II. PERSONAL NAMES
Personal names are either purely Hebrew or hebraicized. To the
latter category belong not only (passing over foreign names as
Teglathphalasar, Assuerus, etc.) Babylonian (Daniel-Balthassar) and
Persian (Hadassa-Esther) names assumed by some persons of Hebrew
origin living in far-away countries, and the Greek and Latin names
in use among Jews of later times conjointly with their Hebrew or
Aramaic names (John/Mark; Saul/Paul, etc.,) but also certain very
old names which were handed down by tradition, such as Cain, Abel,
Noah, Abraham, etc., and treated by the sacred writers as Hebrew
words. There is scarcely any doubt but that in passing from one
language to the other these names were altered to some extent; and
as the etymological explanation pretends to interpret the Hebrew
form, the meaning arrived at can hardly be more than fanciful. It
is from the original language of these names that their meaning
should be sought (so Abram and Abraham may be explained from the
Assyr. Abi-ramu, or Abi-rame, "my father loveth"; Sarai and Sara
from Sharat, "the great princess"; Lot from Latu, or La'itu, "the
consumer"; from the Egyptian might be explained likewise a few
names, e.g., Moses, "the child", etc.). Of the pure Hebrew names
some are simple and others compound. Simple names appear to have
been more frequent in early times, but some are in reality
hypocoristic, i.e., abbreviated forms of compound names as Saul
(asked), David (beloved) Nathan (he gave), etc., which were
probably combined with a Divine name, Yah or 'El.
Simple Names
Of the simple names a few seem to have been suggested by particular
circumstances attending the child's birth: e.g, Jacob (the
supplanter), Joseph (possibly an hypocoristic name: "Whom God
added" -- Eliasaph was at one time a favourite name for the
youngest son in a family). A large class of proper names for men
and women is made up of adjectives denoting personal
characteristics. Here are a few instances: Acan (afflicting), Achaz
(possessor), Agar (wanderer), Amos (strong), Amri (eloquent), Aod
(praising), Asaph (gatherer), Aser (happy), Asir (captive), Ather
(bound), Azbai (dwarf), Balac (vain), Baruch (blessed), Cetura
(sweet-smelling), Dalila (yearning), Doeg (anxious), Edom (red),
Esthon (women-like), Gaddel, Geddel (tall), Gedeon (destroyer),
Heled (fat), Job (ruthlessly treated), Laban (white), Manahem
(consoler), Nabal (fool), Nachor (panting or snoring), Nahum
(comforter), Noemi (pretty), Omri (tiro, awkward), Ornan (nimble),
Ozni (long-eared), Phesse (lame), Ruth (friend), Sepho
(bald-headed), etc.
Names of animals and plants were at the same period not
infrequently given to persons both by the Hebrews and by their
neighbours, the Chanaanites and others. Among the names of animals
assumed as proper names, we may mention: Achbor (mouse), Aia
(vulture), Aran (wild goat) Caleb (dog), Debora (bee), Eglon
(calf), Gaal (beetle) Hagaba, in N.T. Agabus (locust), Hulda
(weasel) Jahel (chamois), Jonas (dove), Nahas (snake), Ozi
(goose-like), Rachel (ewe), Saphan (coney), Sebia (gazelle),
Sephora (little bird), Sual (jackal) Tabitha (Aram., gazelle), Tola
(worm), Zeb (wolf).
Of the names of plants, apparently less frequently used than those
of animals, here are a few instances: Asena (bush), Cassia (a kind
of balsam tree), Cos (thorn), Elas (oak), Elon (terebinth), Hadassa
(myrtle), Oren (pine), Susan (lily), etc. Some modern scholars
explain the relatively frequent recurrence of these two kinds of
names among Palestinian populations as remnants of totemism which,
these scholars maintain, prevailed in early times. This is hardly
the place to discuss such a question. It is illogical to extend to
all primitive peoples religious conceptions observed in some few;
were we to yield to the fascination for totems which prevails among
some writers, we might consider as traces of totemism such English
names as Fox, Wolf, Hawthorne, and the like. Granting even that the
names mentioned above are unmistakable signs of totemism among the
early populations of Palestine, it would by no means necessarily
follow that these names manifest the prevalence of the same
religious ideas among the Hebrews. Hebrew was not the primitive
language of the descendants of Abraham, they having adopted it from
the natives of the land of Chanaan; naturally along with the
language they adopted certain of their modes of speech.
Sometimes names of things, also of natural phenomena, even (though
rarely) abstractions, and words referring to trades or avocations
were taken as proper names. Of the latter class we have for
instance: Abdon, Obed (servant), Amon (architect), Berzellai
(blacksmith), Charmi (vine-dresser), Somer (watch-man), Zamri
(singer); of the former: Agag (fire), Ahod (union), Amos (burden)
Anna (grace), Barac (lighting), Bezec (thunderbolt), Cis (straw),
Core (frost), Ephron (dust), Hon (strength), Mary (stubbornness,
disobedience, see Numbers 12), Naboth (fruit), Ur (light), Samson
(sun), etc.