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 […]

Festus [FÔöÇ├▓s’tus]……joyful, festal, prosperous.…Porcius Festus was a Roman governor of Judea in the reign of Nero (Acts 24:272526:24, 32). The Man Who Called Paul Mad Felix, seeking to court the favor of the Jews, left Paul in prison, thinking that the Jews would compensate him for such a favor. This act was an investment in […]

Ezekiel [ÔöÇ├ÂzÔöÇ├┤kÔöÇ┬íel] god is strong or the man god strengthens.…The son of Buzi, a priest who prophesied to the exiles by the river Chebar, and fourth of "The Greater Prophets" (Ezek. 1:324:24). “What should we learn from the life of Ezekiel?”……For the first-time reader of the Bible, the book of Ezekiel is mostly a perplexing […]