided by a Pharaoh against Nebuchadnezzar, in fulfillment of his treaty, and that an army came out of Egypt, so that the Chaldeans were obliged to raise the siege of Jerusalem. The city was first besieged in the ninth year of Zedekiah B.C. 590, and was captured in his eleventh year, B.C. 588. It was evidently continuously invested, for a length of time, before it was taken, so that it is most probable that Pharaoh’s expedition took place during 590 or 589.
The Egyptian army returned without effecting its purpose. Jer 27:5-8; Eze 17:11-18. Compare 2Ki 25:1-4. No subsequent Pharaoh is mentioned in Scripture, but there are predictions, doubtless, referring to the misfortunes of later princes, until the second Persian conquest, when the prophecy, "There shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt," Eze 30:13, was fulfilled.
(In the summer of 1881, a large number of the mummies of the Pharaohs were found in a tomb near Thebes -- among them Raskenen, of the seventeenth dynasty, Ahmes I, founder of the eighteenth dynasty, Thothmes I, II, and III, and Rameses I. It was first thought that Rameses II, of the nineteenth dynasty, was there, But this was found to be a mistake. A group of coffins belonging to the twenty-first dynasty has been found, and it is probable that we will learn not a little about the early Pharaohs, especially from the inscriptions on their shrouds. -- Editor).
Joseph was under an early Pharaoh of the 13th dynasty, when as yet Pharaoh ruled over all Egypt, or probably under Amenemha III, sixth king of the 12th, who first regulated by dykes, locks, and reservoirs the Nile’s inundation, and made the lake Moeris to receive the overflow. The 12th dynasty, moreover, was especially connected with On or Heliopolis. The
Under Thothmes I, Moses was in Midian. Thothroes II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, drowned in the Red Sea. Thothmes III broke the confederacy of the allied kings of all the regions between Euphrates and the Mediterranean, just 17 years before Israel’s invasion of Canaan, thus providentially preparing the way for an easy conquest of Canaan; this accounts for the terror of Midian and Moab at Israel’s approach (Num 22:3-4), and the "sorrow and trembling which took hold on the inhabitants of Palestina and Canaan" (Exo 15:14-16).
Herodotus (ii. 159) illustrates Necho’s conquests in Syria and Palestine between 610 and 604 B.C.: "Necho made war by land upon the Syrians, and defeated them in a pitched battle at Magdolus" (Megiddo). Berosus (in Josephus, Apion 1:19) too says that toward the close of Nabopolassar’s reign, i.e. before 605 B.C., Egypt, Syria, and Phoenicia revolted; so he sent his son Nebuchadnezzar to recover those countries. The sacred history harmonizes the two accounts. Necho designed to acquire all Syria as far as Carchemish on the Euphrates (2Ch 35:20-24). Josiah opposed his design and fell at Megiddo. So Necho for a time ruled all Syria, "from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt," deposed Jehoahaz for Eliakim = Jehoiakim, and levied tribute (2Ki 24:7; 2Ki 23:31-35). Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish, 606 B.C. (Jer 46:2), and recovered all that region, so that Necho "came not again any more out of his land."
Necho was sixth king of the 26th (Saitic) dynasty, son of Psammetichus I, and grandson of Necho I. Celebrated for a canal he proposed to cut connecting the Nile and Red Sea. Brugsch (Eg. 1:252) makes his reign from 611 to 595 B.C. PHARAOH HOPHRA succeeded Psamme tichus II, Necho’s successor. Herodotus writes Apries. Began reigning 589 B.C., and reigned 19 years. Hai-fra-het (Rawlinson Herodot. 2:210, 823). He took Gaza of the Philistines (Jer 47:1), and made himself master of Philistia and most of Phoenicia; attacked Sidon, and fought by sea with Tyre; and "so firmly did he think himself established in his kingdom that he believed not even a god could east hint down" (Herodotus ii. 161-169). So Ezekiel in harmony with the secular historian describes him as a great crocodile in his rivers, saying, "my river is mine own, and I have made it for myself" (Eze 29:3).
But his troops sent against Cyrene having been routed, the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, revolted and set up Amasis as king; then strangled Hophra, and raised Amasis to the throne. Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29-32) foretold the conquest of Pharaoh and invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar. Hophra in 590 or 589 B.C. bad caused the Chaldaeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem, but it was only for a time (Jer 37:5-7). Jerusalem, under Zedekiah, fell before Nebuchadnezzar, 588 B.C. Jeremiah in Egypt subsequently foretold "Jehovah’s giving Hophra into the hand of them that sought his life" (Jer 44:30; Jer 46:25-26). The civil war between Amasis and Apries would give an opportunity for the invader Nebuchadnezzar (in the 23rd year of his reign: Josephus Ant. 10:11) to interfere and elevate Amasis on condition of his becoming tributary to Babylon. Or else the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar gave an opportunity for the revolt which ended in Hophra’s death and Amasis’ elevation.
Berosus alone records Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion, but similarly we find Assyrian monuments recording conquests of Egypt either unnoticed by our historians extant or mentioned only by inferior authorities. National vanity would prevent the Egyptian priests from telling Herodotus of Egypt’s loss of territory in Syria (which Josephus records) and of Nebuchadnezzar’s share in raising Amasis to the throne instead of Hophra The language of Jer 44:30 is exact to the truth: "I will give Pharaoh Hophra into the hands of his enemies, and of them that seek his life," namely, Amasis and his party; Nebuchadnezzar is not mentioned until the end of the verse. In Eze 30:21, "I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt ... it shall not be bound up"; Ezekiel’s prophecy (Eze 30:13), "there shall be no more a prince of ... Egypt," implies there should be no more a prince independent and ruling the whole land. Cambyses made Egypt a province of the Persian empire; since the second Persian conquest, 2,000 years ago, there has been no native prince.
Pharaoh (fâ’ro, or fâ’ra-o). Gen 12:15. The common title of the king of Egypt—also called Pharaoh-necho and Pharaoh-hophra. 2Ki 23:29; Jer 44:30; Jer 46:2. Ten Pharaohs are mentioned in the Old Testament. 1. The Pharaoh of the time of Abraham. Gen 12:15. The date of Abraham’s visit to Egypt is most probably fixed at about b.c. 2080. 2. The Pharaoh of Joseph, Gen 41:1-57, was the last, or the last but one, of the fifteenth dynasty; probably identical with Apophis, who reigned at least 26 years, b.c. 1876-1850. S. The Pharaoh of the Oppression—" the new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph," Exo 1:8, and under whose reign Moses was born—probably Rameses II., the Sesostris of the Greeks, the master-builder of Egypt, whose statues and temples in ruins are found all over the Nile valley from Zoan (Tanis) to Karnak. His mummied body was taken from the tomb in 1881 and unwrapped in the Bulak museum, 4. The Pharaoh of the Exodus, Exo 5:1, before whom Moses wrought his miracles, was Menephtha, son of Rameses II. On a monument of Tanis mention is made of the fact that he lost a son, and Dr. Brugsch connects this with the death of the first-born, the last of the plagues. 5. The Pharaoh whose daughter, Bithiah, was given in marriage to Mered, a descendant of Judah. 1Ch 4:18. 6. The Pharaoh who gave the sister of his queen in marriage to Hadad, an Edomite of royal blood, who escaped the massacre of Joab and fled to Egypt. 1Ki 11:18 to 1Ki 20:7. The Pharaoh whose daughter Solomon married and brought "into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord," 1Ki 3:1, consequently before the eleventh year of his reign, in which year the temple was finished. 1Ki 6:37-38. This Pharaoh afterward made an expedition into Palestine, took Gezer, and gave it to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 1Ki 9:16. 8. The Pharaoh to whom king Hezekiah was allied in his war with Sennacherib. 2Ki 18:21. 9. Pharaoh-nechoh, also called amply Necho, reigned from b.c. 610 to 594. He made an expedition against Assyria, but was encountered by Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo. 2Ch 35:20-24; 2Ki 23:29-30. Necho’s army was afterward defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, and he lost all his Asiatic possessions. 2Ki 24:7. 10. Pharaoh-hophra, the Apries of secular history, was the second successor of Necho, and entered Palestine, probably in b.c. 590, in order to relieve Jerusalem, which was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. Jer 37:5-8; Eze 17:11-13; comp. 2Ki 25:1-4. The campaign was of no avail. Jerusalem fell, and Nebuchadnezzar made a successful invasion into Egypt. Pharaoh-hophra was afterward deposed by his own subjects, and finally strangled. In their prophecies Jeremiah and Ezekiel (see above) give a very striking picture of this king, his arrogance and conceit, which corresponds closely with that given by Herodotus.
[Pha’raoh]
This was the regal title of the kings of Egypt, so the mere appellation, ’Pharaoh’ in no way intimates which king is alluded to. Some kings of Egypt are mentioned in scripture without this title, as Shishak, Necho, Hophra, So, and Tirhakah, the last two of whom were Ethiopians. Those specially referred to in the O.T. are:
1. The Pharaoh who took Abram’s wife, Sarai, into his house (about B.C. 1919). Gen 12:14-20.
2. The Pharaoh who promoted Joseph (about B.C. 1715), and received into Egypt Jacob and his sons and their families. Gen 40 - Gen 50; Act 7:10; Act 7:13.
3. The Pharaoh who knew not Joseph (about B.C. 1635), he oppressed the Israelites, and ordered the male children to be killed, under whom Moses was born; and whose daughter adopted him as her son. Exo 1.
4. The Pharaoh from whom Moses fled when he was grown up (about B.C. 1531). Exo 2.
5. The Pharaoh of the Exodus (about B.C. 1491). See EGYPT and PLAGUES.
After a period of about 500 years scripture refers to
6. The Pharaoh whose daughter Bithiah was married to Mered, of the tribe of Judah. 1Ch 4:18.
7. The Pharaoh whose daughter was married to Solomon (about B.C. 1014). 1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 7:8, etc. This Pharaoh captured and burnt the city of Gezer in Canaan, and gave the site to his daughter. 1Ki 9:16.
8. The Pharaoh who received Hadad when he fled from Solomon, and gave him his sister-in-law to wife (about A.D. 984). 1Ki 11:14-22.
The title ’Pharaoh’ is judged by Professor Sayce to signify ’Great House’ [in which all men live], or somewhat similar to the ’Sublime Porte,’ or Gate. Each king had a title of honour as well as his personal name: the titles were such as ’The Sun, Lord of Glory’; ’The Sun, Lord of Truth,’ etc.
(
; LXX.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Louis H. Gray
The term applied in the Old Testament to the kings of Egypt. The word is derived from the Egyptian "pr-'o" (= "great house"), which originally denoted the royal palace with the buildings and grounds attached to it, although the metonymy which transferred its meaning from the palace to the king developed only gradually, as in "Sublime Porte." "Pr-'o" seems to occur first in the fourth dynasty, and until the twelfth it connotes only the building, although by the sixteenth it is occasionally applied to the king. In documents of the eighteenth dynasty it is the regular appellation of the monarch, so that by the twenty-fifth "Pr-'o Nk'w" is found as the precise equivalent of the Biblical "Pharaoh-Necho," "pr-'o" being used in the simple sense of "king," i.e., "Pharaoh."
In the Old Testament eleven kings of Egypt are mentioned.
1. The Pharaoh of Abraham (Gen. xii. 14-20) According to the account given of this king, he took Sarai as a member of his harem, being led by Abram to suppose she was his sister instead of his wife. For this unwitting act Pharaoh suffered affliction from Yhwh, until he discovered his error, which he immediately rectified. In view of the fact that A'bram's date is far anterior to the eighteenth dynasty, before which "pr-'o" was very seldom used in the sense of "king," the narrative in Genesis is not altogether free from difficulty, and the data afforded by it are so meager that it is impossible to attempt any identification with the sources thus far accessible.
2. The Pharaoh of Joseph (Gen. xxxix.-1.). The story of Joseph, or at least the redaction of it, can scarcely be of early date, both on account of the title of "Pharaoh" and of the use of 
(Gen. xli. 1, etc.) as the name of the Nile, since the Egyptian original of the term was not used until the Middle Kingdom. The proper names occurring in the story (Gen. xli. 45), moreover—Potipherah ("P-ti-p-R'," gift of Ra), Asenath ("[N]esNeith," she who is Neith's), and Zaphnath-paaneah ("Zt-p-ntr-e-f-'nkh," Saith the god: "He liveth")—represent forms which are common after the twenty-fifth dynasty and which do not occur before it. No certain record of a seven years' famine, like that recorded in the history of Joseph, exists, although a very late Egyptian inscription at the Cataracts states that there was such a famine in the reign of one of the earliest kings, possibly about 3000 B.C. The present knowledge of the economic administration of ancient Egypt is insufficient to determine the accuracy of the account that a fifth of the grain was stored up to provide against famine. It is likewise uncertain whether land and live stock could be sold to the king for this reserve supply, so that the Pharaoh could finally own one-fifth of the entire country (Gen. xli. 33-36, xlvii. 14-26). Here again, therefore, it is difficult if not impossible to identify the ruler of Egypt intended by the narrative of Joseph, although he was, perhaps, one of the Hyksos, or "foreign," dynasty. The old view that this Pharaoh was Apôphis II seems quite improbable, but the general historicity of the account is confirmed by the fact that according to two El-Amarna tablets a Semite occupied a position in Egypt quite similar to that held by Joseph (comp. Jew. Encyc. vii. 252a), while Merneptaḥ states that Goshen had been given as a pasture land to "foreign" herdsmen from southern Canaan (comp. Jew. Encyc. viii. 676a).
3. The Pharaoh of the Exodus (Ex. i.-ii.). As in the case of the Pharaoh of Joseph, the use of "Ye'or" to denote the Nile apparently speaks for a comparatively late date of the Hebrew redaction of the story of the Exodus. The ruler intended by the narrative is usually regarded as Rameses II. of the nineteenth dynasty, who was preeminent as a builder and was active at Pithom, while he may well have been the founder of Raamses in Goshen (Ex. i. 11). According to another theory, he was Amenhotep III. or IV. of the eighteenth dynasty, but this hypothesis, which is based on El-Amarna letters which record the movements of the "Ḥabiri" (Hebrews?) in Palestine, seems on the whole less probable than the generally accepted view.
4. The Pharaoh of the Oppession (Ex. v.—xiv.). This ruler is almost universally regarded as Merneptaḥ II., one of whose inscriptions, dating from the fifth year of his short reign, contains the only Egyptian allusion to the Hebrews known thus far. This passage reads as follows: "Israel [Y-s-ir(a)-'a-ra] is annihilated without any growth; Palestine has become like a widow for Egypt." While this is frequently taken as a proof that the Israelites were already settled in Palestine in Merneptaḥ's reign, such an assumption is by no means necessary. During both this and the following reigns, moreover, there is a significant lack of any record of Egyptian expeditions to the quarries of Sinai, near which the Israelites are said to have wandered for forty years; and, on the other hand, there is no Hebrew account of any Egyptian invasion of Palestine before the one made by Shishak in the twenty-fifth dynasty, unless the "hornet" of Ex. xxiii. 28, Deut. vii. 20, and Josh. xxiv. 12 refers to Rameses III. of the twentieth dynasty, who ravaged Philistia.
5. Bithiah, the wife of Mered. Mentioned in I Chron. iv. 18 as "the daughter of Pharaoh"; but it is impossible to determine to what king of Egypt the passage refers, and in this case "Pharaoh" may even be a mere proper name, perhaps a loan-word assumed by a Hebrew.
6. The Edomite Hadad fled in his childhood from his home to the court of Egypt during the reign of David, and gained such favor with the Pharaoh that, on reaching maturity, he was allowed to marry Tahpenes (LXX.
7. The father-in-law of Solomon. Probably a ruler of Tanis in the twenty-first dynasty. He captured Gezer in Canaan and presented it to his daughter, who was one of the wives of Solomon (I Kings iii. 1, ix. 16).
8. Shishak. The Shoshenḳ I. of the Egyptian texts, and the founder of the Bubastite dynasty. See Shishak.
9. "Pharaoh king of Egypt." This ruler is described by Rab-shakeh in his insulting speech to Hezekiah, in both II Kings xviii. 21 and Isa. xxxvi. 6, as a "bruised [or "broken"] reed, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it." He may perhaps be identical with Tirhakah, who declared war on Sennacherib with disastrous results for the Assyrians, and is regularly called "Pharaoh Tahraḳa" in Egyptian texts, although he is more accurately termed "king of Cush" in II Kings xiv. 9.
10. Pharaoh-Hophra. See Hophra.
11. Pharaoh-Necho. See Necho.
PHARAOH.—The later Egyptian royal title, Per-‘o, Great House,’ adopted into Hebrew. Originally designating the royal establishment in Egypt, it graduailly became the appellative title of the king, and from the 22nd Dyn. (c
The following Pharaohs are referred to without their names being specified: 1. Pharaoh of Abram (Gen 12:10-20), impossible to identify. The title Pharaoh and the mention of camels appear to be anachronisms in the story. 2. Pharaoh of Joseph (Gen 39:1-23 etc.). The proper names in the story, viz. Potiphar, Potiphera, Asenath, Zaphenath-paneah are at once recognizable (when the vocalization is discounted) as typical names (Petepre, Esnelt, Zepnetefonkh) of the late period beginning with the 22nd Dyn. (c
F. Ll. Griffith.
(Egyptian, Per’o, great house)
Title given in the Bible to the ancient kings of Egypt. The names of many of them are unknown, such as the Pharao of Abraham, of Joseph, and of the Exodus, and the Pharao with whom Adad sought refuge in the time of David (3 Kings 11). Pharao Nechao is mentioned in 4 Kings 23; Pharao Ephree in Jeremias 44; the Pharao of the Exodus is thought to have been Merneptah.
1. The Use of Name in Egypt:
Many and strange differences of opinion have been expressed concerning the use of this name in Egypt and elsewhere, because of its importance in critical discussions (see below). Encyclopaedia Biblica says “a name given to all Egyptian kings in the Bible”; it also claims that the name could not have been received by the Hebrews before 1000 BC. HDB (III, 819) says that a letter was addressed to Amenhotep as “Pharaoh, lord of,” etc. According to Winckler’s theory of a North Arabian Musri, it was the Hebrews alone in ancient times who adopted the term Pharaoh from the Egyptians, the name not being found even in the
In Egyptian inscriptions the term “Pharaoh” occurs from the Pyramid inscriptions onward. At first it is used with distinct reference to its etymology and not clearly as an independent title. Pharaoh, “great house,” like Sublime Porte, was applied first as a metaphor to mean the government. But as in such an absolute monarchy as Egypt the king was the government, Pharaoh was, by a figure of speech, put for the king. Its use in Egypt clearly as a title denoting the ruler, whoever he might be, as Caesar among the Romans, Shah among Persians, and Czar among Russians, belongs to a few dynasties probably beginning with the XVIIIth, and certainly ending not later than the XXIst, when we read of Pharaoh Sheshonk, but the Bible does not speak so, but calls him “Shishak king of Egypt” (1Ki 14:25). This new custom in the use of the title Pharaoh does not appear in the Bible until we have “Pharaoh-necoh.” Pharaoh is certainly used in the time of Rameses II, in the “Tale of Two Brothers” (Records of the Past, 1st series, II, 137; Recueil de Travaux, XXI, 13, l. 1).
2. Significance of Use in the Bible:
It appears from the preceding that Biblical writers use this word with historical accuracy for the various periods to which it refers, not only for the time of Necoh and Hophra, but for the time of Rameses II, and use the style of the time of Rameses II for the time of Abraham and Joseph, concerning which we have not certain knowledge of its use in Egypt. It is strongly urged that writers of the 7th or 5th century BC would not have been able to make such historical use of this name, while, to a writer at the time of the exodus, it would have been perfectly natural to use Pharaoh for the king without any further name; and historical writers in the time of the prophets in Palestine would likewise have used Pharaoh-necoh and Pharaoh Hophra. This evidence is not absolutely conclusive for an early authorship of the Pentateuch and historical books, but is very difficult to set aside for a late authorship (compare Gen 12:14-20; Gen 41:14; Exo 1:11; Exo 3:11; 1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 14:25; 2Ki 23:29; Jer 44:30; also 1Ki 11:19; 2Ki 18:21; 1Ch 4:18).
Gen 41:44 (c) In this passage the king may be taken as a type of GOD the Father. He takes the same relationship to Joseph as GOD the Father takes toward CHRIST. All "things" are delivered to the Lord JESUS, and all judgment is in CHRIST’s hands. All things were made by CHRIST. No one can come to the Father except through His Son. We may understand that Pharaoh thus represents GOD the Father just in this passage.
Exo 5:2 (c) Here we may see a type of the hardened sinner who rebels against GOD’s Word, and refuses to bow to GOD’s authority. This is true today.
Exo 7:3 (c) It is still true that those who persist in rebelling against GOD are bound to their choice by GOD. He chooses their delusions (Isa 66:4), and binds their rebellion upon them. Clay when placed in the sun gets hard, so the sinner’s heart becomes hardened when it insists on rebelling against the Lord.
Rom 9:17 (c) In this passage GOD presents Pharaoh as an example of one in whom He works and deals as He will with all other obstinate sinners.
Egyptian kings were known by the title Pharaoh. To the Egyptian people Pharaoh was a god-king, one who embodied a god during his life and went to the world of the gods at his death (see EGYPT). The Bible, however, treats the various Pharaohs as it treats the kings of other nations. They were mere human beings under the sovereign control of God (Rom 9:17; cf. Isa 44:28).
Some Pharaohs are mentioned favourably in the Bible. The Pharaoh whom Abraham visited was more honest in his behaviour than Abraham (Gen 12:10-20), and the Pharaoh of Joseph’s time was sensible and generous (Gen 41:37-45; Gen 41:55; Gen 45:16-20; Gen 47:20-22; Gen 50:4-6). Later, other Pharaohs oppressed the Israelites and made them slaves. One even tried to kill all their babies (Exo 1:8-16; Exo 1:22).
The most infamous of the Pharaohs was the man who opposed Moses and hardened his heart against God. From Moses’ first meeting with him, he showed that he despised God and had no intention of releasing the captive Israelites (Exo 5:1-2). He was determined to resist God at all costs, in spite of the repeated opportunities God gave him to repent and in spite of the warnings God gave him through a series of plagues (Exo 7:11-13; Exo 8:8; Exo 8:15; Exo 8:28-32). By confirming Pharaoh in his hardness of heart, God showed the greatness of Pharaoh’s evil and the justice with which he punished it (Exo 9:12; Rom 9:14-18; see PLAGUE).
In the final plague on Egypt, the firstborn in all Egyptian families, including Pharaoh’s, died. This prompted Pharaoh at last to release the Israelites (Exo 11:1-9; Exo 12:29-32). When Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to recapture the Israelites, he and his soldiers were killed in a mighty judgment at the Red Sea (Exo 14:5-9; Exo 14:28).
Most of the remaining Pharaohs of the Bible story are mentioned in relation to Egypt’s political and military involvement with Judah during the time of the Israelite monarchy (e.g. 1Ki 3:1; 1Ki 11:40; 2Ki 18:21; 2Ki 23:29; see JUDAH, TRIBE AND KINGDOM). Some of them feature in prophetic announcements of judgment upon Egypt (e.g. Ezekiel 29; Ezekiel 30; Ezekiel 31; Ezekiel 32; see EGYPT).
A title for the king of Egypt.