Question: I’ve been reading the book of Exodus in Hebrew, and I have noticed that the word Pharaoh is spelled alternatively with a “pey” [the “p” sound] and a “fey” [the “f” sound]. I would like to know what the significance or meaning is for these two spellings of a word that has essentially the same meaning 

Answer: Thank you very much for your question about the names of Pharaoh.

Your question is a technical question in Hebrew grammar.

There are six Hebrew letters which have hard and soft forms: Beth-Veth, Gimel, Daleth, Kaph-Chaph, Pay-Fay, Tauv-Thauv.

The rules governing this are extremely technical. But here is a rough rule: If the word Pharoh BEGINS a new sentence or clause then it is pronounced hard (P vs F).

However if Pharoh is a middle or end word in a clause AND ALSO it follows an open syllable (like a word ending in Aleph Hey Vav Yud) then the Pay is pronounced softly (F vs P). The purpose of the soft pronunciation is to facilitate slurring the words of the phrase into one unit (to emphasize the clause as a unit).

Here is a simple example Ex 5:21: The Jews complain to Moses “You have made us look bad “in the eyes of Pharoh.”

“eyes of Pharoh” is a phrase with Pharoh not at the beginning. The words for eyes in Hebrew is AYNAY and ends with an open syllable. Hence the P of Pharoh is pronounced softly AYNAY FHAROH. This enables the clause to be pronounced as one unit.

Russell Jay Hendel;