Pharaoh Hophra

Biblical Record

"Hophra" is the name of an Egyptian king. The word "Pharaoh" that precedes it is not a personal name but a title for the king of Egypt. The name appears only once in the Bible, in Jeremiah 44:30. After the fall of Jerusalem, many people of Judah went down to Egypt, and Jeremiah rebuked them for serving idols there. As a sign that his warning would be fulfilled, he declared that God would give "Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt" into the hand of his enemies who sought his life, "as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon" (Jeremiah 44:30).

Other passages refer to an Egyptian king simply as "Pharaoh" without giving his name, and scholars generally identify this king with Hophra.

• Jeremiah 37:5-11: When the Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem and Pharaoh's army came up out of Egypt, the Chaldeans (the Babylonian army) temporarily withdrew. Jeremiah prophesied that the Egyptian army would soon return home and that the Babylonian army would come back.
• Ezekiel 29-32: Prophecies directed against Pharaoh king of Egypt. Pharaoh is likened to a great crocodile lying in the midst of the river, rendered in the KJV as "the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers" (Ezekiel 29:3), and Egypt is called "a staff of reed to the house of Israel" (Ezekiel 29:6).

Significance Within the Bible

Hophra represents the great power of Egypt, on which Judah in its final years sought to rely instead of on God. Jeremiah and Ezekiel repeatedly warned against the policy of allying with Egypt to resist Babylon. In the end, Egyptian help did not prevent the fall of Jerusalem (around 586 BC). Hophra is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Debate

According to historical records outside the Bible, Hophra was a king of Egypt's Twenty-sixth Dynasty. The Greek historian Herodotus recorded him under the name Apries, and he is said to have lost his throne after a military revolt, following which Amasis (Ahmose II) became king. Many commentators read this as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah 44:30. The biblical text itself, however, does not directly record his end.

The identification of the "Pharaoh" in Jeremiah 37 and Ezekiel 29-32 with Hophra is a scholarly inference based on historical chronology; Jeremiah 44:30 is the only place where the text gives his name. The dates of his reign also vary somewhat among scholars.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted solely to Hophra are rare. He is usually mentioned in expository preaching on the books of Jeremiah or Ezekiel, or in read-through-the-Bible programs, when the international situation just before the fall of Judah is explained. In preaching he most often serves as an illustration warning against relying on worldly power rather than on God, and the image of the "staff of reed" in Ezekiel 29:6 is frequently cited alongside him.