Several people have referred to "בתיה the daughter of Pharaoh" , who appears in 1 Chr. 4:18, as an early example of a Yahwistic theophoric name. The general assumption has been that this is the same "Pharaoh's daughter" who adopted Moses in Exodus, although Exodus never gives her name. This is indeed the midrashic tradition, but cannot be accepted by any objective standards.
First of all, the lady's name is Bityah (usually spelled Bithiah in English Bibles), not Batyah. Bityah , may be a by-form of Batyah, "Daughter of Yah" (like Joshua bin-Nun), but this needs to be proven. But more important is the context. This section on 1 Chr. 4 lists the genealogy of the Calebite clan of Judah, after they had settled in the land. The segment is full of geographical names that are well known as being in southern Judah: Eshtamoa, Socoh, Zanoah, Gedor and so on. There is absolutely no reason to think that "Bityah bat Par'oh", wife of Mered, a descendant of Caleb, would be the woman who pulled Moses out of the Nile.
So who or what is "Par'oh"? There is no reason, in this context, to think that this Judahite married an actual daughter of an Egyptian king. Several years ago Professor Demsky suggested that "Par'oh" is the name of a place in Judah. Others have suggested that she was an Egyptian, and was called "daughter of Pharaoh" as a nickname. I don't really have an opinion one way or another. But she was not the woman who adopted Moses.
By the way, Jim, a few verses before Bityah, in verses 13-14, we read, "The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai. Meonothai became the father of Ophrah; and Seraiah became the father of Joab father of Ge-harashim, so-called because they were artisans." Seraiah is clearly a YH-suffix name. His son Joab (Yo-av – "YW is father") is a YW-prefix name. Both are Yahwistic. Neither refer to the likewise-named relatives of David.
Yigal Levin
