Bible Dictionary
PHARAOH
PHARAOH
Title of the king of Egypt; It was used with or without the name of the sovereign. Based on Courville’s critical study (see Bibliography in EGYPT), the following identifications can be offered of those who reigned in the time of Joseph, the oppression, and the exodus.
It should be kept in mind that Courville’s study represents a thorough revision of the chronologies generally accepted as true, but which suffer from serious flaws and anachronisms; The revised chronology, on the other hand, achieves systematic coherence with Egyptian monuments, inscriptions and documents, on the one hand, and with the Scriptures on the other.
(a) The Pharaoh who elevated Joseph to the rank of vizier (cp. Gen. 40-47) is identified, based on the revised chronology, with Sesostris I. Among other reasons that support this identification is an inscription of one of its governors affirming their prudent administration of the grain previously gathered and stored in anticipation of a famine that had to come (Courville, vol. I, p. 134), in addition to another inscription, from Bebi, which Courville documents as contemporary with the previous one ( approx. 1638-1593 BC).
(b) This agrees with the fact that the pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” (cf. Ex. 1:8) would be Sesostris III. This pharaoh undertook a large construction project in the region of the Nile Delta. These constructions were of brick, and not stone, as documented by Breasted (“History of Egypt”, pp. 196, 198) (cp. Ex. 1: 14).
Almost all the kings of this dynasty (the 12th) used brick in the construction of their pyramids. And Josephus says that the Israelites built pyramids for the Egyptians (Ant. 2:9, 1). Both he and his successor Amenemhet III focused their construction activities in the Delta, the land of Goshen.
It is in this area that the cities of Pitón and Pi-Rameses have been located. Although most of the remains of these cities were attributed to Ramses II, see the section dedicated to said monarch. On the other hand, Sesostris III had as one of his alternative names that of Ramessesos, and that of his successor Amenemhet III that of Ramessemeno.
These, along with Ramesse, were the pharaohs of oppression. There was, however, a change of dynasty. Ramesse was the first pharaoh of the 13th dynasty, the last pharaoh of oppression, and Koncharis the pharaoh of the exodus.
After the exodus there is a long silence about Egypt in the Bible. No Pharaoh is mentioned until the reign of Solomon (1 Kings 3:1). This period is difficult to explain if the commonly accepted chronology for the history of Egypt is accepted, since monarchs such as Ramses II and Merneptah would have been contemporaries of Ehud and Barak respectively.
However, there is no concordance between the complete absence of Egypt in the time of the judges and Merneptah’s victories over Israel in his Stele of Victory.
However, the documented identification of the Amalekites with the Hyksos (Courville, vol. I, pp 227-241; Velikovsky, pp 55-101) provides the key to this silence. The predatory empire of the Hyksos, which achieved dominion over Egypt without encountering resistance (Josephus: “Against Apion”: 1:14), had its beginning with an Egypt prostrated by the ten plagues, the destruction of the army and the death of the pharaoh ruling, with which the country would have been plunged into a state of confusion (see EGYPT and EXODUS).
The battle at Rephidim between the Israelites who were leaving Egypt and the Amalekites, who entered (cp. Ex. 17:8-16) is the key point that marks the beginning of the Hyksos empire in Egypt. Its end is also marked in the Scriptures with the defeat of the Amalekites by Saul (1 Sam. 15), after having been expelled from Egypt by Amhose I (around 1025 BC).
(c) Shishak is the first of the pharaohs to be mentioned in the Bible by name (1 Kings 14:25, 26; 2 Chron. 12:2-9). He is generally identified with Sesonk I. However, Courville documents that Sesonk I belonged to a later dynasty, during Assyrian rule of Egypt (Courville, vol. I, pp. 252-265; vol. II, pp. 104-106 ).
The earlier identification of the Amalekites with the Hyksos, and their destruction under Saul with their expulsion under Amhose I (1025-1000 BC) allows the identification of Shishak with Thutmose III (928-903 BC). The New Empire rose with him to the peak of its power, gaining possession of Palestine and the territories east and north of the Euphrates.
Thutmose III gave an inscription listing the conquered cities of Palestine, and a representation of the utensils and treasures of the temple of Jerusalem (Velikovsky, PP. 144-177).
(d) So (2 Kings 17: 4) is identified with Ramses II (793-726 BC), towards the late period of his reign, after a long process of decline. His throne name was Ra-user-Maat-Sotepen-Ra.
He undertook the reconstruction of the cities of the Delta, which had been destroyed in the campaigns of Ahmose I against the Hyksos.
In these reconstructions he had his name inscribed with great profusion (Courville, vol. I, pp. 116-118; Wright, “Biblical Archaeology”, p. 60).
(e) To Tirhaca (2 Kings 19:9); Neco (2 Kings 23:29-34) and Hophrah (Jer. 44:30), see EGYPT, (a) C.
Other pharaohs mentioned in the Bible are:
(f) The Pharaoh who, believing Sarah to be Abraham’s sister, took her into her harem. God intervened before anything irreparable occurred (Gen. 12:15-20).
(g) The Pharaoh whose daughter Bithia married Mered (1 Chron. 4:18).
(h) The pharaoh whose daughter married Solomon, Thutmose I (987-967 BC). This pharaoh conquered and burned the city of Gezer in Canaan (1 Kings 3:1; 7:8, etc.; 1 Kings 9:16), giving it as a dowry to his daughter.
(i) The Pharaoh who gave hospitality to Hadad when he fled from Solomon, giving him his sister-in-law as a wife (1 Kings 11:14-22). (Certainly Thutmose III, see c.)
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
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BETHEL
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