naf - tū´him ( נפתּחים , naphtūḥı̄m ; Septuagint Νεφθαλείμ , Nephthaleı́m ): A son of Mizraim ( Genesis 10:13; 1 Chronicles 1:11 ); but, according to most modern authorities, a district or a dependency of Egypt. Among the many efforts at identification the following deserve notice: Naphtuhim = (1) Nephthys (Νέφθυς , Néphthus ) in the Northeast of Egypt; (2) Na -ptah , i.e. the people of Ptah, the dwellers in the neighborhood of Memphis; (3) Nathu (according to Herodotus, Ναθῶ , Nathṓ ), which occurs in Assurbanipal's Annals as the name of a part of Lower Egypt; (4) Erman (ZATW , X, 118), by the change of a letter, reads Petemhim, which signifies "The Northland"; (5) Spiegelberg sees in the word an old designation of the Delta, and would therefore render the name, "the people of the Delta" (compare Johns, HDB; Skinner and Holzinger on Genesis ).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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