Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jack Edelstein <jyed AT yahoo.com>]

Greetings friends and teachers!  I have been reading
this list for almost a year, and have learned much
from you all.  This is my first post, and I thank you
in advance for your input.

Have scholars considered the name Ephraim as a RA
theophoric.  After all, he is the grandson of Poti
Phera, high priest of RA.  Is there a parallel between
the fey and raysh in Ephraim with the fey and resh in
Phera?  Could the ayin (originally the third letter in
Ephraim) have been expunged at some later point to
obscure the Egyptian source?

I have posed this question of Dr. Gary Rendsburg, an
expert in this area and author of "The Egyptian
Sun-God Ra in the Pentateuch".   He feels that there
is very little possibility of Ephraim carrying the RA
element, primarily due to the absence of the ayin .  
Other problems, according to Dr. Rendsburg, are the
'aleph at the beginning of Ephraim and the nominal
dual suffix -ayim at the end.

I wonder if the ayin could not have been lost over
time?  I’m not sure about the other issues.  

Thanks, again, for considering this question.  Your
thoughts and speculation are appreciated.

Jack Edelstein
Ann Arbor



Jack Edelstein, Ph.D.
734-355-3764

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