Biblical Egyptian Names in Genesis

[Jim Stinehart]

“Ephraim” : אפרים: Its Hebrew and Egyptian Meanings

Isaac Fried has raised the question of the Hebrew meaning of the name of Joseph’s most important son, “Ephraim”. That is the first question examined in this post. But then we should go on to ask if the name “Ephraim” may also have an Egyptian meaning as well. After all, Ephraim was born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother who probably did not speak Hebrew, at a time when his father Joseph had adopted Egyptian dress and spoke perfect Egyptian. So it makes sense to a-s-k if the name “Ephraim” : אפרים may have an Egyptian meaning, in addition to its manifest Hebrew meaning.

1. Hebrew Meaning of “Ephraim” : אפרים

פרה as a verb means “be fruitful”. As the man’s name “Phurah” at Judges 7: 10, פרה probably means “Fruitful, Foliage, Bough, Branch”.

“Ephrath” : אפרת is a proper name derived from פרה; it means “Fruitful Place” or “Fruitful One”. It is both a geographical place name and a person’s name in the Bible.

We then finally get to “Ephraim” : אפרים, which is the dual of אפרת. I agree with the traditional view that in Hebrew, “Ephraim” : אפרים means “Doubly Fruitful”. As such, in my opinion the Hebrew meaning of “Ephraim” implies: “Doubly Fruitful [thanks to God]”.

In support of the traditional view that “Ephraim” is based on the Hebrew word meaning “fruitful”, note that Genesis 41: 52 tells us that Joseph wanted to give his second son a name whose Hebrew meaning is “Fruitful”: “And the name of the second called he [Joseph] Ephraim [אפרים]: For God hath caused me to be fruitful [הפרני, based on (i) אפרת and (ii) פרה] in the land of my affliction.”

* * *

But if Joseph wanted to give his younger son a name that is a play on “Fruitful”, then why didn’t Joseph call his second son either “Phurah” : פרה or “Ephrath” : אפרת? Why instead name him “Ephraim” : אפרים, which has the slightly odd Hebrew meaning of “Doubly Fruitful” [instead of just meaning “Fruitful”]? I submit that the reason for choosing the otherwise inexplicable form “Ephraim” : אפרים is precisely so that the name of Joseph’s second son would also make good sense in Egyptian.

2. Egyptian Meaning of “Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m

(a) As I noted in my prior post, (i) Hebrew aleph/א usually renders Egyptian ayin/a; and (ii) Egyptian aleph/A is not rendered by any Hebrew letter at all (because the Hebrews heard Egyptian aleph/A as being a vowel-type sound). Accordingly, the expected Biblical Hebrew rendering of the Egyptian common word aA [Egyptian ayin - Egyptian aleph] is simply the Hebrew letter aleph/א.
[For example, as we saw earlier, the initial Hebrew aleph/א in “Asenath” : אסנת, as per usual in the Biblical Hebrew rendering of Egyptian names, represents Egyptian ayin/a.]

aA means “be great” in Egyptian.

(ii) The last four letters in the name “Ephraim” : אפרים, namely פרים, are the expected Hebrew rendering of the following two-word Egyptian phrase: pri m, which means (in Egyptian) “come forth as” or “come out as” or “come from”, etc.

Thus aA pri m literally means “great come out as” or, less literally: “come out great”

“Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m as a name means, in Egyptian: “Come Out Great”.

The Egyptian meaning of the name “Ephraim” deftly foreshadows that Joseph’s second son is destined to “come out great”. That is, Joseph’s second son is destined, as rightly discerned by Joseph’s father Jacob at Genesis 48: 19-20, to be Joseph’s most important son.

* * *

It should be noted in this connection that all of the above Egyptian words appear in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn. [[My citations to Akhenaten’s Great Hymn are from this cite: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/dig ... elief.html]] This is important to my analysis, because I see the Patriarchal narratives as being a written cuneiform text in the Late Amarna time period.

(1) aA means “great”. Here is aA in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn:

pA nb n tA nb wbn n.sn pA itn n hrw aA [great] Sft : Shine for them, O disk of day, great [aA] of dignity.

(2) The Egyptian phrase pri m can alternatively be written as pr m. In that latter form, this phrase appears twice in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn:

(i) mAi nb pr m [goes out from] rwty.f

We see pr m in the Great Hymn, meaning “goes out from”, in the phrase: “Every lion goes out from [pr m] its den”.

(ii) wTs.k sn n sA.k pr m [comes from] Haw.k

We see pr m in the Great Hymn, meaning “comes from”, in the phrase: “you raise them for your son who comes from [pr m] your body”.

Thus all elements in the Egyptian meaning of the name “Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m are right there in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn.

* * *

The Hebrew meaning of “Ephraim”, namely “Doubly Fruitful [thanks to God]”, is basically the same as the Egyptian meaning of his beloved Egyptian mother’s name “Asenath” : aSA-nTr: “Fruitful [thanks to] God”.

But in addition, and more importantly, the E-g-y-p-t-i-a-n meaning of “Ephraim”, namely aA pri m : “Come Out Great”, deftly foreshadows that it is Joseph’s younger son who will turn out to be Joseph’s most important son.

It is my considered opinion that the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives is the most brilliant linguist who ever lived. It’s not easy to come up with a name for Joseph’s second son that makes perfect sense both in Hebrew and in Egyptian!

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

“Ephraim” : אפרים: Its Hebrew and Egyptian Meanings

Isaac Fried has raised the question of the Hebrew meaning of the name of Joseph’s most important son, “Ephraim”. That is the first question examined in this post. But then we should go on to ask if the name “Ephraim” may also have an Egyptian meaning as well. After all, Ephraim was born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother who probably did not speak Hebrew, and his father Joseph spoke fluent Egyptian. So it makes sense to a-s-k if the name “Ephraim” : אפרים may have an Egyptian meaning, in addition to its manifest Hebrew meaning.

1. Hebrew Meaning of “Ephraim” : אפרים

פרה as a verb means “be fruitful”. As the man’s name “Phurah” at Judges 7: 10, פרה probably means “Fruitful, Foliage, Bough, Branch”.

“Ephrath” : אפרת is a proper name derived from פרה; it means “Fruitful Place” or “Fruitful One”. It is both a geographical place name and a person’s name in the Bible.

We then finally get to “Ephraim” : אפרים, which is the dual of אפרת. I agree with the traditional view that in Hebrew, “Ephraim” : אפרים means “Doubly Fruitful”. As such, in my opinion the Hebrew meaning of “Ephraim” implies: “Doubly Fruitful [thanks to God]”.

In support of the traditional view that “Ephraim” is based on the Hebrew word meaning “fruitful”, note that Genesis 41: 52 tells us that Joseph wanted to give his second son a name whose Hebrew meaning is “Fruitful”: “And the name of the second called he [Joseph] Ephraim [אפרים]: For God hath caused me to be fruitful [הפרני, based on (i) אפרת and (ii) פרה] in the land of my affliction.”

* * *

But if Joseph wanted to give his younger son a name that is a play on “Fruitful”, then why didn’t Joseph call his second son either “Phurah” : פרה or “Ephrath” : אפרת? Why instead name him “Ephraim” : אפרים, which has the slightly odd Hebrew meaning of “Doubly Fruitful” [instead of just meaning “Fruitful”]? I submit that the reason for choosing the otherwise inexplicable form “Ephraim” : אפרים is precisely so that the name of Joseph’s second son would also make good sense in Egyptian.

2. Egyptian Meaning of “Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m

(a) As I noted in my prior post, (i) Hebrew aleph/א usually renders Egyptian ayin/a; and (ii) Egyptian aleph/A is not rendered by any Hebrew letter at all (because the Hebrews heard Egyptian aleph/A as being a vowel-type sound). Accordingly, the expected Biblical Hebrew rendering of the Egyptian common word aA [Egyptian ayin - Egyptian aleph] is simply the Hebrew letter aleph/א.

[For example, as we saw earlier, the initial Hebrew aleph/א in “Asenath” : אסנת, as per usual in the Biblical Hebrew rendering of Egyptian names, represents Egyptian ayin/a.]

aA means “be great” in Egyptian.

(ii) The last four letters in the name “Ephraim” : אפרים, namely פרים, are the expected Hebrew rendering of the following two-word Egyptian phrase: pri m [alternatively transliterated as pr m], which means (in Egyptian) “come forth as” or “come out as” or “come from”, etc.

Thus aA pri m literally means “great come out as” or, less literally: “come out great”

“Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m as a name means, in Egyptian: “Come Out Great”.

The Egyptian meaning of the name “Ephraim” foreshadows that Joseph’s second son is destined to “come out great”. That is, Joseph’s second son is destined, as rightly discerned by Joseph’s father Jacob at Genesis 48: 19-20, to be Joseph’s most important son.

* * *

It should be noted in this connection that all of the above Egyptian words appear in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn. [[My citations to Akhenaten’s Great Hymn are from this cite: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/dig ... elief.html]] This is important to my analysis, because I see the Patriarchal narratives as being a written cuneiform text in the Late Amarna time period.

(1) aA means “great”. Here is aA in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn:

pA nb n tA nb wbn n.sn pA itn n hrw aA [great] Sft : Shine for them, O disk of day, great [aA] of dignity.

(2) The Egyptian phrase pri m can alternatively be written as pr m. In that latter form, this phrase appears twice in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn:

(i) mAi nb pr m [goes out from] rwty.f

We see pr m in the Great Hymn, meaning “goes out from”, in the phrase: “Every lion goes out from [pr m] its den”.

(ii) wTs.k sn n sA.k pr m [comes from] Haw.k

We see pr m in the Great Hymn, meaning “comes from”, in the phrase: “you raise them for your son who comes from [pr m] your body”.

Thus all elements in the Egyptian meaning of the name “Ephraim” : אפרים : aA pri m are right there in Akhenaten’s Great Hymn.

* * *

The Hebrew meaning of “Ephraim”, namely “Doubly Fruitful [thanks to God]”, is basically the same as the Egyptian meaning of his beloved Egyptian mother’s name “Asenath” : aSA-nTr: “Fruitful [thanks to] God”.

But in addition, and more importantly, the E-g-y-p-t-i-a-n meaning of “Ephraim”, namely aA pri m : “Come Out Great”, deftly foreshadows that it is Joseph’s younger son who will turn out to be Joseph’s most important son.

It is my considered opinion that the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives is the most brilliant linguist who ever lived. It’s not easy to come up with a name for Joseph’s second son that makes perfect sense both in Hebrew and in Egyptian!

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

“Manasseh” : מנשה

We have previously seen that the name of Joseph’s younger son, “Ephraim”, makes good sense both in Hebrew and in Egyptian. Is the same true for Joseph’s firstborn son, “Manasseh”?

These two sons of Joseph were born and raised in Egypt, their mother was an Egyptian and probably did not speak Hebrew (or any other west Semitic language), and their father “passed” as an Egyptian, as it were, in that Joseph’s older half-brothers thought that Joseph was an Egyptian when they came to Egypt to buy food. So in addition to the Hebrew meanings of these two names, we should ask if “Manasseh” and “Ephraim” also have intended Egyptian meanings.

1. Hebrew Meaning of “Manasseh” : מנשה : “Causing to Forget” or “One Who Forgets”

The Hebrew meaning of “Manasseh” : מנשה is based on the root נשה, which means “to forget”.

“And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh [מנשה]: For God, said he, hath made me forget [נשני] all my toil, and all my father's house.” Genesis 41: 51

But that is not a very profound meaning for the name of Joseph’s firstborn son. We should then ask whether such name intended to embody an Egyptian meaning as well.

2. Egyptian Meaning of “Manasseh”

“Manasseh” : מנשה : mnš : “Red”, which in the Patriarchal narratives implies: “handsome, and as such not fated to be his father’s primary successor”

The Egyptian word mnš means “to be red”. Joseph’s firstborn son [“Manasseh” : מנשה] has a name whose meaning in Egyptian is “Red” [mnš]. Similarly, Isaac’s firstborn son [“Esau” : עשו : I-ši-ú] has a Hurrian name whose meaning (in Hurrian) is “Dark Red Ebony”. As firstborn sons, both Manasseh and Esau lose out, in the quality and nature of their inheritances, to their younger brothers (Ephraim and Jacob).

In Egyptian, mnš.t means “red ochre”, and mnš means “cartouche”. Many scholars have seen a connection between those two Egyptian words, as the ancient Egyptians sometimes used red ochre [mnš.t] paint to draw a cartouche [mnš]. It is true that the Egyptians themselves likely did not associate “red” with a man being “handsome”. But what matters here is that the H-e-b-r-e-w-s definitely associated “red” with a man being “handsome”, as we will now see.

Why would two losing, firstborn sons (Esau and Manasseh) have names that mean “Red”? The answer starts with the fact that to the Hebrews, a man having a “red” or “ruddy” complexion was a Biblical way of saying that the man was handsome:

“And he sent and brought him in. And he [David] was ruddy [red], and besides of a lovely countenance and beautiful appearance.” I Samuel 16: 12. “And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was a youth, and ruddy [red], and besides of a beautiful countenance.” I Samuel 17: 42.

Now remember in that connection that Akhenaten (the Pharaoh of the Patriarchal narratives, in my opinion) was not considered handsome, whereas his older brother, who was much favored by their father, likely was much better-looking than Akhenaten. [It is often speculated that, so unlike Akhenaten, older brother Tuthmosis may likely have been “strong, handsome, and well built”; indeed, that may well be one of the reasons why their father, Amenhotep III, so strongly favored his firstborn son at Akhenaten’s expense.] In the Patriarchal narratives (unlike in the rest of the Bible), a son who has a name that means “Red” effectively implies: this son is good-looking, but is not the son who is properly fated to be his father’s main heir. That is to say, in the Patriarchal narratives (unlike in the rest of Bible), if a man (not a woman) is said to be handsome (“red”, “ruddy”), that’s the kiss of death as to inheritance issues.

Jacob (a winning son who himself is never said to be handsome) famously places Joseph’s younger son Ephraim above Joseph’s firstborn, handsome, favored son Manasseh [whose name means “Red” in Egyptian] in chapter 48 of Genesis. Similarly, Esau [whose name also means “Red”, in Hurrian] with his hairy chest and ruddy [red] complexion had been more handsome than his younger twin brother Jacob; but though heavily favored by their father Isaac, Esau nevertheless loses out to Jacob as to inheritance issues.

The names “Esau” and “Manasseh” mean “Red” (in the applicable foreign language), signifying that handsome, favored, firstborn sons are not winning sons in the Patriarchal narratives.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

“Machir” : מכיר: Its Hebrew and Egyptian Meanings

Joseph’s only named grandson in Genesis is born in Egypt, and his name is “Machir” : מכיר. As with the names of Joseph’s two sons examined in prior posts, we should ask if this name has both a Hebrew meaning and an Egyptian meaning.

A. Hebrew Meaning of “Machir” : מכיר

It is often said regarding the meaning of “Machir” : מכיר: “etymology uncertain”. The only obvious Hebrew etymology would view this name as meaning “Sold”, coming from the verb מכר, meaning “to sell”. This Hebrew verb can be used for example regarding the “betrothal” of a daughter, or to “deliver” a people into the hands of an enemy, or to “sell” oneself into slavery.

One reason why the Hebrew etymology of “Machir” : מכיר is often said to be “uncertain” is that a meaning of “Sold” would seem to be an odd meaning for the name of Joseph’s only named grandson born in Egypt. Perhaps the intended meaning is that Joseph and Joseph’s descendants do not expect to move to Canaan in the near future, and rather are “sold” on being residents of Egypt. That is to say, Joseph’s descendants have been “delivered” to Egypt, and (unfortunately) are effectively “betrothed” to Egypt, now that a second generation of Joseph’s descendants is being born in Egypt.

It has often been openly speculated that perhaps “Machir” : מכיר is not a Hebrew name, since its Hebrew meaning (“Sold”) is odd. In my opinion, however, we should suspect that the somewhat forced etymology of “Machir” : מכיר in Hebrew likely reflects the desire for this name to make good sense in Egyptian.

B. Egyptian Meaning of “Machir” : מכיר : mk i.ir

“Machir” : מכיר is mk i.ir in Egyptian. mk means “Look!” or “Behold!”. i.ir is the emphatic tense form of the verb “do” in Egyptian.

“Machir” : מכיר : mk i.ir means: “Look, do look!” in Egyptian. In the context of being the name of Joseph’s firstborn grandson, this name can imply: “Look, do look[, it’s a son!]” As such, the Egyptian meaning of “Machir” is quite similar to the ordinary Hebrew meaning of the name “Reuben” : ראובן: “Look, a son!”

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

Joseph’s Egyptian Name

1. Joseph’s Egyptian name is not an attested name outside of the Bible.

2. Joseph’s Egyptian name has no meaning in Hebrew. It was given to him by Pharaoh of Egypt, who did not speak Hebrew, so naturally it’s an Egyptian name with an Egyptian meaning. Moreover, Genesis goes out of its way to tell us that Joseph thereafter “went native” in Egypt: Joseph speaks fluent Egyptian, and he wears Egyptian clothes, to the point that his own half-brothers don’t even recognize him when they come to Egypt to buy food.

3. Joseph’s Egyptian name (at Genesis 41: 45) in the received text is “Zaphnathpaaneah” : צפנתפענח .

On my theory of the case, the Patriarchal narratives, including this Egyptian name, were originally recorded in cuneiform in the mid-14th century BCE (in rural southern Canaan, by a scribe retained by the early tent-dwelling Hebrews for the occasion). Those cuneiform clay tablets were not transformed into alphabetical Hebrew until 700 years later, in 7th century BCE Jerusalem. The Hebrew ssade/צ/ts as the first letter of this Egyptian name came from the ambiguous cuneiform sign ZA, which can represent either ṣa (with a ssade) or sa (with a sin). The latter is a dead ringer for the Egyptian word sA, meaning “son”. It is my opinion that, contra the received text, the originally-intended first Hebrew letter of Joseph’s Egyptian name was in fact a sin/ש, not a ssade. On my theory of the case, this name was originally intended to be שפנתפענח, analyzed as follows:

ש = sA = “son”. [As always, Egyptian aleph/A is not represented by any Hebrew letter per defective Hebrew spelling.]

פ = pA = “the”. [Discussed previously regarding “Potiphar” and “Potipherah”.]

נת = nT[r] = “God”. [Discussed previously regarding “Asenath”.]

פ = pA = “who”. [Discussed previously regarding “Potipherah”.]

ענח = anx = “eternal life”. [One of the best-known Egyptian common words.]

On the foregoing analysis, Joseph’s Egyptian name ultra-literally means “Son The God Who Eternal Life”, and has the following two intended meanings:

(i) “Son [of] The [one and only] God Who [gives] Eternal Life”

(ii) “[Pharaoh’s adopted] Son[, thanks to] The God Who [is] Eternal Life”

The traditional view, by contrast, accepts ssade as the first letter, and makes the gigantic stretch to try to see that as allegedly implying Dd, meaning “said”. That is an unwarranted linguistic stretch, and also results in a traditional meaning that does not closely reflect the role that Joseph plays in Egypt in the text: “The God Has Said: ‘He Will Live’ ”.

My view of the case, as compared to the traditional view, is both (i) simpler, and (ii) results in an i-d-e-a-l set of meanings for Joseph’s Egyptian name. First, Pharaoh thinks that Joseph is divinely blessed, and should be given administrative power over Egypt. The first meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name reflects a monotheistic Pharaoh’s extremely high opinion of Joseph: “Son [of] The [one and only] God Who [gives] Eternal Life”.

In addition Pharaoh, who to that point had no son as heir (i.e., Akhenaten as of Year 13), provisionally adopts Joseph as his son (and heir-apparent, in the context of appointing Joseph as vizier over all of Egypt). The Egyptian meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name perfectly fits that particular, specific situation in the text: “[Pharaoh’s adopted] Son[, thanks to] The God Who [is] Eternal Life”.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

Abrek!

Although אברך : Abrek! at Genesis 41: 43 is not an Egyptian name, it is (in my opinion) an Egyptian phrase: “And he [Pharaoh] made him [Joseph] to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Abrek!: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

The following interpretation of Abrek! is not only the simplest of the various alternatives, but it also requires the least stretching and is the most logical. I see אברך : Abrek! as consisting of the following four extremely well-known Egyptian common words:

אב = ib = “heart” [but here, in context, effectively meaning “Hail!” or “Cheers!”]

ר = r = “to”

ך = k = “you” [singular; here, k/“you” will refer solely to Joseph]

ib-r.k = “Hail to you!” [ultra-literally: “heart to you”]

Pharaoh’s personal servants are exhorting the Egyptian people to say to Joseph: “Hail to you!”

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

[Jim Stinehart]

“Pharaoh” : פרעה

The scholarly view is that “Pharaoh” : פרעה means “Big House”, even though (i) there would be no h/ה at the end of the Egyptian word that means “big house”, and (ii) native Egyptians did not routinely refer to their king by the colorful phrase “Big House”. In this post, let’s explore another possible meaning for “Pharaoh” : פרעה, in a Year 13 Amarna Age historical context.

“Pharaoh” : פרעה : prxX : pA ra Ax XA : “The Ra: Soul [and] Body” : “ Body [and] Soul [to] The Ra”

If the Pharaoh at both the beginning and the end of the Patriarchal narratives is Akhenaten (my view), then we should start with the fact that the historical name “Akhenaten” : Akh -n- Aten : Ax -n- itn means: “Soul -- Aten” (or “Spirit -- Aten”). Although the Egyptian words are clear, scholars have nevertheless not reached a consensus as to the precise meaning of this name. To an Egyptian, this name would n-o-t mean “Soul of Aten” (because that would make no sense in any Egyptian theology; to the Egyptians, each human had a soul, but no god had a soul). But the name “Akhenaten” might well imply: “ Soul [to] Aten”. With “Aten” and “Ra” being interchangeable names for the monotheistic deity in Akhenaten’s theology, let’s ask in this post if the literal meaning of “Pharaoh” : פרעה may be “The Ra: Soul [and] Body”, with the implied meaning being: “ Body [and] Soul [to] The Ra”. If so, then “Pharaoh” : פרעה is an apt Patriarchal nickname for Akhenaten.

(a) If the third Hebrew letter in this name, ע, is intended to be a ghayin/ġ [rather than an ayin], then that is the heth in Egyptian that is rendered in Buurman by a lower-case x. With Egyptian aleph/A not being rendered by any Hebrew letter in Hebrew defective spelling, the expected Biblical Hebrew spelling of the “Akh” : Ax in “Akhenaten” is simply the Hebrew letter ע, meaning “soul”. [See my prior analysis of these two Egyptian phonemes regarding the Biblical Egyptian name “Potipherah”.]

(b) Per the ubiquitous analysis of the Biblical Egyptian name “Potiphar”, the Hebrew letters פר can render pA ra, meaning “The Ra”. That is a Year 13 update of Akhenaten’s historical name (which featured “Aten”), because by Year 13 Akhenaten favored “Ra” or “The Ra” over “Aten” as to nomenclature. We know that, because Akhenaten’s first four daughters were named after “Aten”, but his last two daughters (born shortly before Year 13) were named after “Ra”. As to the pA/“the” preceding Ra, Akhenaten was the first Egyptian to use the word “the” before a god’s name, thus giving a monotheistic reorientation to Egypt’s previous polytheistic worship of Ra. [Later the Egyptian word “the”/pA became devalued, and completely lost its monotheistic implications when preceding the name of an Egyptian god. But in Year 13, pA/“the” before the god’s name Ra was outrageously monotheistic.] The Hebrews had a vested interest in emphasizing Akhenaten’s monotheism, since at that time the Hebrews were the only other monotheists in the world. The Hebrews hoped that Akhenaten might help his fellow monotheists with the Hebrews’ terrible Year 13 problems regarding Yapaḫu, who (per the Amarna Letters) was the new, anti-tent-dweller princeling ruler of the Hebrews’ beloved valley in southern Canaan.

(c) To add grandeur to this name, the early Hebrew author decided to add in the concept of “body”, which Egyptian word is spelled XA (in Buurman), and would be expected to be spelled in Biblical Hebrew as simply ה. (As always, no Hebrew letter is used to render Egyptian aleph/A.) Once again, the Hebrews were trying to secure Akhenaten’s help regarding their manifest Year 13 problems, so it behooved them to embellish the Patriarchal version of his name.

* * *

The phrase at Genesis 41: 46 translated by KJV as “Pharaoh king of Egypt” is in fact not that utter redundancy, but rather is: “Akhenaten, king of Egypt”. The entire mindset of the Patriarchal narratives reflects the first Hebrews’ monumental historical problems in Year 13, which they hoped Akhenaten might resolve or at least alleviate. The Biblical name “Pharaoh” : פרעה : prxX : pA ra Ax XA : “The Ra: Soul [and] Body” : “ Body [and] Soul [to] The Ra” is a grander, Year 13 version of the historical name “Akhenaten” (which likely means: “ Soul [to] Aten”).

Just as “Pharaoh” reflects the historical name “Akhenaten” as of Year 13, so also (per my previous analyses on this thread): (i) “Potiphar” reflects the historical name of Akhenaten’s Captain of the Guard in Year 13; and (ii) “Potipherah” reflects the historical name and title of Akhenaten’s high-priest of Ra from On in Year 13.

The p-i-n-p-o-i-n-t historical accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives in the context of Year 13 in Late Amarna is truly breathtaking.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois