Ne'phi (NtfSrad v, r. '^{(pBag; Vulg. Kephi), the name given by many (jrapa roif TrnWolg) to the sub- stance otherwise called (2 Mace, i, 36) Naphthar (q. v.).
Nephilim (D^^'^ED) occurs only in the plural form, and in the two passages (Gen. vi, 4 ; Numb, xiii, 33) where it is rendered in the English version "giants." This meaning is given by all the old versions (Sept. yi- yavTtg; Aquila, iii-nriTrroi'Teg; Symm. j3ialoi; Vulg, gigantes; Onk. X^'^Hiv; Luther, tyrannen), and is de- manded by the latter passage. "The word is derived either from '^h^^ or xbs (= 'marvelous'), or, as is generally believed, from bS3, either in the sense to throw down, or to fall (= fallen angels [Jarchi] ; comp. Isa. xiv, 12; Luke x, 18), or meaning i)pi»tc, irrmnies (Gesen.), or collapsi (by euphemism, Bottcher, Be In- feris, p. 92) ; but certainly not ' because men fell from terror of them' (as R. Kimchi). That the word means giant is clear from Numb, xiii, 32, 33, and is confirmed by xbS3, the Chaldee name for 'the aery giant' Orion (Job ix, 9; xxxviii, 31; Isa. xiii, 10; Targ.), unless this name arise from the obliquity of the constellation (Gen. of Earth, p. 35). We now come to the remark- able conjectures about the origin of these Ne2)hilim in Gen. vi, 1-4. (An immense amount has been written on this passage. See Kurz, Die Ehen der Sohne Goites, etc, [Berlin, 1857] ; Ewald, Jahrb. 1854, p. 126 ; Govett's Isaiah Unfulfilled; Yaber's Many Mansions [J.ofSuc. Lit. Oct. 1858], etc.) We are told that 'there were Nephilim in the earth,' and that afterwards (Sept. Kal fiir tKt7vo) the 'sons of God' mingling with the beautiful 'daughters of men' produced a race of violent and insolent Gibborim (D'i*12i«). This latter word is also rendered by the Sept. yiyavTtc, but its meaning is more general. It is clear, however, that no statement is made that the Nephilim themselves sprang from this unhallowed union. Who, then, were they? Taking the usual derivation (?E5), and explaining it to mean 'fallen spirits,' the Nephilim seem to be identical with the 'sons of God;' but the verse before us militates against this notion as much as against that wliich makes the Nephilim the same as the Gibborim, viz. the offspring of wicked marriages. This latter supposi- tion can only be accepted if we admit either (1) that there were two kinds of Nephilim — those who existed before the unequal intercourse, and those produced by it (Heidegger, Hist. Pat?: xi), or (2) by following the Vulgate rendering, postquam enim ingressi sunt, etc. But the common rendering seems to be correct, nor is there much probability in Aben-Ezra's explanation that ■,3-1'nnx ('after that') means bism IHX (i.e. 'after the deluge'), and is an allusion to the Anakims" (Smith). We may remark, however, that the Heb. word Nephiliui may rather be taken in an active scme = those who fall upon others, i. e. the violent tyrants of those days (Aqui- la, iTrnrtTrrovTeg); and this agrees with the evident lawlessness of the times. See Antediluvians.
Ne'phis (NKpic, v, r, N»;0i'c, i>n'ig; Vulg, lApiis), given (1 Esdr. v, 21) as one of the heads of the families that returned from Babylon, in place of Nebo (q. v.) in the Heb. list (Ezra ii, 28), perhaps by some confusion with the jMagbish following.
Ne'phish (1 Chron. v, 19). See Naphish,
Nephish'esim (Neh, vii, 52). See Nephusiji.
Neph'tali Ofob. i, 2, 4, 5). See Naphtali.
Neph'thalim (Tob. vii, 3 ; Matt, iv, 13, 15 ; Rev. vii, 6). See Naphtali.
Nephthys, the sister and wife of Typhon, the evil god of the ancient Egyptians. To Osiris she bore
NEPHTOAII
948
NEPOTISM
Anubis, who is represented with the head of a dog. Nephthys belongs to the third order of deities, as clas- sitied by Sir J. G. Wilkinson in his Materia Jliero- f/li/pkica. In Egyptian tlieogony she personified the unfruitful earth, and was therefore the symbol of steril- ity. Nephthys also represented the ocean, and hence it is possible that the god of the classic nations, Nep- tune, was derived from the Egyptians.
Neplito'ah [some Xeph'toak] (Heb. Nephto'ach, HTiS;, opened; Sept. 'Sa(p5w v. r. Ma(p^u); Vulg. Xeplilhoa), the name of a spring (")'['?, A. Y. "fountain," '• well"), and apparentlj^ a streamlet (3^^, A. V. '' water," '■ waters") issuing from it (or perhaps a watering-jjlace fur cattle), on the border between Judah and Heiijamin. Its position is described with considerable minuteness. From the valley of Ilinnom the northern boundary of Judah was drawn to the top of the hill on the west, that is, in the direction of the Convent of the Cross; and the border was drawn from the top of the hill unto the foun- tain of the water of Xephtoah, and thence to Kirjath- jearim (Josh, xv, 8, 9). A similar description of the southern boundary of Henjamin is given in Josh, xviii, 14-lG; and the name is not again mentioned in Script- ure. Its site appears to have been unknown to Jerome and Euscbius; they do not mention it in their Oiio- masticon. From the above passages it might be in- ferred that the waters of Nephtoah lay somewhere in or near a direct line between Jerusalem and Kirjath- jearim. Nephtoah was formerly identified with various sjirings, especially /I t« Kaiim, or Fountain of tlic Virgin ; of mediiEval times (Doubdan, Voyage, p. 187; see also tlie citations of Tobler, Topoijraphie, p. 351 ; and Sandys, iii, 184), and even the so-called Well of Joab in the Kedron valley (Afislin, ii, 155); but these, especially the last, are unsuitable in their situation as respects Jerusalem and Kirjath-jearim, and have the additional drawback that the features of the country there are not such as to permit a boundary-line to be traced along it. Schwarz (I'akst. p. '2t)8 sq.) finds a large spring near the castle of Al-15urak, the water of which was once carried by an aqueduct to Jerusalem, in which openings ■were made in order that passers-by might draw water; and that it was thence called Me Xephto'ach, '^'C r!":P33, the opened water. But this is fancifid. Heccnt geographers have pretty generally agreed to identify- Nephtoah with .1 in Lifta, a fountain near the village of that name, two and a half miles north-west of Jerusalem (Barclay, Citij of the Great Kinrj, p. 544; Tobler, Dritte Watulerunfi, p. 202; comp. Topof/raphie, p. 343 sq. ; Stewart, Tent and Khan, p. 349). The spring— of which a view is given by Dr. Barclay — is very abim- dant, and the water escapes in a considerable stream into the valley below. This, however, cannot be reconciled | with tlie statement in 1 Sam. x, 2, that Rachel's sepul- chre lay near the border of Benjamin, and it is nearly three miles south of the valley of Hinnom. Conse- quently, from the top of the hill on the west of Ilinnom the border must have turned southward [see Tkibe], and we must look for tlie waters of Nephtoah on the south or south-west of Jerusalem. About a mile and a half from Jerusalem, on the road to IJachers tomb, and close to the convent of Mar-Elyas, is an old well, which some have identified with Nephtoah {Xiirralire of Mis- sion to Jews, June 13). It is, however, a mere well. A much more probable site is Ain Yalo, in Wady cl-Wcrd, three miles south-west of the city. It is a small foun- tain, whose waters fiow into a large pfxd, and are drawn olf to irrigate some gardens. Its water is esteemed at Jerusalem, whither it is conveyed in skins on the backs ofdonkeys (Porter, //(»«W>(wA-, p. 232; Hol)inson, ////;. /?<«. iii,2G5). In front of the foimtain are some ruins. There j is another larger and much more beaut ifid fountain a mile farther down the valley, called Ain //anii/ch. said by tradition to be the fountain in which I'liilip baptized j the eunuch (Barclay, p. 518). It is ornainciited with a !