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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Arpachshad


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Arpachshad Arpachshad

Arpachshad is a son of Shem, who is a son of Noah.

The meaning of this name is unclear. BDB suggests that it is a combination of `rp (not in Hebrew but in cognate languages) meaning extent, border; and Chesed, Chesed, the Hebrew word for Chaldeans; Boundary Of The Chaldeans.
But note that Chesed is spelled with a sin while Arpachshad is spelled with a shin. A close look at the usages of sin and shin reveals an undeniable kinship in charge, but by no means an unconditional interchangeability.

The name Arpachshad is difficult to interpret. Since both a-r-p and k-sh-d do not exist in Hebrew, we should look for a possible combination of smaller words:
The word ar is used once, as a contraction of the word Nile (the Nile; Amos 8:8), which in turn may be derived from or ('or 52), light. It may even be a contraction of arar ('arar 168), curse. Or ara ('ara 158), pluck or gather, with derivative ari ('ary 158a), lion.
pak (pak 1767a) means flask or vial, from the root pkk (pkk 1767), an unused root that probably means trickle. puk (puk 1742) denotes a black powder that was used as eye make-up (Jer 4:30, 2 Ki 9:30).
ke (ke 937) means as if, but p never occurs as a particle. For the sake of brevity (Arpachshad is already an unusually long name) the p may be a contraction of peh (peh 1738), mouth, or peh (poh 1739), a particle denoting here or hither.
shid (shed 2330) is usually translated with demon, or the object of child sacrifice (Deut 32:17). shid (shod 2331) means havoc. shid (shad 2332a) means breast, bosom.

Whatever the name Arpachshad may mean, the meaning is deeply hidden. But perhaps there were those among the audience that were hearing Light Trickles As If He Were A Breast. Perhaps there were those who heard He Gathers Mascara Like A Demon. And surely there were some who heard Nile In A Bottle; What A Boob!
Perhaps not...
And although there is no law that states that one can not hear 'your anus' when someone says 'Uranus,' it must be stressed that none of the sources we use even remotely hints at the possibility of above suggested meanings.



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