The text is not merely saying that the king had not met Joseph personally, although that is probably true. Furthermore, it is unlikely that this Pharaoh had never heard of Joseph given Joseph’s important contributions to Egypt. Rather, the word to know has the sense here of paying attention to or acknowledging someone or something (see Exodus 2:25; Exodus 3:7; Exodus 1:2 – 40:38; Exodus 7:17; Exodus 8:22; Exodus 9:29; 1 Samuel 2:12).¹ The point is that this new king does not acknowledge Joseph’s influence and will therefore no longer grant Israel a privileged status. After all, it was only because Joseph was a father to Pharaoh that the Israelites were allowed to sojourn in Goshen in the first place (Genesis 45:8; Genesis 47:5–6, Genesis 47:11–12).