Edwin Herbert's Blog - Posts Tagged "biblical"
A word on biblical etymology
Adam - from a Hebrew word meaning "man"
Eve – meaning "life"
Abraham - "father of many"
Noah - "rest, relaxation, comfort" - some biblical scholars say this makes sense in light of the rest/comfort he brought to the toils of mankind by inventing wine (Genesis 9:20), before the whole ark fable.
Moses – Hebrew for “drawn from the waters.” Moses, like King Sargon of Agade a thousand years before, was legendarily floated on a reed basket and later drawn from the river.
Jesus, Joshua - "Yahweh's savior." How convenient!
Jairus - "awaken, arise" He was the father of the nameless girl who Jesus caused to "awaken" from death.
Longinus - from the Greek - Longke, meaning "spear” or “lance" (again convenient, as Longinus was the Roman who stabbed Jesus in the side with a spear).
Judas Iscariot - Judas can mean either "Judah" or "Jew". There are several hypotheses for the origin of Iscariot, but the most likely is that it's from the Arabic Ishqarya, meaning "false one” or “betrayer"
Joseph of Arimathea – Arimathea is not known to have been an actual place name. Instead it was invented as a Greek combination meaning “best-disciple-ville.”
Jesus Barabbas – “Jesus, son of the father,” the murderer who is allowed to go free. Mimics the scapegoat ritual of Leviticus 16, where one goat is killed in a blood sacrifice while its twin is set free into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people.
Fictitious names for fictitious characters!
Eve – meaning "life"
Abraham - "father of many"
Noah - "rest, relaxation, comfort" - some biblical scholars say this makes sense in light of the rest/comfort he brought to the toils of mankind by inventing wine (Genesis 9:20), before the whole ark fable.
Moses – Hebrew for “drawn from the waters.” Moses, like King Sargon of Agade a thousand years before, was legendarily floated on a reed basket and later drawn from the river.
Jesus, Joshua - "Yahweh's savior." How convenient!
Jairus - "awaken, arise" He was the father of the nameless girl who Jesus caused to "awaken" from death.
Longinus - from the Greek - Longke, meaning "spear” or “lance" (again convenient, as Longinus was the Roman who stabbed Jesus in the side with a spear).
Judas Iscariot - Judas can mean either "Judah" or "Jew". There are several hypotheses for the origin of Iscariot, but the most likely is that it's from the Arabic Ishqarya, meaning "false one” or “betrayer"
Joseph of Arimathea – Arimathea is not known to have been an actual place name. Instead it was invented as a Greek combination meaning “best-disciple-ville.”
Jesus Barabbas – “Jesus, son of the father,” the murderer who is allowed to go free. Mimics the scapegoat ritual of Leviticus 16, where one goat is killed in a blood sacrifice while its twin is set free into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people.
Fictitious names for fictitious characters!
