AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE PROPER NAMES

IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS;

WITH THE SIGNIFICATION OF MANY OF THEM IN THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES; TOGETHER WITH THEIR PRONUNCIATION.

BY THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, M.A.,

Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Lecturer on Hebrew and the Old Testament.

THE primary object of the following list is to promote a more correct pronunciation of the proper names in the Bible. Probably no educated person would be satisfied to pronounce the names which occur in French history as incorrectly as many pronounce those in the New and almost all those in the Old Testament. Strict accuracy is no doubt unattainable. In some cases (e.g. Moses, Aaron, Solomon, Isaac, Samuel, Jeremiah) the forms adopted by the Authorized Version are borrowed from the Septuagint through the medium of the Vulgate. Here the correct pronunciation would require an alteration of familiar names, which would be quite intolerable. But even where the current forms are derived from the Hebrew, a strictly accurate pronunciation would offend by introducing a dissonance into the rude but real harmony of our English speech. Besides, that quickness of ear which is necessary for reproducing foreign sounds is conspicuously wanting to most natives of England. Still the prevalent system of pronouncing Biblical names seems unnecessarily wide of the mark. There is no occasion to offend so gratuitously against the laws of Hebrew sound and composition as we do at present. Not a few of our mispronunciations of Hebrew names impede the comprehension of their meaning, especially in the case of names of religious significance, where the meaning is most fully fraught with instruction.

A working compromise between pedantic precision and persistent mispronunciation is surely feasible, and it is this which has been attempted in the following pages. Special care has been given to those names which contain in some form the proper name of God in Hebrew. In these the accent has, as a rule, been shifted so as to bring the religious significance of the name prominently before the reader. A second and hardly less important object, though it requires a little thought to realize it, is the opening up of a fresh source of information as to the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of the Israelites and their neighbours. It is true we have an authoritative record (or rather collection of records) of Jewish religion in the Old Testament, but it is one which for the most part relates to the higher classes and choicer spirits of Israel. The proper names, on the other hand, furnish us with contemporary and undesigned evidence as to the thoughts, convictions, and feelings of persons in all ranks of society. To a very large extent they contain statements respecting God and His attributes, or respecting the less spiritual forms of religion against which the long succession of prophets struggled in vain (Isa. xvii. 8; xxvii. 9; Jer. ix. 14; Amos v. 26, &c.). They also help us to understand how the truths of spiritual monotheism found so fervent an expression in Jewish prophecy. Again, the nations related to the Jews, and especially the Assyrians and Babylonians (who early came into contact with the ancestors of the Israelites) seem to have possessed a leaven of something akin to spirituality which distinguishes them from other Gentiles. Even to readers who remember that it was from Padan Aram, the Piedmont beyond the Tigris (Stanley), that Abraham sought a wife for the Child of Promise, and Rebekah a wife for Jacob, the next heir to the promises, it will be a pleasing surprise to notice the similarity in the expression of religious faith between the Israelitish proper names and the few Assyrian and Babylonian preserved in the Old Testament.

The meanings of names not of a religious character may sometimes appear strange and unnatural; but it does not follow that their interpretation is fanciful or supported by insufficient evidence. The selection of a name was, and still is, in the East, often dictated by some accidental circumstance, as by a word spoken at the birth of a child, or by some object which chanced to meet the eye of the mother. So Rachel called her last-born Benoni, the son of my sorrow, while his father called him Benjamin. It would almost appear from Luke i. 60–62 that the mother was the first to give a name, subject to correction by the father. None of the meanings here given are arbitrary, and yet they are by no means equally certain, (1) because the original form of the names has sometimes become modified, and (2) because the old Hebrew literature is so scanty in extent, and so far from embodying the entire word-store of the Israelites, that it is often necessary to call in the aid of the kindred dialects (especially Aramaic and Arabic) in explaining the proper names. This is a process in which different scholars will often come to different results; but the majority of the meanings here given have at least a high degree of probability. The most doubtful ones have the sign of interrogation attached.

The student of the Bible will be thankful that the explanations of names having reference to religion are among the most probable; many of them in fact are either certain, or all but certain, thanks to recent researches. In this class of names and in this only, the author has aimed at something like completeness. To have given an exhaustive list of names of (presumably) a non-religious character and of uncertain meaning, would have occupied much space, with little profit, if any, to the Bible student, and perhaps diverted attention from those of greater importance. Names of difficult pronunciation have, however, as a rule been included.

It only remains to be added (1) that the reader will sometimes find a discrepancy between the meanings given in the margin of his Bible and those assigned in the present list. This arises from a peculiarity of the sacred writers, who by the conditions of their mission aimed at edification rather than historical information, and often attached a significance to proper names which does not etymologically belong to them. The etymologies of the Old Testament, on which those given in the margin are based, are frequently parallel to some at least of the applications of the psalms and the prophecies which we find in the New Testament. The object of the sacred writers in such cases was clearly edification only. To invest the Old Testament writers with a critical character which they nowhere claim, would

LIST OF PROPER NAMES.

involve an unreasonable violation of the laws and analogies of language. Without disparaging the advantages of sanctified study, we must never forget that to the poor the Gospel was (first) preached. The Bible was written for "the simple," that it might become the property of the whole of mankind. (2) The author has retained the familiar rendering "The LORD" for the name of God, feeling that without a lengthened explanation the correct form could hardly be made palatable to ordinary students. The form Jehovah is unhesitatingly to be rejected, as due to a misunderstanding of comparatively modern origin.

It has not been thought worth while to translate all the Greek names cited from the New Testament, a historical interest being mostly wanting. That vivid consciousness of the significance of names which we find in the Old Testament does not seem to have existed among the Greek-speaking communities, at any rate in that period of decline providentially selected for the coming of Christ. It is extremely unlikely that the Greek-speaking converts to Christianity, whose names are given in Rom. xvi., attached any weight to the meanings of the names given to them in their heathen period. Why then should we investigate them, and so confound two essentially different classes of names? On the other hand, Isaiah, Zechariah, &c., could not help being reminded of a great truth every time their names were mentioned. Names of deep religious import such as these are worthy of careful study, and show how thoroughly the truths of religion entered into the everyday life of those who bore them. Priscilla, Aquila, Andronicus, &c., on the other hand, might, for ought we know, just as well have borne any other names. One name was equally convenient, and perhaps equally unmeaning with another.

Preliminary Note on the Pronunciation of Hebrew Names in the Bible.

Vowels.-a' should always be pronounced as ah; i as ee; o as oh ; u as oo.
Consonants.-c should always be pronounced as k; ch as kh; j as y.

N.B.-In the subjoined List pron, or pr. means pronounce.

The pronunciations indicated below are intended to bring the conventional pronunciation of Bible names more into harmony with their true pronunciation in Hebrew.

'A-RON. 14.

father. 1 16. 34.

A-do-ni'ram, high-lord. 1 Kings 4. 6.

Abaddon, the place of destruc- A-biram, high fer of wandering (1. A-do-ni-ze'dek, lord of righteousness.

tion (ie. of the departed spirits).
Rev. 9. 11.
[Est. 1.10.
A-bag tha, fortunate. (Persian word.)
A-ba napr. Abahna]. 2 Kings 5. 12.
A-ba'rim pron. Abahreem], regions
beyond. Deut. 32. 49.
Ab'da, servant. 1 Kings 4. 6. [6. 44.
Ab'di, servant of the LORD. 1 Chron.
Ab di-el, servant of God. 1 Chr. 5. 15.
Ab'don, servant. Judg. 12. 13.
A-bed ne-go, servant of Nego (ie. Ne-
bo, Babylonian god). Dan. 3. 12.
A'bel, (1) son, Gen. 4. 2; (2) meadow,
2 Sam. 20. 18.

A bel-beth-ma'a-cha [pr. -kah], mea-
dow of Maakah. 1 Kings 15. 20.
A'bel-ma'im, meadow of waters. 2
Chron. 16. 4.
A'bel-me-hoʻlah,

meadow of the

dance. 1 Kings 4. 12. [Gen. 50. 11. A'bel-miz'raim, meadow of Egypt. A'bel-shit tim, meadow of acacias. Num. 33. 49.

A'bi.
A-bi ah,

the Lord is a father, i.c. is to be worshipped under the symbolical title of father. 2 Kings 18. 2; 1 Chron. 7. 8. Ab-i-albon. 2 Sam. 23. 31. A-bi-a'saph, the father (ie. God) gathereth (i.e. protecteth). Ex. 6. 24. Ab-ia thar [pr. Ab-yah-thar], father of preeminence. 1 Sam. 23. 9. (This and the following names beginning with Abi or Ab, seem to be titles of God.) [25. 4. A-bi'dah, the father knoweth. Gen. A-bi'dan, father-judge. Num. 1. 11. & 2. 22.

1

Ab'iel, God (is) a father. 1 Sam. 9. 1.
A-bi-e'zer, father of help. Josh. 17. 2.
Ab-i-ga'il, father of exultation.
Sam. 25. 14.
[3. 35.
Ab-i-ha'il, father of strength. Num.
A-bi'hu, the father is He. Num. 3. 2.
A-bi ́hud, father of majesty. 1 Chron.

8.3.

A-bi'jah, the Lord is a father.(1 Kings
A-bi jam Abijah.
14. 31.
Ab-i-ma'el, father of Mael (an Ara-
bian tribe). Gen. 10. 28.
Ab-i-me'lech [pr. lek], father-king.
[1. & 16. 8.
Ab-i-na'dab, noble father. 1 Sam. 7.
A-bi-no'am, father of pleasantness or
graciousness, Judg. 4. 6.

Gen. 20. 2.

[15. 2. 1 Kings 1 Chr. [8. 4. [8. 11.

1 Kings 1. 3.
A-bi'shai. 1 Chron. 2. 16.
Ab-i-sha'lom, father of peace.
A-bi-shu'a, father of welfare.
A-bi'shur. 1 Chron. 2. 28.
A-bi'tal. 2 Sam. 3. 4.
A-bi'tub, father of prosperity. i Chr.
A-bi'ud (sce Abihua). Matt. 1. 13.
Ab'ner, the father (is) a lamp. 1 Sam.
14. 51. Comp. Neriah.
Abra-ham, high father. Gen. 11. 27.
Ab'sa-lom, father of peace. 2 Sam. 3. 3.
Ac'cad, highland. Gen. 10. 10.
Ac'cho [pr. Akkol. Judg. 1. 31.
A-cel da-ma, the field of blood [pron.
Akeldama). Matt. 27. 7; Acts 1. 19.
A-chai'a [ pr. Akaia], name for Greece.
Acts 18. 12. Rom. 15. 26.
A-cha'i-cus [pr. Akaicus], a native of
Achaia. 1 Cor. 16. 17.

A'bram,

A chan, or A'char [ pr. Akan, Akar].
he that troubleth. Josh. 7. 18-26.
Ach bor [pr. Akbor], mouse. Gen. 36.
A chim [pr. Akim]. Matt. 1. 14. [38.
A'chish. 1 Sam. 21. 10. & 27. 2. & 28. 1. &
[29. 6.
Ach'me-tha. Ezra 6. 2.
A'chor [pr. Akor], causing trouble.
Josh. 7. 24, 26.
[15. 16.
Ach'sah [pr. Aksah], anklet. Josh,
Ach'shaph[pr. Akshaph], enchanted.
Josh. 11. 1. & 12. 20.
Ach'zib [pr. Akzib], deceptive. Josh.
19. 29. Mic. 1. 14.

A'dah, ornament, beauty. Gen. 4. 23.
A-da'iah, the Lord hath adorned. 2
Kings 22. 1.

A-dalia [ pr. -ya]. Est. 9. 8.
Ad'am, red (?). Gen. 1. 27. & 2. 19,
A-da'mah, earth. Josh. 19. 36.
A-da'mi. Josh. 19. 33.
A'dar, glory (strictly name of a god).
Ezra 6. 15; Est. 3. 7, 13. & 9. 15, 21.
[36.
Ad be-el. Gen. 25. 13.
Ad'i-el, ornament of God. 1 Chr. 4.
A'din, voluptuous. Ezra 2. 15.
A-di ́na,
Ad-i-tha im. Josh. 15. 36.
Ad'lai. 1 Chron. 27. 29.
Ad'mah. Gen. 10. 19; Deut. 29. 23.
Est. 1. 14.
Ad'ma-tha.
[1.5.
Ad'na, pleasure. Ezra 10, 30.
A-do'ni-be'zek, lord of Bezek. Judg.
A-do-ni'jah, lord Yah (see Jah). 1
Kings 1. 5.
A-do-ni'kam, lord-arising. Ezra 2. 13.

Josh. 10. 1.

(24. A-do-ra'im. 2 Chron. 11. 9. A-do'ram (see Hadoram), 2 Sam. 20. Ad'ram-me lech, Adar the king (ie. supreme god). 2 Kings 17. 31. & 19. 37. Isa. 37. 38.

[15.

Ad-ra-myt'ti-um. Acts 27. 2.
Ad'ri-a. Acts 27. 27.
A-dul'lam. 1 Sam. 22. 1. 1 Chron. 11
A-ga bus, locust. Acts 11. 28. & 21. 10.
A'gag (name of Amalekite kings).

Num. 24. 7; 1 Sam. 15. 8.
A-ga gite, descendant of Agag; or, of
province of Agag. Est. 3. 1.
A'gar. See Hagar.
A-grip'pa. Acts 25. & 26.
A'gur, one who collects. Prov. 30, 1.
A'hab, brother-father (probably a di-
vine title). 1 Kings 16. 29.
A-has-u-e'rus. Est. 1. 1.
A'ha-va, water. Ezra 8. 15.
A'haz (shortened from Jehoahaz). 2
[Kings S. 23.
Kings 16. 1.
A-haziah, the Lord taketh hold. 2
A'hi, the Lord is a brother,.i.e. is
A-hi'ah, to be worshipped under the
symbolical title of brother. (This and
the following names beginning with
Ahi seem to be titles of God or of
heathen deities). 1 Kings 11. 30.
A-hi-e'zer, brother of help Num. 1.12
A-hi hud, brother of majesty. Num.
[31. 27.
A-hi jah (see Ahiah).
A-hi kam, brother-arising. 2 Kings
122.12
A-hi'lud. 2 Sam. 8. 16.
A-hi-ma'az. 2 Sam. 15. 27.
A-hi'man. 1 Chron. 9. 17.
A-hi-me'lech (pr. melek], brother-
king. 1 Sam. 21. 1. & 22, 9.
T4. 14.
A-hi'moth. 1 Chron. 6. 25.
A-hi-na'dab, noble brother. 1 Kings
A-hi-no am, brother of graciousness
1 Sam. 14. 50.
[6.3
A-hi'o, the Lord is a brother. 2 Sam.
A-hi'ra, probably, Ra (the Egyptian
sun-god) is a brother. Num. 1. 15.
A-hi'ram, high brother. Num. 26. 38.
(comp. Abiram).
[Ex. 31. 6.
A-hi-sa mach, the brother supporteth
A-hi-sha har, the brother (is) the early

light. 1 Chron. 7. 10.
A-hi shar. 1 Kings 4. 6.
A-hi-tho'phel. 2 Sam. 15. 31. & 17. 23.
A-hi tub, brother of prosperity. 1

Sam. 14. 3.

Ah'lab, fat or fruitful. Judg. 1. $1.

Ah lai, oh that! (?). 1 Chron. 2. 31.
A-hoʻlah, her tent. Ezek. 23. 4.
Aholi-ab', father's tent. Ex. 35. 34.
A-holi-bah, my tent in her. Ezek.
23. 4.

A holi-ba'mah, tent of the high place
Gen. 36. 2. 1 Chr.

Ai, or Hai [pr. as diphthongs], heap
of ruins. Josh. 7. 2-5. Jer. 49. 3.
Ai'ah, falcon. 2 Sam. 3.7. Gen. 36. 24.
A'jah,
A'in, fountain. Num. 34. 11.
Ai'ath. See Ai. Isa. 10. 28.
A'ja-lon, place of stags. Josh. 19. 42.
Ak kub, insidious, successor, 1 Chron.
3. 24. Ezra 2. 42. (comp. Jacob).
Ak-rab'bim, scorpions. Num. 34. 4.
A'lam-me'lech, perhaps, king's oak.
Josh. 19. 26.

A-le meth, hiding (?). 1 Chron. 7. 8.
Al-ex-an'der. Mark 15. 21.
Al-ex-an'dri-a. Acts 18. 24.
Allon, an oak. Josh. 19. 33.
Allon-ba chuth [ pr. -bakuth], oak of
weeping. Gen. 35. 8.

Al-mo dad, the Modadites (an Arab
tribe). Gen. 10. 26.
Al'mon, hidden (?). Josh. 21. 18.
Al'mon-Dib-la-tha'im. Num. 33. 46.
Al-phe'us, deputy. Matt. 10. 3. Mark
2. 14. Acts 1. 13.
Am'a-lek. Gen. 36. 12.

Am-a'na [pr. Amahna], sure, peren-
nial. Song 4. 8.

A-mariah, the Lord hath promised.

1 Chron. 6. 52. & 24. 23.

Am-a'sa, burden. 2 Sam. 17. 25.
A-maz'iah, the Lord is strong.
Kings 14. 1.

PROPER NAMES.

BE

Az-ma'veth. 2 Sam. 23. 31; Ezra 2. 24.
Az-noth-ta'bor, ears (i.e. summits?)
of Tabor. Josh. 19. 34.
A-zo'tus, the same as Ashdod. Acts
A'zur, ?
Azzur, helper. Neh. 10. 17.

Bar-zil'lai, of iron. 2 Sam. 17. 27.
Ba'shan, fruitful. Num. 21. 33.
Bash'e-math, sweet-smelling, agree-
able. Gen. 26. 34.
Bath'she-ba, daughter of the seven (?),
or of an oath (?). 2 Sam. 11. 3.
Be'al-iah (pr. -yah], the Lord is lord.
[1 Sam. 12. 11.
1 Chron. 12. 5.
Be'dan (error of scribe for Barak?).
Be-el'ze-bub. See Baal-zebub.
Be-el'ze-bul (right reading in Matt. 10.
25, &c.). See Baal-zebul.
Be'er, a well Num. 21. 16.
Be'er-lahal'-ro'i, well of the living one
that seeth me (?). Gen. 16. 14.
Be'er-e'lim, well of trees. Isa. 15. 8.
Be'er-she'ba, well of seven, or of an
oath. Gen. 21. 14, 33.

Bithiah (pr. Bithyah), daughter (ie. DABE-RATH, pasture. Josh. 19.