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On Pharaoh's not knowing יקוק

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Jacob and his sons, when speaking to Egyptians, consistently refer to God as ‏(ה)אלקים, "the god", and not by his name, יקוק, that distinguishes him from other supposed gods, or other names of his. (E.g., Genesis 39:9, 40:8, and 41:16–32 passim.)

(When speaking amongst themselves, although they usually use ‏(ה)אלקים, they occasionally use another name. E.g., Genesis 48:3, 49:18.)

Later, Moses and Aaron tell the pharaoh (not the same one as in Joseph's time) that יקוק had said to release the Jews. (Exodus 5:1.) The pharaoh replies (5:2):

Who is יקוק that I should listen to him? I don't know יקוק and won't release the Jews.

This sounds to me possibly like he's tying the two together: like, had he indeed recognized יקוק, he would released the Jews.

I wonder whether any commentators tie these facts to one another: that the pharaoh didn't know of יקוק because the Jews had never referred to him as such. I wonder, too, whether any go so far as to say that, had Jacob et al. used the name יקוק, the later pharaoh would've let the Jews out on demand.

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While this wasn’t the first place I’ve seen this, Rabbi Dovid Fohrman in his book _The Exodus You Alm... (2 comments)

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