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Bible Dictionaries
Pharaoh
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or 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.
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.
1. Pharaoh, Genesis 12:15 , in the time of Abraham, B. C. 1920. He was probably a king of the Theban dynasty.
2. Pharaoh, the master of Joseph, Genesis 37:36 39:1-23 Acts 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 Genesis 37:36 .
3. Pharaoh, who knew not Joseph, and under whom Moses was born, B. C. 1571, Exodus 1:8 Acts 7:18 Hebrews 11:23 .
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, Exodus 2:11-23 4:19 Acts 7:23 .
4. Pharaoh, under whom the Israelites left Egypt, and who perished in the Red Sea, Exodus 5:1-14:31 2 Kings 17:7 Nehemiah 9:10 Psalm 135:9 136:13 Romans 9:17 Hebrews 11:27 , B. C. 1491.
5. Pharaoh, in the time of David, 1 Kings 11:18-22; B. C. 1030.
6. Pharaoh, the father-in-law of Solomon, 1 Kings 3:1 7:8 9:16,24 , B. C. 1010.
7. Shishak, near the end of Solomon's reign, and under Rehoboam, B. C. 975,1 Kings 11:40 14:25 2 Chronicles 12:2 . From this time onward the proper name of the Egyptian kings are mentioned in Scripture. See SHISHAK.
8. Zerah, king of Egypt and Ethiopia in the time of Asa, B. C. 930; called Osorchon by historians. See ZERAH.
9. So, or Sevechus, contemporary with Ahaz, B. C. 730,2 Kings 17:4 . See SO.
10. Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia and Egypt, in the time of Hezekiah, B. C. 720,2 Kings 19:9 Isaiah 37:9 . The Tearcho of Strabo, and the Taracles of Manetho. See TIRHAKAH.
11. Pharaoh Necho, in the time of Josiah, B. C. 612,2 Kings 23:29-30 2 Chronicles 35:20-24 , etc. Necho, the son of Psammeticus. See NECHO.
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, Jeremiah 37:1-5 47:1 Ezekiel 29:21 . He reigned twenty-five years, and was dethroned by his army after an unsuccessful expedition against Cyrene, as was foretold, Jeremiah 44:30 .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Pharaoh'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/p/pharaoh.html. 1859.
