Person Old Testament
Pharaoh
Pharaoh, the Egyptian ruler who took Abraham's wife Sarah into his palace during their visit to Egypt. Mentioned in 4 verses across 1 book, first at Genesis 12:15.
Why it matters. Egyptian ruler during Abraham's visit
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Pharaoh
This Pharaoh was the Egyptian ruler during the time of Abraham's visit to Egypt (Gen.12.10-20). When Abraham and his wife Sarah entered Egypt, Abraham asked Sarah to say that she was his sister, fearing that the Egyptians would kill him to take her, as she was very beautiful. As a result, Pharaoh took Sarah into his palace, believing her to be unmarried. However, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues because of Sarah. Pharaoh, realizing that Sarah was Abraham's wife, rebuked Abraham for his deception and sent them away with wealth and possessions. The Bible does not provide the specific name or historical identity of this Pharaoh, as the term "Pharaoh" was used as a title for Egyptian kings.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 4 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.