Resheph and Pfizer

There's a new idea on the interwebz that Pfizer, if pronounced backwards, is the name of a Canaanite god of plague. I can see why the connection resonates with people. I even agree that Pfizer has done some really evil things. Personally, I believe they've even exceeded Hitler and risen nearly to the level of Mao on the scale of crimes against humanity.

But does this phonetical trick actually mean anything?

Let's take a look at the actual words involved...

Pfizer is pronounced fai-zer. The p is silent, the i is long, the z is hard, and the e is short. If you pronounce it backwards, it's rezaif still with a short e, hard z, and long i. If you change the vowels up to make it flow more smoothly for an English speaker, you can pronounce it rezif, with a short i.

Resheph is pronounced reshep or resep, spelled רֶשֶׁף or resh-shin-peh. The Semitic letter shin can be pronounced either sh or s and the letter peh can be pronounced either p or f, but the f sound is pretty rare. From what I've read, scholars unanimously believe it is pronounced like a p in this case.

Don't let the transliteration to 'ph' fool you. That's been a common way to transliterate Semitic sounds into English for many centuries, and it's misleading to modern English readers. When reading Biblical names, keep in mind that th is always pronounced like a hard t, not a th sound. Ph is almost always pronounced like a hard p, not an f sound. Sh can go either way.

Is rezif the same as resep? It's similar, but not the same.

Rezif would be spelled resh-zayin-peh, while Resheph is spelled resh-shin-peh.

If you use your imagination to invent a fanciful and unlikely pronunciation for Resheph, but it's just fantasy. But that's not the worst part of this idea.

Spelling something backwards is meaningless. God spelled backwards is dog. Atheists get a hoot out of that, but it's only profound to 7 year olds. My name backwards is Yaj. What does that mean? I'm glad you asked. It doesn't mean anything and neither does Rezif or Rezifp or esnesnon yllis. You can work that last one out for yourself.

On the other hand, I am a little amused by people using a phonetic sleight of hand to connect a modern pharmaceutical company to the ancient Phoenicians.