Hebrew Humor and Other Essays

name is shown by his fondness for reading certain characteristics into the personality of the possessors of certai

an? How is it w

that name befit

eed, and gaun

Scene 2, where he says:-"I told you John a Gaunt he beat his own name

tain Hebrew proper names are found in the Old Testament, which are attended with peculiar significance. So, for instance, in the name of the first man Adam (???, from ????, "the earth"), the final destiny of man s

as changed into ??? = "Eve" (from ???, "living"), which is evidently a name showing that she was destined to become "the mother of all living." In the name of one of her sons, Abel (???, signifying "breath" or "nothingness"), a pro

mes in the Pentateuch, which belong to the same category, viz. Korah, Balaam, and Balak. Kerah signifies in the original Hebrew "coldness," exemplified by his apathy to divine ordinances, when he brought about a rebellion against the authority of Moses. It has also another meaning in Hebr

oyer of the people," and in Balak (???) a representation of "incompetence," illustrating their subsequent conduct towards the Jewish people. Similarly, too, the name of Achan or Achar (???) (

ooked by students of the Bible. When King Saul, who hated David after his victory over Goliath, missed his presence at the royal table, he asked his son Jonathan, "Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat?" (?? ????). Thereupon Jonathan ironically replied: "David has a

n (from ???) shall be destroyed" (Zeph. ii. 4). It is noticeable that the idol which the inhabitants of the latter town used to worship was ignominiously called in the Bible "Baal-Zebub"-"The

name which signifies "Peace" (from ????); Malachi (?????), "My Messenger," the future Jewish prophet; Ezra (????), "The Helper"; and Nehemia (?????), "God's Comforter." Th

y daughter was called Dinah (????, from ???), signifying "judgment," and that name seems to have foreshadowed punishment for her unprotected wanderings. Deborah (?????), "The Bee," made the enemies of her race feel her sting in the great battle that she fought against them. Another Biblical heroine, Hannah (???, from ???, "to pray,"

tno

λι? of Aesch. Agam. 689, and the play o