TIP OF THE DAY 34: Name.meaning.patronym, matronym, teknonym, papponym, or adelphonyms conclusion
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Since the forum change has been delayed, I've started adding these posts to the previous tip list. See L/V 10 Tip of the Day
QUESTION: Are there any papponyms in Christian Scripture?
SOFTWARE: AI is rarely useful in cases where there are few results. Rather I used a book Search with the following search argument “avonym OR andronym OR papponym OR "genos name" OR soronym OR fratronym OR neponym OR "avuncular name" OR amitonym OR adelphonyms”.
ANSWER: from the results, reasonable results came from Cassuto, U. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Part II, From Noah to Abraham. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1997.
Nahor] The fact that he is called after his father’s father, in accordance with the papponymic system, does not indicate that he is the first-born. On the contrary, the tradition may wish to indicate thereby that it was the second son who continued to cherish the family heritage of idolatry, not the first, The second son, whose name was identical with that of his paternal grandfather, was like his grandfather and never liberated himself from his spiritual legacy; whereas the first, Abram, introduced an important and noble innovation in the life of the family, and became the exalted father [אַבְ רָם ʾabh-rām] of the new humanity.[1]
QUESTION: Are there any fratronyms in the New Testament?
SOFTWARE: Because a book Search with the following search argument “avonym OR andronym OR papponym OR "genos name" OR soronym OR fratronym OR neponym OR "avuncular name" OR amitonym OR adelphonyms” did not return fratronyms except in archaeology and inscriptions while I had expected New Testament results, I ran the simple question “are there any fratonyms in the New Testament” through Perplexity.
ANSWER: from Perplexity gave me no fratronyms but offered a new relationship adelphonyms which I added to my search argument.
Based on the search results provided, there is no specific mention or clear examples of fratronymic names (names derived from a brother's name) in the New Testament. However, the search results do provide some relevant information about naming conventions in biblical times:
1. Patronymic names (derived from the father's name) were very common in biblical literature, especially in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament
2. Matronymic names (derived from the mother's name) were less common but did occur occasionally in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament
3. The New Testament uses a mix of Hebrew and Greek naming conventions, reflecting the cultural context of the time.
4. There are instances of people being identified by their siblings in the Hebrew Bible, known as adelphonyms. For example, "Avishai achi Yoav" (Abishai, brother of Joab). However, these are not strictly fratronymic names but rather a way of further identifying individuals.
5. The New Testament sometimes identifies individuals by both their given name and a patronym, or by geographical identifiers.
While the search results don't explicitly mention fratronymic names in the New Testament, they suggest that such naming conventions were not common in biblical literature. The focus seems to be primarily on patronymics, with some instances of matronymics and other forms of identification.[2]
QUESTION: In the Bible, what is the difference between a patronym and a teknonym?
ANSWER: from Perplexity:
Based on the search results, here are the key differences between patronyms and teknonyms in biblical usage:
1. Definition:
- Patronym: A name derived from the father's name.
- Teknonym: A name that identifies a person by referencing their child's name.
2. Structure:
- Patronym: Typically uses "ben" (son of) or "bat" (daughter of) followed by the father's name.
- Teknonym: Uses "avi" (father of) followed by the child's name.
3. Examples:
- Patronym: Joshua ben Nun, Caleb ben Jephunneh
- Teknonym: Terach avi Avraham (Terah, father of Abraham), Chamor avi Shechem (Hamor, father of Shechem)
4. Frequency of use:
- Patronyms are very common throughout the Hebrew Bible.
- Teknonyms are less common in literal usage but more common in symbolic usage to create first names.
5. Symbolic usage:
- Patronyms are sometimes used symbolically, but this is less common.
- Teknonyms are often used symbolically to create first names, such as Avraham (meaning "father of a multitude").
6. Prefixes:
- Patronyms typically use "ben" or "bat"
- Teknonyms use "avi"
7. Cultural significance:
- Patronyms were a crucial part of naming conventions throughout biblical literature.
- Teknonyms, while less common in literal use, played an important role in creating symbolic names with deeper meanings.
In summary, while both patronyms and teknonyms are naming conventions based on family relationships, patronyms focus on the father's identity, while teknonyms focus on the person's identity as a parent. Patronyms were more commonly used for literal identification, while teknonyms were often employed symbolically in the creation of meaningful names.[3]
QUESTION: Give examples of formulaic names in the Hebrew Bible.
SOFTWARE: I specifically fed Perplexity a link to Biblical Hebrew names from symbolic kinship formulae – Ivri Anochi (home.blog) to show what I meant by formulaic name. While I expected Hebrew forms, I received English examples.
ANSWER: from Perplexity:
Based on the information provided in the blog post, here's a list of formulaic names mentioned, grouped by their naming convention:
1. Patronymic formula:
- Benyamin (son of the south/son of days)
- Benoni (son of my sorrows)
- Benammi (son of my kin)
- Benhadad (son of Hadad, the thunder god)
- Benchesed (son of loving kindness)
- Benchail (son of military might)
- Benchanan (son of grace)
- Benzochet (son of separation)
- Benmelech (son of a king/royalty)
- Batsheva (daughter of an oath)
- Batya (daughter of God)
- Bar Kokhba (son of the star, Aramaic)
2. Teknonymic formula:
- Avraham (father of a multitude)
- Avram/Aviram (father of height/greatness)
- Avimelech (father of a king/royalty)
- Avshalom (father of peace)
- Avner (father of a light)
- Evyatar (father of abundance)
- Aviezer (father of help)
- Avichail (father of might)
- Avinadav (father of nobility)
- Avital (father of dew)
- Avinoam (father of pleasantness)
- Avituv (father of goodness)
- Avigail (father of joy, used for a woman)
3. Adelphonymic formula:
- Achiram (brother of greatness)
- Achimelech (brother of a king/royalty)
- Achinadav (brother of nobility)
- Achinoam (brother of pleasantness)
- Achituv (brother of goodness)
- Achima'atz (brother of anger)
- Achisamakh (brother of support)
4. "Am" (kin) formula:
- Amram (kin of greatness)
- Amraphel (kin of greatness, Akkadian elements)
- Aminadav (kin of nobility)
- Amiel (kin of God)
- Amishaddai (kin of the Almighty)
- Amizavad (kin of gift)
- Amihud (kin of praise)
- Amalek (possibly "kin of pasture")
5. "Ohel" (homestead) formula:
- Oholivamah (homestead of the high ground)
- Oholiav (homestead of father/a patriarch)
6. "Bayit" (house) formula:
- Betuel (house of God)
7. "Shem" (name/family) formula:
- Shmuel (family of God)
8. "Eved" (servant) formula:
- Ovadiah (servant of God)
- Avde'el/Avdiel (servant of God)
- Evedmelech (servant of a king/royalty)
- Oved-Edom (servant of the land of Edom)
- Aved-Nego (servant of Nego/Nebo)
9. Adjectival suffix "-i" formula:
- Naphtali (of combat/wrestling)
- Chophni (of a fist)
10. "Melech" (king) formula:
- Malchiel/Melchiel/Melchiyah (king belonging to God)
- Melchitzedek (king of righteousness)
- Malchishua (king of salvation)
11. "Adon" (lord) formula:
- Adoniyah (a lord belonging to God)
- Adonimelech (lord of a king/royalty)
- Adonitzedek (lord of righteousness)
- Adoniram (lord of height/greatness)
12. "El" (mighty one) formula:
- Elimelech (mighty one of a king/royalty)
- Elitzedek (mighty one of righteousness)
- Elishua (mighty one of salvation)
- Eliezer (mighty one of help)
- Eliyahu (mighty one of God)
- Eliel (mighty one of God)
- Elibaal (mighty one of Baal)
13. Other formulaic names:
- Daniel (judge of God)
- Shephatyahu (judge of God)
- Ishbaal (man of Baal)
- Metushelach (man of Shelach)
- Metushael (man of Shael)
- Re'uel (fellow of God)
- Chamutal (kith/kin of dew)
- Lemuel (fellow community member of God)
- Qemuel (fellow community member of God)
- Yedidyah (beloved of God)
- Shlumiel (peace partner/tributary of God)
- Reuven (sight of a son)
- Netaniel/Netanyah/Metanyah (gift of God)
- Zavadya/Zavadiel (gift of God)
- Gavriel (man of God)
- Raphael (healing/medicine of God)
- Samael (venom of God)
- Azrael (helper of God)
- Michael (striker/hammer of God)
- Elazer (whom God has helped)
- Yirmiyahu (whom God makes high/great)
This list covers most of the formulaic names mentioned in the blog post, grouped by their naming conventions.[4]
Note that the same source provides grammatical information on the formulaic names; for example:
An important point to note with regard to the words avi (father of) and achi (brother of) is that the ending -i does not mean “my”. In Hebrew when we make a composition of two nouns in an X of Y formula, the first noun typically has its vowels weakened to produce what is known as the construct state. In early Semitic languages the construct state also had a binding vowel such as -i, -u or -a. Teknonyms and adelphonyms found in the Tanakh use the archaic form with the binding vowel -i. This is a point we will return to.[5]
** The system of naming a child after the grandfather.
[1] U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Part II, From Noah to Abraham, trans. Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1997), 267–268.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogy_of_Jesus and https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-men-bible/Alphabetical-Order-All-Men and https://ivrianochi.home.blog/2018/11/17/biblical-hebrew-names-from-symbolic-kinship-formulas/ and https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/the-patronymic-puzzle-revisiting and http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/10/hebrew-names-and-titles.html and https://indifferencegivesyouafright.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/we-dont-know-the-last-names-of-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/ and https://www.stempublishing.com/magazines/bt/BT12/1878_191_Teknon_Huios.html
[3] https://www.stempublishing.com/magazines/bt/BT12/1878_191_Teknon_Huios.html and https://ivrianochi.home.blog/2018/11/17/biblical-hebrew-names-from-symbolic-kinship-formulas/ and https://www.ezrabrand.com/p/the-patronymic-puzzle-revisiting and http://biblicalanthropology.blogspot.com/2022/10/hebrew-names-and-titles.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogy_of_Jesus and https://indifferencegivesyouafright.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/we-dont-know-the-last-names-of-matthew-mark-luke-and-john/ and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/patronymic and https://blog.familytreedna.com/evolution-patronymics-to-surnames/
[4] https://ivrianochi.home.blog/2018/11/17/biblical-hebrew-names-from-symbolic-kinship-formulas/
[5] Ibid.
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