|
|
|
Etymology •
& Meaning •
Hebrew •
Greek •
Bible •
Names •
http://www.crossonme.com
|
|
|
Meaning and etymology of the Greek name Elizabeth
|
|
| | |
Elizabeth
There's only one Elizabeth in the Bible: the wife of Zacharias and the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5). Elizabeth is a Levite, like her husband, and the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:36). Jesus was the legal son of Joseph (literally: son-by-law), and that makes Him legally a man of Judah, as the prophets said He would be (Genesis 49:10, Micah 5:2), but since His mother was kin to Elizabeth, a Levite, it stands to reason that His human genes were Levite, and that makes Him a Levite by descent. And this is a good thing, or else He wouldn't be allowed to be a priest, let alone a High Priest (Hebrews 5).
The name , Elizabeth, is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Elizabeth , Elisheba, which was the name of the wife of Aaron; the "mother of all priests".
The Greek name Elizabeth, or rather, the Hebrew name Elisheba, consists of two parts. The first part is (El), the common abbreviation of Elohim, the genus God.
The second part is identical to the name Sheba II, and comes from either (sheba), meaning seven, or (shaba), meaning oath, swear, adjure.
These two meanings are very closely related. First of all, they are spelled the same, but a kinship is readily acknowledged in the playful use of both meanings: In Genesis 21:22-34, Abraham and Abimelech swear and oath concerning a well, and seal it by a gift of seven ewes. The well becomes known as Beersheba; well of the oath.
BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBS Study Bible Name List translate the name with God Is An Oath, but that seems a bit awkward. People in the Bible may swear by God or to God, but God and the oath never become the same; God is not an oath.
The alternative - God Is Seven - is down right heretic if the 'seven' is read as strictly numerical designation. God, after all, is One (Deuteronomy 6:4). The solution may be a meaning of the Hebrew root that lies fundament to both meanings 'seven' and 'oath.'
The number seven occurs in the Bible either as a quantity without any other meaning, or as a symbol for a cyclic whole. The most famous seven is probably the week, and most notable is the creation week. All other units of time have a cosmological counterpart; the year is the time between this summer-solstice and the next; a month is the time between this full moon and the next; a day is the time between this dawn and the next. And the hours of a day (twelve of them) correspond to the months of the year, as during the year the sun goes up and down and back again, just like during the day. But the week is completely unaccounted for.
The week is completely 'artificial' or better yet, exists by itself; is its own reason to exist. And perhaps that is what the number seven most fundamentally denotes: something unprecedented that has no greater cause than itself.
But the other famous quality of the week also makes it very special: the week has a Sabbath, a rest-day. By most models, the Sabbath of the creation week is still going on and contains all reality. Of the seven arms of the Menorah, six are curved around one straight seventh (Zechariah compares the eyes of the Lord to the flames of a menorah - 4:2, 10). In Exodus 2:16 Moses meets the seven daughters of Reuel and marries one, namely Zipporah (HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament remarkably cites this occurence of the number seven as one of those occasions where seven denotes simply a quantity and nothing else).
But often a group of seven stays without apparent structure: the seven pillars of the house of wisdom never produce a chief (Pr 9:1) and neither do the seven churches of Revelation although they are all held by the One (2:1) or the seven women of Isaiah 4:1 who in turn grab hold of one man.
When we project a mere quantity between six and eight upon the word , and then state that God is we are at odds with monotheistic doctrine. But in all its width and depth that same statement encompasses some of the most splendid and mysterious Biblical truths. Elisheba is a truly daring name and certainly among the most beautiful in the Bible.
Elisheba means God Is Seven.
|
|
|
•Look for baby names
•Augment your Hebrew language study
•Deepen your knowledge of the Bible
•Enrich your cruise to or travel holiday in Israel
|
|