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ArchivesCaleb - meaning
Many name books / websites list the meaning of CALEB as "Dog". However, a simple look in a Hebrew / English dctionary one will see that "dog" in Hebrew is CELEB, not CALEB. **Note** the first vowel is different.
CALEB is actually a compound word in Hebrew - something that is quite common in ancient Hebrew. Col (Cuf + Lamed) = all or whole. Lev (Lamed + Vet) = heart. Therefore, CALEB (or COLEV as pronounced in Hebrew) actually means "whole hearted".
Faithful could be another translation. However, if you read in the Hebrew Bible the exploits of CALEB (as in one of the twelve spies who went into Caanan Numbers 13:6 & 13:30), one will see that he wasn't simply faithful, but that he served the God of ISRAEL with his whole heart. IE: He was the first to speak up and say, "let's go and conquer this land," (paraphrased). It wasn't JOSHUA (the leader of the 12 spies), but CALEB who was encouraging Israel to follow God inspite of the opposition from the other 10 spies.
Therefore, the ancient meaning of CALEB is: "whole hearted".
CALEB is actually a compound word in Hebrew - something that is quite common in ancient Hebrew. Col (Cuf + Lamed) = all or whole. Lev (Lamed + Vet) = heart. Therefore, CALEB (or COLEV as pronounced in Hebrew) actually means "whole hearted".
Faithful could be another translation. However, if you read in the Hebrew Bible the exploits of CALEB (as in one of the twelve spies who went into Caanan Numbers 13:6 & 13:30), one will see that he wasn't simply faithful, but that he served the God of ISRAEL with his whole heart. IE: He was the first to speak up and say, "let's go and conquer this land," (paraphrased). It wasn't JOSHUA (the leader of the 12 spies), but CALEB who was encouraging Israel to follow God inspite of the opposition from the other 10 spies.
Therefore, the ancient meaning of CALEB is: "whole hearted".
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Replies
Ancient Hebrew has no vowels or punctuation.
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Does not mean dog, that is celeb not caleb.
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WOW I NEVER KNEW THIS
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The Wikipedia entry is more accurate. The explanation put forth here defies all of what we know from historical Hebrew linguistics
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I REALLY LOVE THE NAME CALEB.
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Well, that describes me perfectly. I am very faithful and I do everything wholeheartedly. Amazing what your name says about you.
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Thank you!
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Caleb (Kalev) isn't easy. You are right, the dog part appears almost everywhere.
Now Lala is right, when she says that vowels don't mean a lot in Hebrew, so KALEV could well be related to KELEV, because the consonants Kaf-Lamed-Bet are the same. The pronunciation is nothing much to go by: You pronounce the name "Colev", which is the Ashkenaz pronunciation. The Sephardic pronunciation is KALEV, and in modern Hebrew the name is pronounced this way. So the (possible) pronunciation "COLEV" is not really an argument for your thesis.
As far as I can see (please correct me if I'm mistaken) the dog part doesn't come in directly through the Hebrew word kelev, but through an Arabic parallel. Martin Noth has this in his book "Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung" (despite its age of more than 70 years still the standard work on the subject): "'furious like a dog', after the Arabic karibun" (page 230, fn 5). Of course the two words are related.
You are right: The explanation you are giving (and you are not the only one) perfectly matches the character of the biblical KALEV - and this is exactly what makes me suspicious.
I believe, this is but folk etymology, nicely made up and good for a Sunday sermon. But I don't think it has anything to do with the original meaning of the name. If I had the means, I would try and look in the Jewish tradition and probably find something about KALEV loving God "with all his heart" (Dtn 6,5: „kol-levav“! ).
In the bible names of animals usually have a positive connotation when used as a personal name: Debora should be as industrious as a bee, Arie as strong as a lion, Zibya as elegant as a Gazelle etc. Others probably were nicknames in the first place: Tola (Gen 46,13) means "worm", Chulda (Huldah) (2. Kings 22,14) is a "moule" (choled; chulda in modern Hebrew means „rat“), and Parosh (Esr 2,3) means "flea". So a name meaning "furious as a dog" would fit in with this.
Now Lala is right, when she says that vowels don't mean a lot in Hebrew, so KALEV could well be related to KELEV, because the consonants Kaf-Lamed-Bet are the same. The pronunciation is nothing much to go by: You pronounce the name "Colev", which is the Ashkenaz pronunciation. The Sephardic pronunciation is KALEV, and in modern Hebrew the name is pronounced this way. So the (possible) pronunciation "COLEV" is not really an argument for your thesis.
As far as I can see (please correct me if I'm mistaken) the dog part doesn't come in directly through the Hebrew word kelev, but through an Arabic parallel. Martin Noth has this in his book "Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung" (despite its age of more than 70 years still the standard work on the subject): "'furious like a dog', after the Arabic karibun" (page 230, fn 5). Of course the two words are related.
You are right: The explanation you are giving (and you are not the only one) perfectly matches the character of the biblical KALEV - and this is exactly what makes me suspicious.
I believe, this is but folk etymology, nicely made up and good for a Sunday sermon. But I don't think it has anything to do with the original meaning of the name. If I had the means, I would try and look in the Jewish tradition and probably find something about KALEV loving God "with all his heart" (Dtn 6,5: „kol-levav“! ).
In the bible names of animals usually have a positive connotation when used as a personal name: Debora should be as industrious as a bee, Arie as strong as a lion, Zibya as elegant as a Gazelle etc. Others probably were nicknames in the first place: Tola (Gen 46,13) means "worm", Chulda (Huldah) (2. Kings 22,14) is a "moule" (choled; chulda in modern Hebrew means „rat“), and Parosh (Esr 2,3) means "flea". So a name meaning "furious as a dog" would fit in with this.
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