Acts 7:18

Verse 18. Till another king arose. This is quoted from Ex 1:8. What was the name of this king is not certainly known. The common name of all the kings of Egypt was Pharaoh, as Caesar became the common name of the emperors of Rome after the time of Julius Caesar: thus we say, Augustus Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, etc. It has commonly been supposed to have been the celebrated Rameses, or Ramses Meiamoun, the sixth king of the eighteenth dynasty; and the event is supposed to have occurred about 1559 years before the Christian era. But M. Champollion supposes that his name was Mandonel, whose reign commenced 1585, and ended 1565 years before. Christ. (Essay on the Hieroglyphic System, pp. 94, 95.)

Which knew not Joseph. It can hardly be supposed that he would be ignorant of the name and deeds of Joseph; and this expression, therefore, probably means that he did not favour the designs of Joseph; he did not remember the benefits he had conferred on the nation; or furnish the patronage for the kindred of Joseph which had been secured for them by Joseph under a former reign. National ingratitude and forgetfulness of favours have not been uncommon in the world; and a change of dynasty or succession has often obliterated all memory of former obligations and compacts.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 18 Which knew not Joseph - That is, did not approve of him, of his mode of governing the kingdom, nor of his people, nor of his God. See the note on Exo 1:8.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain