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Antisemitic 'Pfizer anagram' HOAX goes viral, links pharma giant's name to Hebrew 'God of Plagues'

A Twitter user called Ryan Cunningham wondered if Pfizer 'spelt backwards' is the name of the Hebrew 'God of Plagues'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hours after the 65th edition of Grammy Awards concluded on Sunday, February 5, sponsor Pfizer found itself trending on Twitter for "unholy" reasons. And then, a tweet claiming that Pfizer spelt backwards is the name of the Hebrew "God of Plagues" is going viral. After Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed 'Unholy' at the coveted awards ceremony, several netizens shared clips of the performance, along with the hashtag "sponsored by Pfizer," in an attempt to troll the pharma giant who sponsored this year's Grammy.

Several viewers were aghast by the 'Satanic' undertones of the performance, which featured fire, red lighting, and Smith sporting a pair of horns. Prominent Republicans commented on the performance, like Senator Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling it "evil" and "demonic." Taking this forward, a Twitter user, Ryan Cunningham, took to the microblogging site, questioning if the Pfizer anagram "Rezifp" was linked to the "God of Plagues" in Hebrew.

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The irony of the tweet, given that Pfizer's vaccine was among those that helped fight the COVID pandemic, allowed it to instantly catch the attention of other Twitteratti who remained divided about their opinions on the newest viral conspiracy theory.

Is Pfizer an anagram for the 'God of Plague' in Hebrew? 

"I'm being told Pfizer spelled backward in Hebrew, means God of plagues. Who can confirm? For now, Google says yes until it's scrubbed," Cunningham wrote in his tweet. Spelt backward, Pfizer would read: "Rezifp", and Cunningham's question might be referring to the deity Resheph (also Reshef, pronounced as Ree-shef). So be it in terms of spelling or pronunciation, Pfizer does not become the name of the "God of Plagues" in Hebrew, albeit sounding a little similar.

However, this slight similarity in the pronunciation was enough for some netizens, and in no time, the comments section to the tweet was flooded with a variety of opinions. "Holy s**t?! It's real. It's even in the Encyclopedia Britannica! It's spelled different (Resheph), but the pronunciation is Pfizer backwards! Mind officially blown," wrote one user sharing a screenshot of the encyclopedia article. "Don’t know but I’m inclined to believe it," commented a second.

However, a third user opined that the tweet only feeds "antisemitic" narratives. "Pfizer is the last name of a German scientist who founded the company. What it means spelled backward in Hebrew is irrelevant, and only feeds antisemitic narratives that blame the Jews for all the world's atrocities," the user wrote. 

Who is Resheph, the god of plagues?

Originally worshiped in the Syrian kingdom of Ebla in the third millennium BCE, Resheph was one of the main members of the local pantheon and was often associated with war and plague. As per Eblaitian myth, he was wedded to the goddess Adamma, with theologians believing that she might have derived her name from the Hebrew word Adamah, meaning "(red) soil, earth".  

While the prominence of Adamma disappeared by the second millennium BCE, Resheph continued to be worshiped in modern day Syria and surrounding regions. He was also worshipped by Egyptians, who associated him with war. According to a 2017 article by the Jewish Bible Quarterly, "Resheph is mentioned 7 times" in the Hebrew Bible. The article's conclusion states, "in all the documents from the Ancient Near East, Resheph is the personal name of a deity. In the Hebrew Bible, with its monotheistic belief, Resheph is not a deity and has several meanings, such as “pestilence,” “arrow,” and “fire”."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.