Up until a few years ago, I just assumed that Pharaoh died along with his army when the Red Sea came crashing down on top of them. But the Bible doesn’t actually say that. In fact, all it mentions is that his “entire army” died—the Egyptians, their chariots and their horsemen (Exodus 14:26).
Let’s be honest though: It is entirely possible that when the Bible says “Egyptians,” that word naturally includes Pharaoh. Every other time, the Bible says “Pharaoh and his army,” but this one time, Moses could’ve chosen to use shorthand and simply say “the Egyptians.”
If that’s the case though, it’s a sharp departure from the rest of the Narrative. So far in Exodus 14, God has used the phrase “Pharaoh and his army” to emphasize His victory over him, specifically. It would be odd at this juncture, right when the punishment is being delivered, to exclude his name from the record.
One chapter further in Exodus 15:4, Moses sings about “pharaoh’s chariots and his army” along with the “choicest of his officers” that drown in the Red Sea. No mention is made of Pharaoh dying alongside them. The only definitive thing said is that the Egyptians who went into the Red Sea died; it’s not a given that Pharaoh was one of those people.
According to most Biblical scholars, the pharaoh at the time of the Exodus was Amenhotep II. Several parts of his life fit the Biblical Narrative, even if the physical record overlooks his failures, which is not surprising since he was in charge of what was written about him.
If the Pharoah of the Exodus is Amenhotep II, then he can’t have died in the Red Sea. Amenhotep II’s sarcophagus was found buried in the Valley of the Kings, in one of the most well-preserved and well-decorated tombs from the New Kingdom era of Egypt—Not at the bottom of the Red Sea.
But it doesn’t really matter where or when he died, does it? The only thing worse than facing certain death yourself is having to walk back to Egypt with a fragment of your army and explain to the entire nation how you foolishly charged into the middle of a miracle that wasn’t meant for you. And how you cost thousands of lives in the process.
It doesn’t matter if Pharaoh died that day or not, what happened at the Red Sea that day demonstrated to the entire world the honor and respect that is due to God. He was honored, and Pharaoh was not. That’s the only headline we need.
