I. THE ROMANTIC HISTORY OF BIBLE NAMES All poetry is but a giving of names.…Biography is the only true history:…History is the garb of biography.…Thomas Carlyle The beginning of all instruction is the study of names.-Antisthenes, c. 400 b.c. Many readers of the Bible treat its genealogical lists as despised regions, and wonder why they […]

“What should we learn from the life of Isaac?”……Answer: The name Isaac, which means "he laughs," was derived from his parents' reaction when God told Abraham that he, at 100 years old, and his wife Sarah, at the age of 90, would have a son (Genesis 17:1718:12). Isaac was Abraham's second son; his first, Ishmael, […]

Hilkiah[HÔöÇ┬ílkÔöÇ┬¢’ah]…Portion of jehovah or jehovah is protection. The father of Eliakim who was over Hezekiah's household (2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37Isa. 22:2036:3, 22). High priest in king Josiah's reign (2 Kings 22:4-1423:4, 24). A descendant of Merari, son of Levi (1 Chron. 6:45). A son of Hosah, descendant of Merari, and a gatekeeper at the […]

Hosea, Oshea, Osee, Hoshea [HÔö╝├¼zÔöÇ├┤’ÔöÇ├ó, Ôö╝├« shÔöÇ├┤’ÔöÇ├ó, HÔö╝├¼shÔöÇ├┤’ÔöÇ├ó]-jehovah is help or salvation. 1. The son of Beeri and first of the so-called Minor Prophets (Hosea 1:1). Hosea His name means: “Yahweh Has Delivered” His work: Hosea was a prophet in Israel. Like other prophets, his charge was to call the people to repentance. However, he […]

Ichabod [ÔöÇ┬╝’chabÔö╝├àd] THE GLORY IS NOT, WHERE IS THE GLORY or INGLORIOUS. The posthumous son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli. His name commemorated a tragic crisis in Israel's history, namely, the great slaughter of the people, including Hophni and Phinehas, and the capture of the Ark by the Philistines. Such terrible calamity resulted in […]

Eli [ÔöÇ├å’lÔöÇ┬¢]…–jehovah is high or my god. The high priest and judge of Israel of the family of Ithamar (1 Sam. 1-414:3). The Man Who Lacked Parental Authority There are few Bible men in whose character we cannot find some great and glaring fault. There is usually a dead fly in the ointment, a rent […]

Edom [ÔöÇ├å’dom] red earth. The elder son of Isaac, and so named in memory of the red color of the lentil pottage for which he sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob (Gen. 25:3036:1, 8, 19). See ESAU. Name is also used to describe those descended from Esau, the Edomites (Gen. 36:9).