The Kings or Pharaohs Of Egypt

King or Pharaoh of Egypt?

In an Article by "Islamic Awareness," they make an interesting claim. They investigate, quote, "the usage of the titles "King" and "Pharaoh" during the time of Abraham, Joseph and Moses as used in both the Bible and the Qur'an." Today, we won't be going over the topic of the Quran, but we'll stay focused on their claim against the Bible. 

He first starts by quoting the book of Genesis where it mentions the word Pharaoh(Genesis 12:17), then states, "However, the Egyptians did not call their ruler "Pharaoh" until the 18th Dynasty (c.1552 - 1295 BC). In the language of the hieroglyphs, "Pharaoh" was first used to refer to the king during the reign of Amenophis IV (c.1352-1338 BC). We know that such a designation was correct in the time of Moses(P) but the use of the word Pharaoh in the story of Joseph(P) is an anachronism."

The most likely explanation is when the Bible was being written or translated by someone, someone wrote Pharaoh instead of king. Just as one would use a synonym, the scholar likely did as such, perhaps the person wanted to just be more specific, as Pharaoh is specifically Egyptian while king isn't specific, only denoting a role. As we don't have the original writings of the Bible, it is very likely the original word would have been Melech, "מלך," meaning king or ruler.

There is no contradiction, just a scribe trying to be specific. One may try to get angry at this explanation, but hundreds of documents do the exact thing, for example, in the Quran (see the evidence below). This usage of specifications certainly cannot be considered a problem, and no real scholar will ever see it as one. 

Works Sited:

Islamic-awareness.org. 2022. Qur'anic Accuracy Vs. Biblical Error: The Kings & Pharaohs of Egypt. [online] Available at: <https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/contrad/external/josephdetail> [Accessed 20 June 2022].

Is the Quran the Word of God?. 2022. Quran Manuscripts, Copyist Errors, and Viable Variants. [online] Available at: <https://bible-quran.com/quran-manuscripts-copyist-errors/> [Accessed 6 June 2022].