The Meaning of Chuppim?

Just came across this article, which suggests that the Phoenician word פמי (PMY) refers to a lion, and as a theophoric component, it refers to an Egyptian lion god with a similar name. There are several synonyms for lion in Tanach - Aryeh, Kfir, Lavi, Layish, Shachal, perhaps Shachatz - so I wondered whether this suggestion could explain a difficult word in Tanach. A quick search found Chuppim, Muppim, Shuppim and Shefufam - various sons of Binyamin. Muppim's name might come from the Egyptian city of Mof (Memphis). Shuppim and Shefufam might be related to Shefifon, a type of snake. But what about Chuppim? Well, as PMY comes from Egyptian, I checked what Khu (חו) means in Egyptian. And lo, it refers to a part of the soul per the Egyptian conception of the soul. So, potentially, Chuppim's name (Khu + PYM/PM = PMY) could mean "lion's soul".


(image taken from here)


Comments

  1. NNanachOctober 27, 2025 at 6:18 AM

    Dasting, and nice theory. I didn't realize Biny' had so many sons with -im ending names, wonder what's up with that. Lions, did they even exist in the Fertile Crescent?

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    Replies
    1. HarelOctober 31, 2025 at 12:28 AM

      I offered possible explanations for some of the -im and -m names, but it remains a mysterious topic. And yes, lions were in fact found in the Levant. Several are mentioned in Tanach, such as the lion that David killed (Shmuel 1:17:34) and the lions that attacked the Cuthites (Melachim 2:17:25-26), and we have evidence from other sources.

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