Pharaoh and His Council: Great Minds Think Alike.

• Author: Witztum, Joseph

INTRODUCTION

This note is devoted to an examination of two parallel passages in the Quran that, although almost identical in wording, actually contradict each other. Since the relevant passages contain a dialogue between Pharaoh and his council and are part of a quranic retelling of a biblical narrative, I begin with a brief survey of possible postbiblical precedents for this dialogue. I then turn to compare the two passages and explain the textual dynamic that caused one of them to change and thus bring about this contradiction.

THE BIBLICAL AND POSTBIBLICAL BACKGROUND

In Exodus 7:8-13 Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a serpent. Pharaoh summoned the sorcerers of Egypt and they too threw down their staffs, which became serpents, only to then be swallowed by Aaron's staff. Nonetheless, Pharaoh's heart stiffened and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron. The Quran relates this episode several times with various departures from the biblical text. (1) This note is devoted to one such departure: the advice given to Pharaoh by his council members (mala') to summon all the magicians. (2)

Though the mala' are a typical feature of several quranic narratives, (3) it is worthwhile to briefly consider possible biblical and postbiblical precedents for our scene. (4) The closest one finds in Exodus to the mala' are Pharaoh's servants. While these servants are mentioned throughout the biblical narrative, (5) they do not speak in the scene of the staff and the subsequent contest, and in this account the summoning seems to be Pharaoh's sole initiative (Ex. 7:11). The only speech of the servants to Pharaoh is in Ex. 10:7, where just before the locust plague they urge him to let the Israelites go. (6)

In postbiblical sources one finds a few embellishments that add other dialogues between Pharaoh and his men to the biblical story. Though the context is different, a few Jewish sources apply Isaiah 19:11-14 (where the "sagest of Pharaoh's advisers" give absurd advice and lead Egypt astray) to the time of Moses. In Tanhuma Va-era 5 these verses inspire an elaboration on Ex. 5:2 in which Pharaoh asks the sages of Egypt whether they have heard of the God of Israel and they give a ridiculous response based on the language of Is. 19:11. (7) In a postquranic liturgical poetic composition, Is. 19:11 and 13 are applied to Ex. 7:9 without, however, mentioning the sages' advice or quoting a dialogue of theirs with Pharaoh. (8) A closer parallel to the quranic dialogue is found in the fourth-century Samaritan work Tibat Marqe 1.40, where after Aaron's staff becomes a serpent, Pharaoh is greatly frightened and turns to his faction (nny'o), which advises him to summon the sages to determine whether or not this was the work of sorcerers. (9) This dramatic embellishment may have sought to give Pharaoh's servants an active role and thus justify their mention in Ex. 7:10. (10)

THE QURANIC PASSAGES

A similar embellishment is reported twice in the Quran in almost identical language but with one significant difference, which has puzzled exegetes and modern scholars alike. I wish to offer an explanation for the textual dynamic that caused the confusion.

In Q 7:107-112 we read as follows:

[phrase omitted](108) [phrase omitted](107) [phrase omitted] (110) [phrase omitted] (109) [phrase omitted] (112)[phrase omitted] (111) [phrase omitted] (107) So he [Moses] cast his staff, and behold it was a manifest serpent. (108) He drew forth his hand, and behold it was white to the beholders. (109) The mala' of Pharaoh's people said, "Surely this is a knowledgeable sorcerer (110) who wishes to drive you (pl.) out of your (pl.) land. What, then, do you (pl.) advise?" (11) (1ll) They said, "Have (sg.) him and his brother wait a while, (12) and send (sg.) among the cities musterers (112) and they shall bring to you (sg.) every knowledgeable sorcerer." (13) There are a few problems in this passage: (1) It is not clear whom the mala' are addressing in vv. 109-110. The second person plural is used, but the identity of the addressees is not made explicit. (2) Likewise, the response in vv. 111-112 opens with "they said" without mention of who is speaking. (3) One would expect vv. 111-112 to address the mala'. Instead the addressee is a single person, presumably Pharaoh, who was not mentioned explicitly as part of the preceding discussion.

The exegetes offer a few solutions to these problems, but none is entirely satisfactory in my opinion. One understanding of these verses is as a dialogue between the mala' and Pharaoh. The mala' are clearly the speakers in v. 109 and most probably the speakers in vv. 111-112 as well. One could, however, argue that v. 110, or at least part of it, was uttered by Pharaoh. According to one interpretation, the second part of 110 consists of the words of Pharaoh. Thus, first the mala' address him in vv. 109 and 110a, using the plural. (14) He responds in 110b, asking their advice ("What, then, do you [pi.] advise?") (15) even though the change in speaker is not mentioned explicitly in the verse. (16) In vv. 111-112 they answer him, this time addressing him in the singular. According to another interpretation, v. 110 in its entirety is the speech of Pharaoh. (17)

Another understanding, no less problematic, views vv. 109-110 as the words of the mala (3) to Pharaoh and his intimate attendants and vv. 111-112 as a second address of the mala', this time to Pharaoh alone. Alternatively, one could interpret that the mala' addressed Pharaoh twice: once in vv. 109-110 using the second person plural and a second time in vv. 111-112 using the second person singular. (18)

In a parallel passage these problems do not occur. Consider Q 26:32-37: (19)

[phrase omitted] (33) [phrase omitted] (32) [phrase omitted] (35) [phrase omitted] (34) [phrase omitted] (37) [phrase omitted] (36) [phrase omitted] (32) So he [Moses] cast his staff, and behold it was a manifest serpent. (33) He drew forth his hand, and behold it was white to the beholders. (34) He [Pharaoh] said to the mala' around him, "Surely this is a knowledgeable sorcerer (35) who wishes to drive you (pl.) out of your (pl.) land by his sorcery. What, then, do you (pl.) advise?" (36) They said, "Have (sg.) him and his brother wait a while, and send (sg.) among the cities musterers (37) and they shall bring to you (sg.) every knowledgeable sorcerer." In this version all is smooth. (20) Pharaoh addresses his mala' in the plural and he is answered in the singular. The identity of the speakers is entirely clear. However, a comparison of the two passages creates a new problem that is no less intriguing.

Consider the two passages in synopsis:

Side-by-side, the utterances of Q 26:34-35 and Q 7:109-110 are almost identical. But whereas in Q 26 the speaker is Pharaoh, in Q 7 it is his mala (3). (21) How...