Thanks for some meat to chew on this morning.
By : Emil G. Hirsch W. Max Muller
Name given by Pharaoh to Joseph (Gen. xli. 45). It seems to be an Egyptian name, but its etymology is in doubt. It is not plain on what (Hebrew ?) etymology the earliest explanations of Hebrew scholars were founded. Targum Onḳelos gives the meaning of the name as "the man to whom mysteries are revealed"; pseudo-Jonathan, "one who reveals mysteries"; Josephus ("Ant." ii. 6, § 1), "a finder of mysteries." Many other old writers offer similar definitions, and even the A. V. has in the margin: "Which in the Coptic signifies, 'A revealer of secrets,' or 'The man to whom secrets are revealed.'" There is, however, no Egyptian etymology by which these guesses can be supported. Jerome claims that his suggestion, "savior of the world," rests on the Egyptian, and possibly the reading of the Septuagint has been followed by the authors of this etymology; the Coptic "eneh" = Egyptian "nḥ" (= "eternity," "eternal"), seems to be discernible, to which erroneously the later meaning of the Hebrew "'olam" ("eternity," "age"; later, "world") has been given, overlooking the "'ayin." Thus this inadmissible interpretation, which is accepted even by Jablonski, clearly betrays rabbinical influence.
Modern Egyptologists have tried a great many untenable etymologies for the element "Zaphnath," but have mostly agreed that "paaneah" contains the Egyptian "p-ônḫ," meaning "the life" (thus first Lepsius, "Chronologie," i. 382). Steindorff's explanation (in "Zeitschrift für Aegyptische Sprache," xxvii. 42; modifying Krall's etymology in "Trans. 7th Orientalist. Congr." p. 110) differs somewhat; it is "ṣe(d)-p-nute(r)-ef-onḫ" = "the god speaks, [and] he lives." This has become popular, and is philologicallypossible; however, it does not convey the allusion to Joseph's office or merits which we should expect. "P-ônḫ" (= "the life") would still answer better in this respect; only "Zaphnath" does not admit a quite convincing explanation. The Septuagint (Ψον[or Ψομ]θομφανήχ) and the Hexaplaric versions, however, differ so widely from the Hebrew in the first half of the name that it may have been disfigured by copyists.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=31&letter=Z
06828 tsaphown {tsaw-fone'} or tsaphon {tsaw-fone'}
from 06845; TWOT - 1953b; n f
AV - north 116, northward 24, north side 11, northern 1, north wind 1; 153
1) north (of direction), northward
1a) north
1b) northward
from 06845
06845 tsaphan {tsaw-fan'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1953; v
AV - hide 16, lay up 7, esteemed 1, lurk 1, hidden ones 1, privily 1,
secret places 1, secret 1, misc 4; 33
1) to hide, treasure, treasure or store up
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to hide, treasure, treasure up
1a2) to lie hidden, lurk
1b) (Niphal) to be hidden, be stored up
1c) (Hiphil) to hide, hide from discovery
Compare:
05603 caphan {saw-fan'}
a primitive root; TWOT - 1537; v
AV - covered 3, cieled 2, seated 1; 6
1) to cover, cover in, wainscotted, covered with boards or panelling
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to cover in, panel
1a2) covered, panelled (participle)