Pi-HaHiroth
Pi-HaHiroth (פִּי הַחִירֹת Pī haḤīrōṯ), is the fourth station of the Exodus mentioned in Exodus 14:2. The fifth and sixth stations Marah and Elim are located on the Red Sea. The biblical books Exodus and Numbers refer to Pi-HaHiroth as the place where the Israelites encamped between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon, while awaiting an attack by the Pharaoh, prior to crossing the Red Sea.[1]
Etymology
[edit ]Some Egyptologists think the name reflects the Egyptian pr-ḥwt-ḥrt, a place mentioned in Papyrus Anastasis III.[2] In fact, part of the mystery can be resolved by understanding the initial syllable ′Pi,′ which corresponds to the Egyptian word Pr or Pi, as House of such as in ′Pithom ′ or ′Pi-Ramesses ′. The next literary fragment ′Ha′ (ḥwt) would indicate the ′temple′, representing an Egyptian convention beginning with the hieroglyphic pr-ḥwt, "estate of the temple", while the fact that the name ends with the goddess determinative indicates that the final element, ḥrt, is theophoric.[2] : 199
The Revised Version of the Bible at the first use of the name Pi-HaHiroth has a link to a footnote that says "Or, where the desert tracks begin".[3]
Identification
[edit ]The Egyptologist David A. Falk suggests that Pi-HaHiroth was located somewhere on the way from the Sea of Reeds (pȜ ṯwfy) towards Pi-Ramesses, based on the description of the site's location in Papyrus Anastasis III.[4] Strong's Concordance simply locates Pi-HaHiroth as 'a place on the eastern border of Egypt'.[5]
References
[edit ]- ^ Exodus 14:2 and Numbers 33:7
- ^ a b Falk, David A. (2018). "The Egyptian Sojourn and the Exodus". In Greer, Jonathan S.; Hilber, John W.; Walton, John H. (eds.). Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts. Baker Academic. pp. 197–199. ISBN 9781493415540.
- ^ Clements, R. E. (Ronald Ernest) (1972). Exodus. Internet Archive. Cambridge [Eng.] Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08218-1.
- ^ Falk, D. A. (2018). "What We Know about the Egyptian Places Mentioned in Exodus". TheTorah.com.
- ^ "Strong's Hebrew: 6367. פִּי (Pi Hachiroth) -- a place on the e. Border of Egypt".