| Pagiel | | Leader of the tribe of Asher in the wilderness. Son of Akhran, Pagiel was one of the twelve princes representing each tribe who had directed the census (Numbers 1:13). His offerings to the Tabernacle are listed at Numbers 7:72. | |
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| Pallu | |
| Palti | | One of the twelve spies sent out by Moses to survey the land of Canaan.Palti represented the tribe of Benjamin (Numbers 13:9). | |
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| Pathrusim | |
| Peleg | |
| Peretz | | Twin son of Judah by his daughter-in-law Tamar, brother of Zerach. The brothers were born after Tamar tricked Judah into sleeping with her. When they were born, Zerach's arm appeared first and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around his wrist, but Peretz (Hebrew: bursts forth) was born first. The Partzites , not to be confused with the Perizites, are noted as an important family in the census taken by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 26:20--21). | |
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| Perizites | |
| Pharoah | | Generic name of kings of Egypt, c.18-16th centuries B.C.E.Prominent Pharoahs in the Pentateuch are the Pharoah who desired Abraham's wife Sarah (Genesis 12:14-20); the Pharoah ruling over Egypt when Joseph rose to eminence in his court (Genesis 40:1) and the Pharoah who may have been the new king of Egypt and who 'did not know Joseph' (Exodus 1:8). This Pharoah is said to have forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses and to have instructed the Hebrew midwives to kill all Jewish baby boys after delivery at birth. | |
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| Philistines | | Mentioned in Genesis 10:14 and Exodus 13:17 as descendants of the Casluchim. These were a powerful sea-faring people who lived on the coast between Egypt and Canaan. The Israelites leaving Egypt took a southerly route in order to avoid them; they appear frequently as adversaries of the Israelites in the historical books from Judges to Kings. | |
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| Pikhol | |
| Pildash | |
| Pinchas | | High priest during the time of Moses, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. After the Israelites were beguiled into worshipping Baal-Peor (a Moabite god) by local girls at Shittim, God threatened to destroy them and sent a plague. An Israelite brought one such woman into the camp, and Pinchas killed both the man and the woman with his spear (Numbers 25), thus stopping the plague, which killed 24,000 people. | |
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| Pinon | |
| Potiphar | | Captain of the Egyptian guard, an officer of Pharoah who bought Joseph as a slave. Joseph became his personal man-servant and overseer of his house and possessions (Genesis 39:4). Potiphar's wife made overtures to Joseph; in anger at Joseph's rejection, she complained to her husband that Joseph had attempted to seduce her. Potiphar had Joseph thrown into jail. | |
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| Potiphera | |
| Puah | | One of the two chief Hebrew midwives who were instructed by Pharoah to kill any Jewish male babies that they delivered.Puah and Shifra did not follow Pharoah's command, as they 'feared God', but let the infant boys live. When challenged by the king, the midwives replied that the Hebrew women always gave birth before the midwives arrived (Exodus 1:15). The midwives were rewarded by God by having large families of their own. | |
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| Put | | Son of Ham and grandson of Noah. Ancestor of an African people, placed by Josephus in Libya and by modern scholarship in the Horn of Africa (modern Somalia). | |
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| Puvvah | |
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