Hebrew word · H6624

פַּתְרוֹס

patros

Pathros

From Egyptian p3-t3-rsy, 'the Southern Land', meaning Upper Egypt: the Nile valley south of the Memphis area, as far as Aswan (Syene).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Pathros = "region of the south"

a part of Egypt and the home country of the Pathrusim people; probably located in upper Egypt

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 Jeremiah 44:1

Range of meaning

From Egyptian p3-t3-rsy, 'the Southern Land', meaning Upper Egypt: the Nile valley south of the Memphis area, as far as Aswan (Syene).

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'the country of Pathros', BSB/YLT 'the land of Pathros'. All are accurate, but none tells the reader it simply means 'the South country'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian inscriptions of Esarhaddon call the king of Egypt 'king of Muṣur, Paturisi and Kusi' (Egypt, Upper Egypt and Cush). Isaiah 11:11 lists Pathros among the lands from which YHWH will gather his scattered people, and Ezekiel 29:14 calls it the Egyptians' 'land of origin'. The Elephantine papyri prove that a Judean military colony was living at the southern edge of Pathros in the 5th century BC. Many scholars think it was founded before Jeremiah's time.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 11:11 וּמִפַּתְר֣וֹס and from Pathros

    On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

    Here: Upper (southern) Egypt. The name comes from Egyptian for 'the southern land'. Jer 44:1 places Judean communities there.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 44:1 פַּתְר֖וֹס Pathros

    This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis—and in the land of Pathros:

    Here: From Egyptian for 'the Southern Land', meaning Upper Egypt along the Nile valley to the south. It puts Judeans hundreds of kilometres up the Nile.

  2. Jeremiah 44:15 בְּפַתְר֥וֹס in Pathros

    Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah,

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 29:14 פַּתְר֔וֹס Pathros

    I will restore Egypt from captivity and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. There they will be a lowly kingdom.

  2. Ezekiel 30:14 פַּתְר֔וֹס Pathros

    I will lay waste Pathros, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgment on Thebes.

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