Mizraim
Miz'ra-im or Mizra'im. (the two Egypts; red soil). The usual name
of Egypt, in the Old Testament, the dual of Mazor, which is less
frequently employed. Mizraim first occurs in the account of the Hamites in Gen_10:1. In the use of the name, Mizraim for
Egypt, there can be no doubt that the dual indicates the two regions,
upper and lower Egypt, into which the country has always been divided by
nature, as well as by its inhabitants.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Mizraim
miz´rā́-im (מצרים, micrayīm):
(1) A son of Ham, and ancestor of various peoples,
Ludim, Anamim, etc. (Gen_10:6, Gen_10:13; 1Ch_1:8,
1Ch_1:11). See TABLE OF NATIONS.
(2) The name of Egypt. See EGYPT.
The land of Ham. - הם, ḥām, was another name for the land of
Egypt. It occurs only in Psa_105:23, Psa_105:17; Psa_106:22;
Psa_78:51 probably refers to the land
of Ham, though it may refer to the children of Ham. The origin and significance
of this name are involved in much obscurity. Two improbable etymologies and one
probable etymology for Ham as a name of Egypt have been proposed, and the
improbable ones very much urged: (1) Ham is often thought to be a Hebrew
appropriation of the Egyptian name “Kemt,” a name for the “black land” as
distinguished from “desherr,” the red land of the desert which surrounded it.
This etymology is very attractive, but phonetically very improbable to say the
least. (2) Ham has sometimes been connected directly with הם, ḥām, the second son of Noah whose
descendants under the name Mitsraim occupied a part of Northeastern Africa. But
as there is no trace of this name among the Egyptians and no use of it in the
historical books of the Old Testament, this can hardly be said to be a probable
derivation of the word. (3) There is a third proposed etymology for Ham which
connects it ultimately but indirectly with Ham, the second son of Noah.
Some of the earliest sculptures yet found in Egypt represent the god Min (Mĕnū;
compare Koptos by Professor Petrie). This god seems also to have been
called Khem, a very exact Egyptian equivalent for הם, ḥām, the second son of Noah and the
ancestor of the Hamitic people of Egypt. That Ham the son of Noah should be
deified in the Egyptian pantheon is not surprising. The sensuality of this god
Min or Khem also accords well with the reputation for licentiousness borne by
Ham the son of Noah. These facts suggest very strongly a trace in Egyptian
mythology of the actual history of the movements of Hamitic people. (4) While
the preceding division (3) probably states the real explanation of the early
name of Egypt, it still remains to be noted that the use of the name Ham by the
Psalmist may be entirely poetic. Until it be found that the name Ham was applied
to Egypt by other writers of that period it will ever be in some measure
unlikely that the Psalmist was acquainted with the mythological use of the name
Ham in Egypt, and so, in equal measure, probable that he meant nothing more
than to speak of the land of the descendants of Ham the son of Noah. See also
HAM, LAND OF.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mizraim
The dual form of matzor, meaning a “mound” or “fortress,” the name of a
people descended from Ham (Gen_10:6, Gen_10:13; 1Ch_1:8,
1Ch_1:11). It was the name generally
given by the Hebrews to the land of Egypt (q.v.), and may denote the two
Egypts, the Upper and the Lower. The modern Arabic name for Egypt is Muzr.
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary