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ArchivesRe: Caleb
in reply to a message by Mrs Claire
Again, it's fine to interpret the name for yourself this way if you want to. But in terms of historical etymology, you can't just look in a dictionary (of any language) and say that a name means the same thing as words it resembles, without having evidence that the name was created from those words at the time it was first used.
Someone could look in an English dictionary and say that Ashton would mean "2,000 pounds of burnt wood", but that's NOT its historical etymology.
Someone could look in an English dictionary and say that Ashton would mean "2,000 pounds of burnt wood", but that's NOT its historical etymology.
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Unfortunately, most Hebrew names have tons of interpretations that are all considered valid, and I am not a rabbi to decided which interpretation is valid according to tradition and which is not. Just do a search on a Jewish site.
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Well, frankly, I would not necessarily accept what a rabbi says about the original meaning of an ancient Hebrew name unless he or she was also an expert in ancient Semitic languages. And there are plenty of sites put up by Christians that spread nonsense about the origin of traditional Christian names, so just because a site is "Jewish" doesn't mean it's correct.
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I believe what the Talmud says on names. They probably had a better knowledge than us. I would also think a rabbi studied the Talmud, so I would believe him unless it sounded totally off (then I would ask for more details about how he got his information).
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LMAO
Thanks for the laugh!
Thanks for the laugh!
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