‘And it happened that when Abram had arrived in Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful, and the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.'
The description fits well with what would be expected to happen in a case like this. It bears all the marks of genuineness. First the Egyptians in general begin to praise her beauty, and the word gets around. Then the princes of Pharaoh, always eager to win his favour, would hear about her and have her appraised. Then she is ‘taken into Pharaoh's house'.
This does not mean that Pharaoh ever saw her. He had many harems and she was taken into one of them. There would then be a period of preparation in which this ‘barbarian' could be fitted for her position after which she would be offered to Pharaoh. It is clear, however, that Abram is respected enough as a petty prince to have her treated properly.
“Pharaoh.” The title of the king of Egypt. It derives from the Egyptian term for ‘great house' and originally signified the palace and court of the king. The first known use of the king himself is around 1450 BC. Some time after the time of Moses it began to be connected with the actual name of the Pharaoh. Thus we may see the use here as being probably the work of Moses, changing an original ‘king of Egypt' into the more modern title.