Pi-Hahiroth

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

The Hebrew pi answers to the modern Arabic word fum, signifying "mouth;" and is generally applied to the passes in the mountains. In the English and Septuagint versions, Hahiroth is taken as a proper name; and the whole word would imply the mouth or pass of Hahiroth or Hiroth, whatever particular origin or signification may belong to that word. The name, however, sufficiently explains the situation of the children of Israel; who were hemmed in at this place, between the sea in front, and a narrow mountain pass behind; which no doubt encouraged Pharaoh to make his attack upon them in so disadvantageous a position; thinking that they must inevitably fall an easy prey into his hands, or be cut to pieces: when their deliverance, and his own destruction, were unexpectedly wrought by the parting of the waters of the sea. The place where this miracle is supposed to have happened, is still called Bahral- Kolsum, or the Sea of Destruction; and just opposite to the situation which answers to the opening called Pi-hahiroth, is a bay, where the north cape is called Ras Musa, or the Cape of Moses. That part of the western or Heroopolitan branch of the Red Sea where, from these coincidences, the passage most probably took place, is described by Bruce as about three leagues over, with fourteen fathoms of water in the channel, nine at the sides, and good anchorage every where. The farther side is also represented as a low sandy coast, and an easy landing place. See Red Sea .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Pi-Hahiroth (  Exodus 14:2;   Exodus 14:9 ,   Numbers 33:7-8 ). Mentioned in connexion with the camping of the israelites. It was ‘between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon’ (  Exodus 14:9 ). This definition does not enable us to fix its site, for these other places are themselves unknown. In   Numbers 33:8 the name is simply Hahiroth .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pi-hahi'roth. A place before, or at, which the Israelites encamped, at the close of the third march from Rameses, (the last place before they crossed the Red Sea), when they went out of Egypt.  Exodus 14:2;  Exodus 14:9;  Numbers 35:7-8. It is an Egyptian word, signifying "The Place Where Sedge Grows".

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 14:2,9Exodus

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Pi-hachiroth', פַּי הִחֹירֹת , understood by some to be of Hebrew etymology, and rendered Mouth Of The Gorges; Sept. Ἡ Ἔπαυλις , Τὸ Στόμα Εἰρώθ , Εἰρώθ ; Vulg. Phihihiroth), a place before or at which the Israelites encamped, at the close of the third march from Rameses, when they went out of Egypt. Pi-hahiroth was before Migdol, and on either hand were Baal-zephon and the sea ( Exodus 14:2;  Exodus 14:9;  Numbers 33:7-8). The name is probably that of a natural locality, from the unlikelihood that there should have been a town or village in both parts of the country where it is placed in addition to Migdol and Baal-zephon, which seem to have been, if not towns, at least military stations, and its name is susceptible of an Egyptian etymology giving a sense apposite to this idea. The first part of the word is apparently treated by its punctuation as a separate prefix ( Numbers 33:8), and it would therefore appear to be the masculine definite article Pe, Pa, or Pi. Jablonsky proposed the Coptic Pi-Achirot, "the place where sedge grows," and this, or a similar name, the late M. Fulgence Fresnel recognised in the modern Ghuweybet el-bus, "the bed of reeds," near Ras Atakah. There is another Ghuweybet el-bus near Suez, and such a name would of course depend for its permanence upon the continuance of a vegetation subject to change. Migdol appears to have been a common name for a frontier watch-tower. (See Migdot).

Baal- zephon we take to have had a similar meaning to that of Migdol. SEE Baal-Zephon We should expect, therefore, that the encampment would have been in a depression, partly marshy, havilig on either hand an elevation marked by a watch-tower (Smith). It is evident that so vague a circumstance as the presence of reeds, which are common in any moist place near Suez, cannot serve to determine the locality. This must be fixed by the more definite notices of the narrative, which appear to us to point to the opening of the plain el-Bfedeah, between Jebel Atakah and Jebel Abu- Deraj. (See Exode); (See Crossing Of Red Sea).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pı̄ - ha - hı̄´roth ( החירות פּי , pı̄ - ha - ḥı̄rōth (  Exodus 14:2-9;  Numbers 33:7-8 )):

1. Meaning of Name:

Nothing is known of the meaning of the name. Pi - Hahiroth Some attempts toward an Egyptian etymology for it have been made, but without much success. Since the meaning of the name is unknown and no description of the place or its use is given, it is impossible to determine anything concerning the character of Pi-Hahiroth, whether a city, a sanctuary, a fortress, or some natural feature of the landscape.

2. Location:

Neither Pi-Hahiroth nor any other place mentioned with it can be exactly located. A recent discovery of manuscripts in Egypt furnishes a mention of this place, but affords very little assistance in locating it, nothing comparable to the account in the Bible itself. If any one of the places mentioned in connection with the crossing of the Red Sea could be located approximately, all the others could, also, be similarly located by the description given in the account in Exodus. The route beyond the Sea has been made out with almost positive certainty. A journey along the way is so convincing that hardly anything can shake the conviction which it produces. This identification of the route of the exodus beyond the Sea requires the place of the crossing to be within 3 days' journey of Marah, which puts it somewhere near the modern Suez. It may be anywhere within 10 miles of that point. This approximately locates all the other places mentioned in connection with the crossing: Migdol must be Ras 'Ataḳah , or some other high point in the mountains of the western deserts, where might be placed a watchtower. Pi-Hahiroth is between this point and the Sea and Baal-zephon near the opposite eastern shore. This puts Pi-Hahiroth at some point along the old shore line of the Sea within 10 miles of the site of modern Suez.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Pi–hahi´roth, a place near the northern end of the Gulf of Suez, east of Baal-zephon (;; ). The Hebrew signification of the words would be equivalent to 'mouth of the caverns;' but it is doubtless an Egyptian name, and as such would signify a 'place where grass or sedge grows.'