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Pharaoh (Paroh) פרעה

'Pharaoh' is the title of the kings of Egypt.

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'Pharaoh' is the title of the kings of Egypt. Several appear in the Torah; the best known is the one who enslaved the Jews and suffered the ten plagues.

'Pharaoh' is the title of Egypt's kings, not a personal name. The Torah mentions several:

  • The Pharaoh in Avraham's time, who took Sarah and was struck with plagues (Bereishis 12:10–20).
  • Yosef's Pharaoh, whose dreams Yosef interpreted and who made him viceroy (Bereishis 41).
  • The Pharaoh of the bondage: 'a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Yosef' (Shemos 1:8). He enslaved the Jews and ordered the boys thrown into the river (1:22).

Moshe came to him with 'Let My people go', and Pharaoh refused. Hashem sent the ten plagues and 'hardened Pharaoh's heart' (Shemos 7:3). After the plague of the firstborn he let the Jews go, then chased them; his army drowned in the Yam Suf (Shemos 14).

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Disputed or unverified

Whether the 'new king' was truly new or the same king making new decrees is a dispute between Rav and Shmuel (Sotah 11a).

Whether Pharaoh himself drowned: according to Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 43) he survived and later became king of Nineveh; other midrashim differ.

Sources

  1. 1בראשית י"ב (Genesis 12)
  2. 2בראשית מ"א (Genesis 41)
  3. 3שמות א' (Exodus 1)
  4. 4שמות ז' (Exodus 7)
  5. 5שמות י"ד (Exodus 14)
  6. 6סוטה י"א ע"א
  7. 7פרקי דרבי אליעזר מ"ג
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Last reviewed: October 21, 2026. Spotted an error? Let us know.

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