Hebrew word · H6367

פִּי הַחִירֹת

hachirot

Pi-hahiroth

A place name on Egypt's eastern frontier. Its meaning is uncertain. Proposals: (1) Hebrew/Semitic 'mouth of the channels/canals' (compare Akkadian pī ḫirīti, 'mouth of the canal'); (2) an Egyptian name, e.g.

Appears 7 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Pi-hahiroth = "place where sedge grows"

the 3rd encampment of the Israelites after leaving Goshen in Egypt and the last one before crossing the Red Sea

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 Exodus 14:2

Range of meaning

A place name on Egypt's eastern frontier. Its meaning is uncertain. Proposals: (1) Hebrew/Semitic 'mouth of the channels/canals' (compare Akkadian pī ḫirīti, 'mouth of the canal'); (2) an Egyptian name, e.g. a 'house of Hathor' or a term for a water-channel, reshaped to sound Hebrew; (3) the Greek translators took ḥîrōt as a common noun meaning 'enclosure' or 'farmstead'.

Against the English

All major English versions transliterate it as a name. That is reasonable given the uncertainty, but it hides that a Hebrew hearer would probably have heard 'mouth of …' in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 14:2, 9; Numbers 33:7–8. In Numbers 33:8 the same place is called simply 'Hahiroth', which suggests 'Pi-' was heard as a separable 'mouth of'. Septuagint Exodus 14:2 translates 'opposite the farmstead (epaulis)' instead of giving a name.

Where it appears

Exodus · 4

  1. Exodus 14:2 פִּ֣י הַחִירֹ֔ת Pi-, hahiroth

    “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. You are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.

    Here: First element of the place name. In Hebrew 'pî' means 'mouth of', and Numbers 33:8 calls the same place just 'Hahiroth', so the element may have been heard as 'the mouth of'. It may also reflect an Egyptian word, though.

  2. Exodus 14:9 פִּי֙ הַֽחִירֹ֔ת Pi-, hahiroth

    The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 33:7 פִּ֣י הַחִירֹ֔ת Pi-, hahiroth

    They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon, and they camped near Migdol.

  2. Numbers 33:8 הַֽחִירֹ֔ת <the> Hahiroth

    They set out from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

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