Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Marianne,

> Because that description fits me, I am unable to 
> believe that Moses wrote the Torah.
> In Genesis, in the story of Joseph, two men are named "Potiphar"
> (called Petepres in the Septuagint).

HH: I see only one man named Potiphar. The references I have are the 
following:

Gen. 37:36 ¶ Meanwhile, the Midianites sold 
Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's 
officials, the captain of the guard.
Gen. 39:1 ¶ Now Joseph had been taken down to 
Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of 
Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, 
bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him 
there.
Gen. 39:4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and 
became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge 
of his household, and he entrusted to his care 
everything he owned.
Gen. 39:5 From the time he put him in charge of 
his household and of all that he owned, the LORD 
blessed the household of the Egyptian because of 
Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on 
everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in 
the field.

>   As it happens, such a name was not used in Egypt until the latter
> part of the Late Period of Egyptian history (1070-378 BCE).

HH: First, you are forming the name in Egyptian 
on the basis of the Hebrew. So there is some room 
for error there, isn't there? Second, it would be 
hard for me to say that a name had not been used 
in the United States for a two hundred year 
period. So to say that a name that appeared in 
Egypt at a late date could not have been used at 
any time prior to that, a period of thousands of 
years, seems a stretch.

HH: Perhaps you had in mind the priest Potiphera:

Gen. 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name 
Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of 
Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And 
Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
Gen. 41:50 ¶ Before the years of famine came, two 
sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of 
Potiphera, priest of On.
Gen. 46:20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were 
born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, 
priest of On.

HH: The Hebrew saw a difference between the two 
names, so we have to assume that Potipher and 
Potiphera were two different names in Egypt, 
don't we? Perhaps you're saying that this sort of 
name does not appear, but that sounds sort of 
impossibly omniscient to me.

                                        Yours,
                                        Harold Holmyard