Does the term "Mitsraim" (translated as Egypt) in the Hebrew Bible in Prophecy Refer to Russia? (11 July, 2013, Av 4, 5773)
The word for Egypt in the Hebrew Bible is Mitsraim. In Akkadian (the language of Assyria) this was rendered as Mitsru. As well as Egypt the term Mitsru was also applied to a few regions to the north of Mesopotamia and also in what is now Saudi Arabia. It may be that at one stage these areas had been ruled over and even colonized by Egyptians as related in Greek legends and local traditions. The Bible also, on occasion, seems to apply the same names to different areas. It is as if there existed a set given number of names and all new places had to be called by one of them.
It follows that when the Bible speaks of Misraim (Egypt) in Prophecy the intention may not always be to the place we know as Egypt but to somewhere else.
We have brought this subject up in the past and returned to it, in brief, in our recent article,
Egypt Who? The Ten Tribes, Exile, and Mitsraim
In reply we received the following article from the scholar, Cristian Sildan, who is a resident of Romania.
Quote:
#
Peace Yair.
Concerning the Tribes in Egypt.
If the Egyptians partly moved to todays' Russia, and if many Jews inhabited its Steppes, who knows, maybe this ''Tribes in Egypt'' thing is a prophecy of this situation?
Or maybe there will be some amount of captivity in Russia in the future (we can't exclude this thought when we see these rumors of Sino-Russian alliance)...
Concerning the relation Russia has with Egypt, I must say I have always been a bit puzzled to notice how the Russians cherish all sorts of Cappadocian and Egyptian connections, their hermits even call the Taiga [the vast coniferous forest covering much of Russia and Siberia and neighboring lands] ''the wilderness of Egypt". Their patron saint is Nicholas the Lycian [Lycia is in southwest Turkey].
It's as if they consider these parts as former motherlands of theirs.
I initially thought they see that in a spiritual sense but, with all the informations I had since, about the migrations of the ancient populations, I wonder if there's no physical substratum to this.
All the best,
Cristian
#
End Quote.
Whether or not Russia may be identified in Biblical Terms with the name Mitsraim is an open question.
The following notes that were originally published as part of a footnote in our work "Lost Israelite Identity" may be pertinent in this regard:
In Biblical conceptual terms a connection may exist between Urartu, Egypt, and Russia! Urartu was in the region now known as Armenia though most of the Armenians arrived there after the State of Urartu had ceased to exist. Nevertheless some degree of contiunuity may exist between ancient Urartu and Armenia. Musasir the homebase and sacred city of Urartu was known as MUTSRI meaning Egypt and may be the MITSRAYIM (i.e. "Egypt" in Hebrew) mentioned in 2 -Chronicles 1:17:
"And they fetched up and brought forth out of Egypt (i.e. "Mitsrayim") a chariot...and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their means".
The above verse is referring to the monopoly King Solomon is said to have obtained over the supply of horses in the Middle East. The Mitsrayim ("Egypt") referred to here is believed by many modern commentators to be some place to the north of Israel and to be identical to the northern "Mutsri" spoken of in Assyrian inscriptions. This could well be the location ("Mutsri") held sacred by Urartu.
Several kings of Urartu were named RUSA (also pronounced in an inverted form as "Ursa") which is similar to Ros or Russia. The name Russia is said to originate from a root connoting the sun.
Similarly, de Rougemont believed that the name Mitsrayim (i.e. Egypt) originally meant "Son ((mis)) of the Sun ((ra))". Horus was a name of the Egyptian sun god and the ancient Russians also worshipped a sun god named Horus (Phillip Bonner).
Greek legends spoke of an Egyptian king having led an expedition to the north and settling people in the Caucasus.
The Kingdom of Urartu did penetrate what was considered the territory of modern Russia.
Urartu was a slave state, Egypt is called "the house of slaves" (Exodus 13:3,14). Both Czarist Russia and it's communist successor were also slave states. Russia has always been a slave state. The Russians are the major and leading Slav (Slavonic) people. The very name SLAV derives from the German word slave.
The suggested equation (in Biblical Prophecy for some cases) of Egypt and Russia therefore rests on the facts that:
a. Both the names Russia and Mitsrayim (Egypt) derive from words meaning "sun".
b. In ancient times there was a place called Egypt (Mutsri) which in a way formed the foundation of Urartu.
c. Northern Urartu and historic southern Russia overlapped in territory and they also overlap to some extent ethnically since the Urartian-Armenians were usually relatively loyal to Russia and shared an identity of interests, with ethnic, cultural, and historical connections;
d. The slave mentality aspects of Egypt, Urartu, and Russia form an historical pattern.