Are Both Ramses and Moses in the Bible?
Share
Moses, a prophet from the Old Testament, shows more than up a few times in the Bible. In fact, he gets mentioned several times beyond just the Pentateuch. He even gets referenced as late as the New Testament book of Jude, a story about the archangel Michael disputing Moses’ bones. But what about the Pharaoh in the Book of Exodus? Do we know his identity? Some have paired Moses and Rameses—the name of a particular pharaoh who could’ve existed during Moses’ time.
Moses and Rameses? Or some other pharaoh and Moses combination? We’ll explore the possible figureheads who enslaved the Israelites and experienced the 10 Plagues, talk about whether Moses shows up in Egyptian history, and what happened in the overall story of Exodus.
Which Pharaoh Enslaved the Israelites?
For those who don’t have a cursory knowledge of what happens in the book of Exodus, it serves as a sequel to the Book of Genesis. Joseph moves his family into Egypt in the Book of Genesis (the last 15 chapters, more or less).
In their new home, the Israelite population grows, and time passes. Time passes to the point where when a new pharaoh steps onto the throne, he doesn’t remember Joseph. So he enslaves the Israelites. They end up under the cruelty of the Egyptian people for 400 years until God rescues them through the prophet Moses.
This, of course, raises the question of which particular pharaoh we see in the Exodus narrative. Historians have proposed a few figureheads, including Rameses. Let’s look at all of the possible pharaohs.
Amenhotep II: As of this writing, tis pharaoh seems the best candidate in terms of timeline. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t tell us exact dates for when the Egyptians started enslaving the Israelite people. We do know the Israelites’ slavery lasted for 400 years, but the start date is hard to find. That said, we have some good guesswork for when Moses existed. If we go based on those date estimates, we probably land on Amenhotep II as the best candidate.
With that said, let’s explore a few other options.
Rameses II: Some theologians point to Exodus 1:11 as evidence that Rameses II had taken the throne by the time the 10 plagues happened. Why? Because the verse mentions the Israelites being forced to build cities, including one based on the name of the Pharaoh. Rameses (or Ramses).
Thutmoses III: The best link to this pharaoh being the king over Egypt during the time of Exodus actually comes from a queen who ruled before him. Hatshepsut had briefly taken over the throne before this pharaoh replaced her. She was such a controversial figure that other pharaohs destroyed evidence of her reign. She seemed rebellious enough that it would make sense for her to be the Pharaoh’s daughter who fished Moses out of the Nile and protected him despite a royal decree to have all the Israelite male babies slaughtered.
As you can see, we can’t come to a consistent conclusion about the pharaoh in Exodus. Currently, we don’t have any solid evidence for one pharaoh over the other. However, convention claims Ramses II as a likely candidate. For our intents and purposes, we’ll carry on with the assumption that Ramses ruled during the time of Moses.
Is Moses Mentioned in Egyptian History?
Asking about the pharaohs and how their histories fit with Exodus brings us to the question: does Egyptian history mention Moses? If it does, we can come to a definitive conclusion about whether Moses and Ramses went toe-to-toe.
Unfortunately (as of this writing), no contemporary sources have been found that mention Moses in Egyptian history, nor the enslavement of the Israelites.
There is also (as of this writing) limited archeological evidence to verify Exodus’s events.
Atheists love to use this as one of their top arguments for why the Bible isn’t historically accurate.
The dilemma is that while archeology may have yet to find much evidence for Exodus, it is a field of constant discoveries. What has not been found yet does not prove it never happened.
There is also the fact that we have a surprising, almost embarrassing amount of archeological evidence that verifies points to the Bible. We also have many contemporary documents (remember the Dead Sea Scrolls?) to support its claims.
So, the fact that not much archeological evidence has been found yet that mentions Moses is no big cause for concern. Give it time.
What Happened to Moses and Ramses?
So what happens in the Book of Exodus?
It opens with Moses being rescued from slaughter and growing up as a prince in Pharoah’s house.
Having left Egypt after killing an Egyptian slave master, Moses returns 40 years later. Driven by God, Moses tells Pharaoh to release the Israelites.
When the Pharaoh refused, Moses called upon God to send plagues upon Egypt. And God does, with increasing intensity.
The Egyptians experience painful sores from boils, total darkness, and an eradication of their livestock… leading up to the tenth and most deadly plague. God kills all the firstborn Egyptian children.
The pharaoh relents and finally lets the Israelites go, only to change his mind once they’ve left. We can imagine he worried he would lose whatever political power he had left if he let his entire workforce go.
His armies chase after the Israelites. God splits the Red Sea in half and allows the Israelites to pass through safely to the other side.
Then, he slaughters the Egyptian army, causing the sea to crash on them and drown them.
The Bible never specifically says if this act of God wiped out the pharaoh himself. Perhaps the pharaoh never followed his men into the Red Sea. Perhaps he stayed home in Egypt, expecting his armies to return with the captives.
In either case, we can imagine this blow completely crippled him. Whichever pharaoh had ruled on the throne—Ramses or someone else—he’d seen the almighty hand of God and had experienced the effects of disobedience to God’s commands.
What Can We Learn from Moses and Ramses?
Moses and Ramses, Moses and Amenhotep, or Moses and fill-in-the-blank-ruler, have a lot to teach about the importance of archeological finds, obedience to God, and trust when we don’t have evidence.
Let’s look into three main takeaways we can glean from this story in Exodus.
First, lacking archeological evidence doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Again, archeology is a developing field with new discoveries. We also have to recognize that ancient history is filled with cases where documents were lost to time. Think of the Library of Alexandria and all the history we have lost due to one fire. Think of all the evidence that atheists claimed didn’t happen, only for an archeological find to point to the truth of the Bible. Furthermore, ancient historians were not always interested in preserving the complete story if it embarrassed whoever was ruling. We can imagine the ancient Egyptians were not eager to document what happened in Exodus in their art and writings. We may never find such evidence. Or we may be moments away from unearthing it.
Second, it doesn’t matter which pharaoh ruled. In the grand scheme, that is a minor detail we’d like to know, but not the main point. What matters is that a global superpower tried to wipe out the people of God. God heard the cries of the Israelites and stepped into the situation. He ended their slavery and laid waste to the people who had enslaved them. We can assume plagues that wiped out crops, armies, and firstborn children set ancient Egypt back from centuries of progress.
Finally, God shows the importance of obedience to his commands. first approached the pharaoh peacefully. If he would release the Israelites, God would not call plagues down upon the people. Pharaoh refuses, and his people suffer the consequences.
In the same way, although God will probably not send an infestation of frogs into our houses (at least, we should hope not), we must value listening and obeying the first time.
God calls us to obey for a reason. Who knows? Like Moses, we may have the opportunity to rescue people from oppression.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/sedmak
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People from the Bible Series featuring the most well-known historical names and figures from Scripture. We have compiled these articles to help you study those whom God chose to set before us as examples in His Word. May their lives and walks with God strengthen your faith and encourage your soul.
The Bible Story of Elijah
The Life of Ruth - 5 Essential Faith Lessons
The Bible Story of Queen Esther
The Greatest Villain - King Nebuchadnezzar
The Bible Story of Mary Magdalene