Arphaxad[]
Again, thanks to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the mystery of what the odd name means:
- Arphaxad
- Son of Shem, born the year after the Deluge. He died at the age of 438 years #Ge 11:10-13 1Ch 1:17,18 Lu 3:36 He dwelt in Mesopotamia, and became, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, the progenitor of the Chaldeans. The tendency is to recognize in the word the name of the country nearest the ancient domain of the Chaldeans. Some regard the word as an Egypticized form of the territorial name of Ur Kasdim, or Ur of the Chaldees.
I have compared the Hebrew spelling with the Egyptian and found that this explains the note in Josephus extremely well. The spelling of the second word spoken by God -- Light -- is AUR, sometimes with the U and sometimes without (wau, or vav, being a vowel). The Alef-Resh in "Arpaxhad" could just as easily be pronounced Ur as Ar. The 'p' is an Egyptian way of saying "of"(the "p" is sounded "ph" but is the same letter. Transliterated, the Hebrew name is ARPKSD, and the plural would add the "M". We would have AuRPaKSeDi(M). The "x" is actually a combination of the K and the S, namely the "ks" sound. The Kasdim, probably are "those who increase," a promise in naming the child, born a year or two after the flood, that he would be the progenitor of a great people. He would be "a light that increases." The city of Ur would have been his city, founded after Babel. Therefore, Abram was indeed "from" Ur of the Chaldees (Kasadim). The spelling "Chaldees" is from the Greek (Xaldais), though the spelling in the New Testament replaces the Xi, with a Chi (which "looks like" an X, but is pronounced as "Kh" as in Christ).
The word Kasdim means "clod-busters" -- describing the settlers of a new town after the dispersion. It may be that Moses or another before him placed the ancient place name Ur p Kasdim (to distinguish it from another Ur) in the name list for its founder, Ur. It makes sense. "Light" is a beautiful name. "Light of the clod people" just doesn't have a nice ring for a baby boy. Just some thoughts.
--SouthWriter (talk) 01:33, September 8, 2015 (UTC)