Pathros

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PATHROS (  Isaiah 11:11 ,   Jeremiah 44:1;   Jeremiah 44:15 ,   Ezekiel 29:14;   Ezekiel 30:14 ). The name of Upper Egypt, in Egyptian Pteres , ‘the South Land,’ comprising both the Thebaid and Middle Egypt from somewhat south of Memphis to Syene at the First Cataract. ‘ Mizraim ’ was generally limited to Lower Egypt, i.e . the Delta and some distance up the valley to include the home of Memphis. This division of Egypt was very ancient, corresponding, at least roughly, to the two kingdoms before Menes. While Lower Egypt was familiar to both Greeks and Hebrews, Upper Egypt was comparatively unknown, as witness Herodotus’ woeful Ignorance of Egypt above the Fay-yum, and Nahum’s description of No-amon (see No). Yet there is abundant evidence in papyri of an important settlement of Jews at the southernmost extremity at Syene before 525 b.c. (cf. art. Seveneh); and the passages in which Pathros is mentioned refer to Jews in the Upper Country more than half a century before that, after the destruction of Jerusalem. So also Greek and PhÅ“nician mercenaries had reached Syene, and even Abu Simhel, far south in Nubia, in the 6th or 7th cent. b.c.; soldiers and traders of many nations must have passed frequently up and down the Nile in those days, yet without giving to their fellow-countrymen at home any clear idea of the Upper Country. In   Genesis 10:14 the Pathrusim are the people of Pathros. They are represented as begotten of Mizraim.

F. Ll. Griffith.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

PATHROS or Pathrusim. A "district" (the Ρathyrite Nome ) of Egypt near Thebes; named from a town called by the Egyptians Ηa-Ηather or with the article Ρha-Ηat-Her , "the abode of Hather" the Egyptian Venus. Originally independent of Egypt, and ruled by its own kings, In the Mosaic genealogy the Pathros were the inhabitants of Upper Egypt; originally in the Bible view a colony of Mizraites from Lower Egypt ( Genesis 10:13-14;  1 Chronicles 1:12). Isaiah ( Isaiah 11:11) foretells Israel's return from Pathros ( Jeremiah 44:1;  Jeremiah 44:15;  Ezekiel 29:14.) "Pathros the land of their birth" (margin  Ezekiel 30:13-18). The Thebaid was the oldest part of Egypt in civilization and art, and was anciently called "Egypt" (Aristotle): Herod. 2:15. Tradition represented the people of Egypt as coming from Ethiopia, and the first dynasty as Thinite. " Ρa-T-Res " in Egyptian means "the land of the South".

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Path'ros. (Region Of The South). A part of Egypt, and a Mizraite tribe, whose people were called Pathrusim . In the list of the Mizraites, the Pathrusim occur, after the Naphtuhim, and before the Caluhim; the latter being followed, by the notice of the Philistines, and by the Caphtorim.  Genesis 10:13-14;  1 Chronicles 1:12.

Pathros is mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah,  Isaiah 11:11; Jeremiah,  Jeremiah 44:1;  Jeremiah 44:15; and Ezekiel.  Ezekiel 29:14;  Ezekiel 30:13-18. It was, probably, part or all, of upper Egypt, and we may trace its name, in the Pathyrite name, in which Thebes was situated.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Pathros ( Păth'Ros ), Region Of The South. A district of Egypt near Thebes. The country is mentioned in the Prophets, and nearly always in connection with Egypt.  Isaiah 11:1-16;  Isaiah 11:1-16;  Jeremiah 44:1-15;  Ezekiel 29:14. Its inhabitants were known as the Pathrusim, the descendants of Ham through Mizraim.  Genesis 10:14;  1 Chronicles 1:12.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 11:11   Jeremiah 44:1,15   Ezekiel 29:14   30:14 , one of the three ancient divisions of Egypt, namely, Upper or Southern Egypt, which Ezekiel speaks of as distinct from Egypt, and the original abode of the Egyptians; as indeed Ethiopia and Upper Egypt really were. Its early inhabitants called Pathrusim, were descendants of Mizraim,  Genesis 10:14 . See Egypt

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Place situate in Egypt, probably a part of Upper Egypt, where there were many Jews who set Jeremiah at defiance.  Jeremiah 44:1,15 . In a future day the Israelites will be gathered from thence, and the place be destroyed.  Isaiah 11:11;  Ezekiel 29:14;  Ezekiel 30:14 .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A city of Egypt. ( Isaiah 11:11;  Jeremiah 44:1) Perhaps derived from Path, mouth,—and Raphos, water.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 11:11 Jeremiah 44:1 44:15 Ezekiel 29:14 Ezekiel 30:14

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 11:11 Jeremiah 44:1,15 Ezekiel 30:14

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

[some Pathros] (Heb. Pathros, פִּתְרוֹס , prob. Egyptian [see below]; Sept. Παθούρης , but in Ezekiel Φαθωρῆς , in  Isaiah 11:11, Βαβυλωνία ; Vulg. Phetros, Phatures, Phathures ) , a district of Egypt, mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 44:1;  Jeremiah 44:15) and Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 29:14;  Ezekiel 30:14), is supposed to be the same as was afterwards called by the Greeks Thebais, and is now known as Sais, or Upper Egypt. It gave its name to Pathrusim, descendants of lizraim, who peopled it ( Genesis 10:14). From Pathros it is said God would recall the Jews to their own land ( Isaiah 11:11), the expression here denoting the whole of Egypt (see Jour. Sac. Lit., Oct. 1851, p. 161). The following account of the country combines the Scriptural and the tprofane notices.

That Pathros was in Egypt admits of no question: we have to attempt to decide its position more nearly. In the list of the Mizraites, the Pathrusim occur after the Naphtuhim, and before the Casluhim; the latter being followed by the notice of the Philistines, and by the Caphtorim ( Genesis 10:13-14;  1 Chronicles 1:12) . Isaiah prophesies the return of the Jews "from Mizraim, and from Pathros, and from Cush" ( Isaiah 11:11). Jeremiah predicts the ruin of "all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros" ( Jeremiah 44:1), and their reply is given, after this introduction, "Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah" ( Jeremiah 44:15). — Ezekiel speaks of the return of the captive Egyptians to "the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation" ( Ezekiel 29:14), and mentions it with Egyptian cities, Noph preceding it, and Zoan, No, Sin, Noph again, Aven (On), Pi-beseth, and Tehaphnehes following it ( Ezekiel 30:13-18). From the place -f the Pathrusim in the list of the Mizraites, they might be supposed to have settled in Lower Egypt, or the more northern part of Upper Egypt. Four only of the Mizraitish tribes or peoples can probably be assigned to Egypt, the last four, the Philistines being considered not to be one of these, but merely a colony: these are the Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim.

The first were either settled in Lower Egypt or just beyond its western border; and the last in Upper Egypt, about Coptos. It seems, if the order be geographical, as there is reason to suppose, that it is to be inferred that the Pathrusim were seated in Lower Egypt, or not much above it, unless there be a transposition; but that some change has been; made is probable from the parenthetic notice of the Philistines following the Casluhim, whereas it appears from other passages that it' should rather follow the Caphtorim. If the original order were Pathrusim, Caphtorim, Casiuhim, then the first might have settled in the highest part of Upper Egypt, and the other two below them. The mention .in Isaiah ‘ would lead us to suppose that Pathros was Upper Egypt, if there were any sound reason for the ideas that Mizraim or Mazor is ever used for Lower Egypt, which we think there is not. Rodiger's conjecture that Pathros included part of Nubiais too daring to be followed (Encyclop. Germ. § 3, vol. 13, p. 312), although there is some slender support for it. The occurrences in Jeremiah seem to favor the idea that Pathros was part of Lower Egypt, or the whole of that region; for although it is mentioned in the prophecy against the Jews as a region where they dwelt after Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Noph, as if to the south, yet we are told that the prophet was answered by the Jews "that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros," as if Pathros were the region in which these cities were. We have, moreover, no distinct evidence that Jeremiah ever went into Upper Egypt. On the other hand, it may be replied that the cities mentioned are so far apart that either the prophet must have preached to the Jews in them in succession, or else have addressed letters or messages to them (comp. Ezekiel 29). The notice by Ezekiel of Pathros as the land of the birth of the Egyptians seems to favor the idea that it was part or all of Upper Egypt, as the Thebais was probably inhabited before the rest of the country (comp. Herodot. 2:15); an opinion supported by the tradition that the people of Egypt, came from Ethiopia, and by the first dynasty's being of Thinite kings.

Pathros has been connected with the Pathyritic name, the Phaturite of Pliny (Hist. Nat. 9:47), in which Thebes was situated. The first form occurs in a Greek papyrus written in Egypt ( Παθυρίτης Τῆς Θηβαϊ v Δος , Papyr . Anast. vid. Reuvens, Lettres M. Letronne, 3 let. p. 4, 30, ap. Parthey, Vocab. s.v.). This identification may be as old as the Sept.; and the Coptic version, which reads Papithoures, Papiptoures, does not contradict it. The discovery of the Egyptian name of the town after which the nome was called puts the inquiry on a safer basis. It is written HA-HAT-HER, "The Abode of Hat-her," the Egyptian Venus. It may perhaps have sometimes been written P-HA-HAT-HER, in which case the P-H and T-H would have coalesced in the Hebrew form, as did T-H in Caphtor. (See Caphtor). Such etymologies for the word Pathros as P-Et-Res, "that which is southern," and for the form in the Sept. Patoures (Gesen. Thes. s.v.), must be abandoned.

On the evidence here brought forward, it seems reasonable to consider Pathros to be part of Upper Egypt, and to trace its name in that of the Pathyritic nome. But this is only a very conjectural identification, which future discoveries may overthrow. It is spoken of with cities in such a manner that we may suppose it was but a small district, and (if we have rightly identified it) that when it occurs Thebes is especially intended. This would account for its distinctive mention. (See Egypt).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

path´ros ( פּתרוס , pathrōṣ  ; Egyptian Pata resii , the "South land"; Septuagint γῆ Παθουρῆς , gḗ Pathourḗs ): The Hebrew form of the Egyptian name for Upper Egypt (  Isaiah 11:11;  Jeremiah 44:1 ,  Jeremiah 44:15;  Ezekiel 29:14;  Ezekiel 30:14 ).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Path´ros, a name given to Egypt, particularly Upper Egypt, by the prophet Ezekiel [EGYPT].