Thread by @JamesBejon

THREAD: Below are a bunch of what look (to me) to be #Egyptian personal names in the #Hebrew Bible.

I’d be grateful for comments from #Semitists and, particularly, for possible translations from #Egyptologists .

I’ll start with a couple of obvious candidates (mentioned by Hoffmeier at least and no doubt others):

Judah’s genealogy mentions a guy named ‘Sheshan’ (1 Chr. 2),

who’s part of an ancestral chain which seeks to traverse Israel’s years in Egypt (though ultimately goes nowhere).

The name of his slave (‘Jarha’) looks like it’s composed of the Egyptian elements:

⟨wr⟩ = ‘great’, and

⟨ḫʕ⟩ = ‘the one who appears’, an epithet of ‘Re’ (from ⟨ḫʕi⟩ = ‘to appear’).

By way of illustration, here’s a name of the form ⟨Wr-DN⟩:

Meanwhile, the name ‘Sheshan’ denotes ‘a lotus flower’.

Here’s an instance of the equivalent name in Egyptian:

All well and good (perhaps).

So, now for some more tentative candidates, which aren’t mentioned by Hoffmeier. (They may be considered in Muchiki; I don’t have it here.)

In Genesis, we find Isaac near Egypt (Gen. 25.8),

where he encounters a commander named ‘Phicol’ (פִּיכֹל), who’s associated with ‘the land of the Philistines’ (presumably the region in and around modern-day Gaza?).

The name ‘Phicol’ doesn’t look Semitic to me.

Might it represent ⟨pꜣ-kr⟩ = ‘the ship’ (cp. Egyp. ⟨k(w)r⟩/⟨q(w)r⟩ = ‘ship’)?

Note, by analogy, how Egyptian ⟨k(w)r⟩/⟨q(w)r⟩ comes across into Hebrew as כלי (Isa. 18.2), where כְּלֵי־גֹמֶא = ‘ships made of reeds’ (?).

True, for a name to mean ‘ship’ may seem odd (to us).

But a semantically nearby name is attested in Benjamin’s line, viz. ‘Sachia’ (שכיה),

which happens (I assume) to represent the Egyptian loan ⟨skty⟩ = שכיה = ‘ship’ in Isa. 2.16.

Other Benjaminite names also look Egyptian.

‘Tarea’ seems an odd name.

It’s spelt תַּחְרֵעַ in 1 Chr. 8 and תַּאְרֵעַ in 1 Chr. 9, and is transliterated as Θερεε in Greek translations.

Does it represent the Egyptian name ⟨Tꜣ-ḫꜣʕ.w⟩?

And, if so, what might ⟨Tꜣ-ḫꜣʕ.w⟩ mean?

Suggestions welcome.

A couple of verses later, we come across ‘Binea’ (בִּנְעָא), which looks like

Closely related to Benjamin’s genealogy (7.40-8.1) is Asher’s, where we find ‘Har-Nepher’ (חרנפר),

which can be seen here in its natural habitat:

Others seem to lurk in the bushes.

Har-Nefer’s ancestor is named ‘Hotham’ (חוֹתָם) = ‘seal’.

(Does anyone know if Egyptian names often involve diminutive/hypochoristic/whatever suffixes such as /-j/?)

Har-Nefer’s cousin is named ‘Pasach’ (פָּסַךְ) (Greek Φεσηχι).

Might this represent, say, ⟨p3-sk⟩ = ‘a foal/colt’,

similar to the name shown below,

...and possibly short for ‘foal of DN’ (e.g., Assyrian Mūr-Aia, Ancient Arabic Muhr-Il)?

Another one of Har-Nefer’s relations is named ‘Pispah’ (פִּסְפָּה),

which is reminiscent of:

...or perhaps

Finally, I’m intrigued by Samuel’s ancestor ‘Tohu’ (תֹּחוּ), who seems far enough removed from Samuel to have been born in Egypt (1 Sam. 1).

The name below seems relevant.

Perhaps it’s a shorter form of a theophoric name connected with drunkenness (below).

Alternatively, might it be related to the fragrant plant ⟨tḫw⟩?

Again, suggestions are very welcome.

And please let me know of other names I’ve missed (excl. the oft-discussed Aaron, Ahira, Assir, (Ben)-Hur, Merari, Miriam, Moses, Phineas.)

THE END.