צפנת פענח

Hebrew

Etymology

Uncertain, ostensibly Egyptian in origin. Egyptologists have interpreted the final element of the name as containing the Egyptian word ꜥnḫ "life"; in 1889 Georg Steindorff offered a tentative full reconstruction of *ḏd-pꜣ-nṯr-jw.f-ꜥnḫ, “the god speaks [and] he lives”.

Pronunciation

(Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /t͡sofˈnat paˈne.aχ/
(Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /t͡sɔfˈnaːθ paʕˈneːaħ/

Proper noun

צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ • (tsofnat pa'neakh)

Zaphnath-Paaneah, an epithet of Joseph.
- Tanach, Genesis 41:45, with translation of Aryeh Kaplan:
  וַיִּקְרָא פַרְעֹה שֵׁם־יוֹסֵף צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ אֶת־אָסְנַת בַּת־פּוֹטִי פֶרַע כֹּהֵן אֹן לְ אִשָּׁה וַיֵּצֵא יוֹסֵף עַל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃
  vay-yiqra far'óh shem yoséf tsafnát pa'néaḥ vay-yitten lo et asənat bat poṭi féra' kohen on le-ishá vay-yetsé yoséf 'al érets mitsráyim.
  Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Tzaphnath Paaneach. He gave him Asenath, daughter of Poti Phera, the priest of On, as a wife. Joseph thus went out to oversee Egypt.