TIP OF THE DAY 19: Name.meaning > Meaning concluded

MJ. Smith

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QUESTION: What percentage of names are theophoric?

SORTWARE: This is the sort of question that is fun to ask of a smart search. Depending upon the resources they give as sources, be sure to treat the results as at best probable fun and at worst well that was entertaining. This is my way of warning that if you can envision the resources on which it would have been trained that provides a solid ground for an answer, be very skeptical.

From the Logos/Verbum synopsis:

“According to one of the articles, approximately 46 percent of personal names in ancient Israel and Judah during the Iron Age were theophoric names compounded with Yahweh or its abbreviated form[1]. Additionally, about 6 percent were 'el names (using the generic term for "god"), and about 1 percent were compounded with other divine names[2]. However, when specifically considering women's names in the Hebrew Bible, only about 15 percent were theophoric, compared to around 30 percent for men's names[3]. These theophoric names often included elements like Yah-, Yahu-, or El-, combined with commentary on the divine name[4]. It's worth noting that the percentage of theophoric names varied across different time periods and contexts within the biblical narratives[5].

From Perplexity:

Based on the search results, we can draw some conclusions about the percentage of theophoric names in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible):

1 Overall Prevalence

While an exact percentage for the entire Tanakh is not provided, theophoric names are extremely common in biblical texts. The majority of personal names mentioned in the Bible appear to be theophoric.

2 Breakdown by Deity Reference

Theophoric names in the Bible primarily reference two divine elements:

1. El (meaning "god" or referring to the Canaanite deity El)

2. Yah/Yahweh (referring to the Israelite god YHWH)

3 Statistics from Specific Biblical Books

The books of Kings and Chronicles provide some specific percentages:

- In Kings, 84% of Judahite theophoric names contain a Yahwistic element[4].

- In Chronicles, 75% of the names are Yahwistic[4].

4 Comparison to Archaeological Evidence

The biblical percentages differ somewhat from archaeological findings:

- In Judahite inscriptions from the period, 77% of theophoric names reference YHWH[4].

- In northern Israelite archaeological evidence, about 50% of theophoric names contain the YHWH element, while about 35% reference El or Baal[4].

5 Time Period Variations

The prevalence of theophoric names, particularly Yahwistic ones, appears to have increased over time:

- Yah-based names were rare until the time of King Saul, after which they became very popular[1].

- In post-exilic biblical books (e.g., Ezra, Nehemiah), the vast majority of names are theophoric[2].

While an exact overall percentage isn't provided, it's clear that theophoric names constitute a very high proportion of personal names in the Tanakh, likely well over 50% and possibly approaching 75-80% in some books and time periods.

Citations:

[1] https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/godly-nomenclature-theophoric-names

[2] https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/whats-in-a-name-2/

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophory_in_the_Bible

[4] https://www.cfhu.org/news/hu-scholar-says-names-reveal-whats-true-and-whats-not-in-the-bible/

 

QUESTION: What names does Scripture include meanings for?

ANSWER: While Jewish names often had meaning, only a few meanings are explicitly given in the Bible. This list may not be exhaustive. The list was created by the repetitive coaxing of additional answers out of a chatbot.

Name	Meaning	Reference	Notes
Adam	Man; human	Genesis 2:7	Implicit not explicit
Eve	Living; life-giver	Genesis 3:20
Isaac	He laughs	Genesis 17:19
Ishmael	God hears	Genesis 16:11
Abraham	Father of many nations	Genesis 17:15
Sarah	Princess	Genesis 17:15
Esau	Hairy	Genesis 25:25
Jacob	He grasps the heel; he deceives	Genesis 25:26
Judah	Praise	Genesis 29:35
Levi	Attacked	Genesis 29:34
Reuben	See, a son	Genesis 29:32
Simeon	Heard	Genesis 29:33
Naphtali	My struggle	Genesis 30:8
Issachar	Reward; wages	Genesis 30:18
Zebulun	Honor	Genesis 30:20
Joseph	May He add	Genesis 30:24
Benjamin	Son of my right hand	Genesis 35:18	Note the mother named him Ben-Oni, the father named him Benjamin
Moses	Drawn out	Exodus 2:10	Sense of drawn out of water
Mara	Bitter	Ruth 1:20	Naomi changed her own name
Obed	Servant; worshipper	Ruth 4:17
Raphael	God heals	Tobit 3:17
Jesus	The Lord saves	Matthew 1:21
John (the Baptist)	The Lord is gracious	Luke 1:13
Peter	Rock	Matthew 16:18

 

QUESTION: How does Scripture use the meaning of names for literary purposes?

Here, figurative use is deliberately set aside for its own discussion:

• As link to myths: “There are also a few non-theophoric names which possibly reflect solar elements within Yahwism. The most famous of these is the Danite šimšôn, ‘Samson’, a name attested in extrabiblical material as well. That the name is derived from the root šmš, ‘sun’, is certain. The -ōn ending here is often thought to be diminutive, yielding a sense ‘Little Sun’, or ‘Sun’s Child’, but it could also be abstract. Other suggested meanings include ‘solar’, ‘sunny’, or ‘sun’s man’. Interestingly, that the solar character of Samson’s name was of some importance is suggested by evidence for a connection between the biblical story in Judges 13–16 and an underlying solar myth.” (See J. Glen Taylor, Yahweh and the Sun: Biblical and Archaeological Evidence for Sun Worship in Ancient Israel, vol. 111, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), 93–94.)
• Distorted names as mockery: “Why may we not assume that Nabal is a palindrome of Laban (Gen. 29–31), another rich shepherd and exactly as much of a miser as Nabal? In addition, Laban may in either case be a by-name: lābān = ‘white’ is the colour of the finest wool (cf. Isa. 1:18) and plays an important role in the dealings between Laban and Jacob in Gen. 30:31ff. Hence, Nabal is a paragrammatical soubriquet by which his retinue and even his wife refer to the old niggard and drunkard. Since the narrator did the same, it has been established to our satisfaction that Scripture uses distorted personal names in order to mock their bearers.” (See Yehuda T. Radday and Athalya Brenner, eds., On Humour and the Comic in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1990), 62–63.)
• As wordplay: “The next wordplay under consideration is in the name of Ishmael in verse 20. As already seen, Abraham protested in verse 18 that Ishmael should be his heir. In response to this suggestion, Yahweh said in verse 19 that “וּֽלְיִשְׁמָעֵאל שְׁמַעְתִּיךָ הִנֵּה בֵּרַכְתִּי אֹתוֹ” literally, “and as for Ishmael, I have heard you, behold, I will bless him.” The name Ishmael means, “the Lord has heard.” Using this, Yahweh said to Abraham that he had “heard” Abraham’s request to bless Ishmael, and that he was going to bless Ishmael. Thus Yahweh is using the “heard” inherently in the name “Ishmael” as wordplay in response to Abraham’s request to consider Ishmael.” (See Matthew Michael, Yahweh’s Elegant Speeches of Abrahamic Narratives: A Study of the Stylistics, Characterizations, and Functions of the Divine Speeches in Abrahamic Narratives (Carlisle, Cumbria: Langham Monographs, 2014), 181.)
• For bibliomancy and mantic purposes: See “Bibliomancy” in Singer, Isidore, ed. The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Daly, 12 Volumes. New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901–1906. Note that the use of names for magic or superstitious purposes is a useful way to learn the connotations and cultural significance of the name.

 

QUESTION: How do I add a website to the shortcut bar?

SOFTWARE: Be careful in your positioning of the two windows – that’s always been my greatest challenge.

1. Open your browser.
2. Navigate to the page you wish to create a shortcut to.
3. Open Logos or Verbum
4. Grab the icon immediately before https:// and drag it to your shortcut bar.
5. In the shortcut bar, right click to open the menu for the shortcut you just created.
6. If desired, add a folder name.
7. If desired, edit the label shown on the bar
8. If desire, choose a different icon for the shortcut.
9. Click outside the menu to save your changes.

 

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[1] Richard S. Hess, “Did Yahweh Have a Wife?: Iron Age Religion in Israel and Its Neighbors,” in Come Let Us Reason: New Essays in Christian Apologetics (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2012), 215.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Carol Meyers, Toni Craven, and Ross S. Kraemer, Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books and the New Testament (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018), 35.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.