Egypt

E’gypt, (or, more strictly, AEgypt, since the word is but anglicized from the Gr. and Lat. Αἴγυπτος, AEgyptus), a region important from the earliest times, and more closely identified with Bible incidents than any other, except the Holy Land itself. For a vindication of the harmony between Scripture history and the latest results of Egyptological research (Brugsch, Aus dem Orient, Berl. 1864), see Volck in the Dorpater Zeitschrift, 1867, 2, art. 2.

I. Names. — The common name of Egypt in the Hebrews Bible is Mizraim, מַצרִיַם, Mitsra'yim (or, more fully; “the land of Mizraim”). In form Mizraim is a dual, and accordingly it is generally joined with a plural verb. When, therefore, in Genesis 10:6, Mizraim is mentioned as a son of Ham, some conclude that nothing more is meant than that Egypt was colonized by descendants of Ham. SEE MIZRAIM. The dual number doubtless indicates the natural division of the country into an upper and a lower region, the plain of the Delta and the narrow valley above, as it has been commonly divided at all times. The singular Mazor, מָצוֹר, Matsor’, also occurs (2 Kings 19:24; Isaiah 37:25; perhaps as a proper name in Isaiah 19:6; Micah 7:12; A.V. always as an appellative, “besieged city,” etc.), and some suppose that it indicates Lower Egypt, the dual only properly meaning the whole country; but there is no sure ground for this assertion. SEE MAZOR. The mention of Mizraim and Pathros together (Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah 44:1,15), even if we adopt the explanation which supposes Mizraim to be in these places by a late usage put for Mazor, by no means proves that, since Pathros is a part of Egypt, Mizraim, or rather Mazor, is here a part also. The mention of a part of a country by the same term as the whole is very usual in Hebrew phraseology. This designation, at all events, is sometimes used for Egypt indiscriminately, and was by the later Arabs extended to the entire country. Josephus (Ant. 1:6, 2) says that all those who inhabit the country call it Mestre (Μέστρη), and the Egyptians Mestraeans (Μέστραιοι). The natives of Modern Egypt invariably designate it by the name Misr, evidently cognate with its ancient Hebrews appellation (Hackett’s lllustra. of Scripture, page 120).

Egypt is also called in the Bible אֶרֶוֹ חָם, “the land of Ham” (Psalms 105:23,27; compare Psalms 78:51), referring to the son of Noah. SEE HAM. Occasionally (Psalms 87:4; 89:10; Isaiah 51:9) it is poetically styled Rahab, רִהִב, i.e., “the proud” or “insolent.” SEE RAHAB. The common ancient Egyptian name of the country is written in hieroglyphics. SEE KEM which was probably pronounced Chem; the demotic form is KEMI (Brugsch, Geographische Inschriften, 1:73, Number 362); and the Coptic forms are Chame or Chemi (Memphitic), Keme or Keme (Sahidic), and Knemi (Bashmuric). This name signifies, alike in the ancient language and in Coptic, “black,” and may be supposed to have been given to the land on account of the blackness of its alluvial soil (comp. Plutarch, De Isaiah et Osir. c. 33). It would seem, however, to be rather a representative of the original Hebrews name Ham (i.e. Cham), which likewise in the Shemitic languages denotes sun-burnt, as a characteristic of African tribes. The other hieroglyphic names of Egypt appear to be of a poetical character.

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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia

Keywords: Egypt

Bible reference(s): 1 Kings 10:28, 1 Kings 11:17, 1 Kings 18:21, 1 Kings 4:26, 1 Kings 9:15, 2 Chronicles 1:14, 2 Chronicles 14:9, 2 Chronicles 35:21, 2 Chronicles 9:25, 2 Kings 13:5, 2 Kings 19:24, 2 Kings 24:7, 2 Kings 7:6, 2 Timothy 3:8, Acts 7:22, Amos 8:8, Amos 9:5, Deuteronomy 11:10, Deuteronomy 17:16, Deuteronomy 2:23, Deuteronomy 23:3, Deuteronomy 25:4, Deuteronomy 28:27, Deuteronomy 4:16, Deuteronomy 7:15, Deuteronomy 8:15, Exodus 1:14, Exodus 10:3, Exodus 13:7, Exodus 15:20, Exodus 16:3, Exodus 2:3, Exodus 32:5, Exodus 5:7, Exodus 7:21, Exodus 8:1, Exodus 9:31, Ezekiel 17:15, Ezekiel 20:7, Ezekiel 29:10, Ezekiel 30:6, Ezekiel 9:4, Genesis 10:6, Genesis 12:10, Genesis 13:10, Genesis 21:9, Genesis 23:2, Genesis 25:34, Genesis 37:25, Genesis 41:48, Genesis 43:16, Genesis 46:34, Genesis 47:6, Isaiah 11:11, Isaiah 13:21, Isaiah 18:2, Isaiah 19:6, Isaiah 2:20, Isaiah 28:25, Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 36:6, Isaiah 37:25, Isaiah 51:9, Isaiah 7:18, Jeremiah 37:5, Jeremiah 43:13, Jeremiah 44:1, Jeremiah 46:4, Job 26:12, Joshua 13:3, Joshua 14:15, Joshua 24:14, Matthew 2:13, Micah 7:12, Nahum 3:3, Numbers 11:4, Numbers 13:22, Numbers 19:2, Numbers 34:5, Proverbs 7:16, Psalms 105:23, Psalms 149:3, Psalms 68:13, Psalms 74:13, Psalms 78:51, Psalms 81:6, Psalms 87:4, Psalms 89:10, Zechariah 14:18

Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.

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