JOSEPH W. TKACH
July 1988
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your question concerning whether or not the
pharaoh of the Exodus drowned in the Red Sea.
The pharaoh of Egypt at that time was Amenhotep II. The
overwhelming biblical and historical evidence is that he did not
die with his army in pursuit of Israel.
In Psalm 136:15, we find that God "overthrew Pharaoh and his
host (army) in the Red sea." The Hebrew word translated here as
"overthrew" is "na'ar." This word is also found in Exodus 14:27.
It does not mean "to drown" or "to toss or tumble about as in the
water" as some have attempted to assert. It simply means "shook
off" as is mentioned in the margins of many Bibles and in "The
New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon."
(Nehemiah 5:13 is a good illustration of how "na'ar" should be
translated.) Therefore, these verses simply say that God shook
off the Egyptians (including Pharaoh) from their pursuit of the
Israelites. These scriptures say nothing of who was drowned.
In Exodus 14:28 we see that the waters covered "the host of
Pharaoh," but Pharaoh himself is not mentioned. Exodus 15:19 in
the Authorized King James Version reads: "For the horse of
Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the
sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them."
At first, this might appear to be evidence that Pharaoh drowned.
But an examination of this verse reveals that "horse" should not
be singular. Verse 19 of Exodus 15 is correctly rendered in the
New King James Version (also called the Revised Authorized
Version): "For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and
his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters
of the sea upon them." Naturally, the horses and horsemen of
Egypt were considered to be Pharaoh's. But this scripture does
not say that Pharaoh's personal horse, or that Pharaoh himself,
drowned in the sea.
This is significant because the death of such an important
person would almost certainly have been given special note in the
Bible. The Old Testament contains many clear references to the
deaths of enemy kings, most of them much less important than this
pharaoh. Archaeology proves that Amenhotep II ruled for at least
16 years after the Exodus.
We appreciate this opportunity to serve you. Please let us
know whenever we may assist you further with your study of the
Bible.
PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
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