Title of the kings of Egypt · Genesis to Jeremiah

Pharaoh in the Bible

"Pharaoh" is a title rather than a personal name: it renders an Egyptian phrase meaning "great house", the palace standing for the king who lived in it. Scripture uses it for a whole sequence of rulers across roughly a thousand years — the king who takes Sarai, the king who raises Joseph, the king who enslaves Israel, and later kings named outright, such as Shishak and Neco. In Egypt the pharaoh was held to be divine, which is why the contest of the plagues reads as a contest between gods.

What Scripture says, and what it leaves open

Scripture names only a few Egyptian kings (Shishak, So, Tirhakah, Neco, Hophra). Where it simply says "Pharaoh", the individual is not identified, and any match to a king known from Egyptian records is a historical proposal rather than something the Bible states.

Geographic context

Where Pharaoh belongs on the map

Open Pharaoh on the interactive mapReal terrain, nearby places, journeys and passages

Key passages

Read the first mention — Exodus 8:28Search every form of “Pharaoh”

Verses mentioning Pharaoh

275 occurrences across 235 verses in the King James Version.

These verses cover every use of the title, so they span several different kings.

  1. Exodus 8:28

    And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.

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  2. Exodus 8:29

    And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

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  3. Exodus 8:30

    And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

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  4. Exodus 8:31

    And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

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  5. Exodus 8:32

    And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

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  6. Exodus 9:1

    Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

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  7. Exodus 9:7

    And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

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  8. Exodus 9:8

    And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

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  9. Exodus 9:10

    And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

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  10. Exodus 9:12

    And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

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  11. Exodus 9:13

    And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

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  12. Exodus 9:20

    He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:

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  13. Exodus 9:27

    And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

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  14. Exodus 9:33

    And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

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  15. Exodus 9:34

    And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

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  16. Exodus 9:35

    And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses. by Moses: Heb. by the hand of Moses

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  17. Exodus 10:1

    And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:

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  18. Exodus 10:3

    And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

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  19. Exodus 10:6

    And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

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  20. Exodus 10:7

    And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

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  21. Exodus 10:8

    And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? who: Heb. who and who, etc

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  22. Exodus 10:11

    Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

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  23. Exodus 10:16

    Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. called: Heb. hastened to call

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  24. Exodus 10:18

    And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

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  25. Exodus 10:20

    But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

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