Pharaoh (Book of Abraham)
In Latter-day Saint theology, Pharaoh is the proper name of the first king of Egypt, as found in the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.[1]
Contents
Enemy of Abraham
Non-Biblical accounts of Abraham's life are replete with stories of his life being in danger. While the story of the Egyptian priest is absent, there are others of Abraham life being sought when he was an infant, of the magicians of the king's court seeking his life, of his life being in danger for preaching against idolatry to Nimrod the king, of his being cast into a fiery furnace and receiving no harm, etc. These stories contain elements common to the Abraham 1 story, including:[2]
- Children were sacrificed
- Those who would not worship idols were killed
- Abraham was brought to be killed or sacrificed because he would not worship idols
- Terah was behind the attempt to kill Abraham
- Abraham was fasted or bound
- When his life was in danger, Abraham prayed
- An angel came to rescue Abraham
- God rescued Abraham from death
- The altar (furnace) and the idols were destroyed
- The priest (or leader) was smitten and died
Differences with biblical account
A number of elements or themes in Abraham 2 are not found in the biblical account (Book of Genesis. Chapter:11-12). The following list provides twelve of these elements and themes from the Book of Abraham verses noted in the comparison:[3]
1.A famine struck Abraham's homeland (Abraham 2:1, 5).
2.Haran died in the famine (Abraham 2:1).
3.Terah, after repenting returned to his idols (Abraham 2:5).
4.Believers are the seed of Abraham and are blessed through him (Abraham 2:10-11).
5.Abraham held the priesthood (Abraham 2:9,11)
6.Abraham sought God earnestly (Abraham 2:12).
7.An angel came to rescue Abraham (Abraham 2:13).
8.Abraham was familiar with Egyptian idols (Abraham 2:13; 3:20).
9.Abraham was sixty-two years old when he left Haran, not seventy-five as Genesis says (Abraham 2:14).
10.Abraham made converts in Haran (Abraham 2:15).
11.Abraham prayed that God would end the famine in Chaldea (Abraham 2:17).
12.The Lord instructed Abraham to say that Sarah was his sister (Abraham 2:22-25).
Anachronism
The use of the name Pharaoh was anachronistic during Abrahams time.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Abraham 1:20–31: Pharaoh, King of Egypt, The Pearl of Great Price: Teacher Manual, (2000), 39–40
- ↑ Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham, by J. Tvedtnes, B. Hauglid, J. Gee, [Provo: FARMS, 2001], Appendix A, 539-542.
- ↑ (J. Tvedtnes, B. Hauglid, J. Gee, Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham, [Provo: FARMS, 2001], xxii-xxiii)
- ↑ Egyptology and the Book of Abraham
