It seems odd that in a book of the Bible entitled “Shemot,” or “Names” in English, the Torah omits the name of the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites. Instead, the Pharaoh is simply called “Pharaoh.” The opening of Exodus (Shemot) begins with genealogical details about each of the seventy children of Jacob who go down to Egypt, and even takes the time to name two Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Push, but the Pharaoh goes unidentified. Why does Pharaoh’s name go unmentioned? The answer, I believe, is because the paradigm of Pharaoh plays out in every generation. Pharaoh is not just one person, Pharaoh is every tyrant who subjugates people.
Pharaoh is every leader more concerned about themselves, than about the people who he or she leads. Pharaoh is the person so obsessed with power, that they can’t imagine not having it. We see Pharaohs all the time, and everywhere. Remember the Passover Haggadah which declares:
הִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ
This stood true for our ancestors as it does for us
שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנו אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ
It’s not just one person who stood to destroy us, but in every generation there stands a tyrant to destroy us.
In every generation, there is a Pharaoh. That Pharaoh has a name, but we need not use it. Because using a name tells us that they are a unique individual, when in fact they are not. Their names don’t deserve to be glorified. Like Amalek, another Pharaoh who the Israelites encounter, a Pharaoh’s name deserves to be blotted out. תִּמְחֶה֙ אֶת־זֵ֣כֶר עֲמָלֵ֔ק, you shall blot their memory out. לֹ֖א תִּשְׁכָּֽח, But do not forget their legacy, teaches the Torah, do not forget that Pharaohs seek to destroy the foundations of our way of life, and sometimes destroy us (Deuteronomy 25:19). Blot out their name, because these megalomaniacs believe they should be glorified, whereas Pharaohs deserve to have their names erased from history. We know that they are not unique, they are just another iteration in a long line of Pharaohs.
Later in the Hebrew Bible, the prophet Ezekiel is charged with speaking to another non-distinct Pharaoh who is the king of Egypt at his time.
הִנְנִ֤י עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ פַּרְעֹ֣ה מֶֽלֶךְ־מִצְרַ֔יִם הַתַּנִּים֙ הַגָּד֔וֹל הָרֹבֵ֖ץ בְּת֣וֹךְ יְאֹרָ֑יו אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָמַ֛ר לִ֥י יְאֹרִ֖י וַאֲנִ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽנִי׃
“Behold, there is a Pharaoh, a king of Egypt among you, who is a great serpent that crouches in the Nile and says: “This is my river, and I created myself (Ezekiel 29:3).”
The mega ego of the Pharaoh believes that he or she not just owns the natural elements, according to Ezekiel, but this Pharaoh believes that they created themselves. The Pharaohs believe that they are all powerful, that they are Gods, and that they are beyond reproach. The Torah reminds us, they are none of these things. Only God is all powerful, there is only one God, that’s Adonai, and every generation with a Pharaoh–– be it a person or a system of tyranny–– requires a Moses.
Just as we shouldn’t see Pharaoh as an individual, but as paradigm of tyranny across time and space, we might find that every generation has its own Moses or Moseses. The man Moses might have been special in regard to his relationship with God and his ability to bring about God’s wonders. But, there have, in fact, been many Moseses, men and women, who have stood up to Pharaohs in their times to relieve the yoke of oppression, subjugation, and hatred. Whenever there arises a Pharaoh, it’s the responsibility of individuals to become liberators, redeemers, and justice seekers. Those who passively accept the reign of Pharaoh perpetuate his or her tyranny. Historian Ian Kershaw to this end famously remarked: “The road to Auschwitz was built by hate but paved with indifference.”
We omit Pharaoh’s name from our narrative because Pharaoh wasn’t a man who ruled once upon a time; Pharaohs exist all the time. Some people may find life under a Pharaoh comforting, but our tradition demands that we play Moses to every Pharaoh around us. The Psalmist asks the rhetorical question: “Can a wicked ruler [a Pharaoh] be allied with God when they frame injustice as the law? (Psalm 94:20) The answer of course, is: No! For every Pharaoh that arises, God calls us to be Moses.