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ArchivesA good name book - folk etymology
in reply to a message by Noa
Cleveland is making a good point. Martin Noth was one of the first scholars (as far as I know) who interpreted biblical names on the background of other Semitic languages, their vocabulary, their names and naming practice. (In the case of JACOB he refers to the Ethiopian Tigré language, a Semitic language similar to Arabic; I don't know a word of it.) This was almost 80 years ago.
A lot of scholars have followed him since, and as I said, although the meaning of many names is still debated (with some names obviously nobody can come up with more than educated guesses), there is some agreement. I would consider the Encyclopedia Judaica a fairly reliable source in that respect (it doesn't give the meanings of all names though). Also I have contacted a few Old Testament professors in Germany, when I was in doubt, just to hear their opinion and they usually confirmed what I stated in my last post. This does not necessarily mean that the meanings given are absolutely right. Scholars have failed in the past and will fail in future. And even more so little linguistic amateurs like myself. But a good name book, I reckon, should at least list the results of such research.
ELISHEVA: "sheva" means "seven" in Hebrew. The word for "oath" is "shvua" from an identical (?) verbal root. There seems to be a third verb "shava". "Sheva" 3 means "abundance" or else "completeness" and may refer to a complete(ed) family or more likely to God's abundant means (as creator?). Others have thought of a woman with an ample figure. (See Genesis 26,33, where the well at Be'er-Sheva is named; the word "shiva" is usally translated "oath", but for some reason the Vulgate has "Abundantia". Maybe the similar verb "sava" sin-beth-ayin, "to be satisfied" has influenced the meaning. Here again Noth backs up his interpertation with Babylonian parallels.)
JACOB: As I said above the generally accepted meaning "God protects / will protect / may protect" is taken from that Tigré language.
SALOMO: The verb behind "shalom" (peace) is "shalam" (to be whole, complete), in the Pi'el form "shallem" (to restore, to complete, to pay back). This is why a lot of scholars say, that the original meaning of Shlomo is "substitute for a child that has died".
All of this is still debated among scholars. And all of this does not mean, that the "folk etymology" explanations have no right of their own. Even if they don't give the original intention of the name, they have become part of the story and thus part of the name. There is no reason to despise those derivations. In many cases we can only conjecture as to how a certain name was made up in the first place.
A lot of scholars have followed him since, and as I said, although the meaning of many names is still debated (with some names obviously nobody can come up with more than educated guesses), there is some agreement. I would consider the Encyclopedia Judaica a fairly reliable source in that respect (it doesn't give the meanings of all names though). Also I have contacted a few Old Testament professors in Germany, when I was in doubt, just to hear their opinion and they usually confirmed what I stated in my last post. This does not necessarily mean that the meanings given are absolutely right. Scholars have failed in the past and will fail in future. And even more so little linguistic amateurs like myself. But a good name book, I reckon, should at least list the results of such research.
ELISHEVA: "sheva" means "seven" in Hebrew. The word for "oath" is "shvua" from an identical (?) verbal root. There seems to be a third verb "shava". "Sheva" 3 means "abundance" or else "completeness" and may refer to a complete(ed) family or more likely to God's abundant means (as creator?). Others have thought of a woman with an ample figure. (See Genesis 26,33, where the well at Be'er-Sheva is named; the word "shiva" is usally translated "oath", but for some reason the Vulgate has "Abundantia". Maybe the similar verb "sava" sin-beth-ayin, "to be satisfied" has influenced the meaning. Here again Noth backs up his interpertation with Babylonian parallels.)
JACOB: As I said above the generally accepted meaning "God protects / will protect / may protect" is taken from that Tigré language.
SALOMO: The verb behind "shalom" (peace) is "shalam" (to be whole, complete), in the Pi'el form "shallem" (to restore, to complete, to pay back). This is why a lot of scholars say, that the original meaning of Shlomo is "substitute for a child that has died".
All of this is still debated among scholars. And all of this does not mean, that the "folk etymology" explanations have no right of their own. Even if they don't give the original intention of the name, they have become part of the story and thus part of the name. There is no reason to despise those derivations. In many cases we can only conjecture as to how a certain name was made up in the first place.
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