Hebrew word · H2774

חַרְנֶ֫פֶר

vecharnefer

Harnepher

A man's name that occurs only here. Most scholars explain it as Egyptian: Ḥr-nfr, 'Horus is good/beautiful' (Horus was an Egyptian god). Nfr ('good, beautiful') is a very common element in Egyptian names.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament.

What it means

A man of the tribe of Asher living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.7.36;

son of: Zophah (H6690);

brother of: Suah (H5477), Shual (H7777B), Beri (H1275), Imrah (H3236), Bezer (H1221H), Hod (H1936), Shamma (H8037H), Shilshah (H8030), Ithran (H3506H) and Beera (H0878)

§ Harnepher = "panting"

a son of Zophah of the tribe of Asher

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Chronicles 7:36

Range of meaning

A man's name that occurs only here. Most scholars explain it as Egyptian: Ḥr-nfr, 'Horus is good/beautiful' (Horus was an Egyptian god). Nfr ('good, beautiful') is a very common element in Egyptian names.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it, which is correct. The note is about its origin, not a translation error.

Used elsewhere in the period

Names of this pattern (Ḥr-nfr and similar) are well attested in Egyptian sources. Other Israelites in the Bible carry Egyptian names, for example Phinehas ('the Nubian') and Hophni, and many scholars think Moses' name is Egyptian too.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 7:36 וְחַרְנֶ֛פֶר and Harnepher

    The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,

    Here: 'And' plus a name that most scholars think is Egyptian, probably Ḥr-nfr, 'Horus is good/beautiful.' It is a reminder that Egyptian names were in use among Israelites.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.