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Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault: Ham

Ham meaning

חם
הם

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Ham.html

🔼The name Ham

The name that occurs in the English Bible as Ham is really two completely different Hebrew names; one which is pronounced Cham (חם), and the other Ham (הם). They have two completely different meanings, but since English readers are so used to the name Ham, Ham it is. We'll call them Ham I (חם) and Ham II (הם):


🔼The name Ham I: Summary

Meaning
Hot, or: Protective Wall
Etymology
From the verb חם (ham), to be hot, or the verb חמה (hmh), to protect or surround.

🔼The name Ham I in the Bible

Ham 1 (spelled חם and probably pronounced as Cham) is the youngest son of Noah (Genesis 9:24). Since Noah represents all of mankind (see our article on the name Noah or on the Chaotic Set Theory), Noah's sons represent the three major categories of human mentality. Shem stands for the mindset that allows a worldview irrespective of the self. In Japheth mankind develops a so-called theory of mind, which is an acknowledgement and appreciation of other people's perspectives. And Ham represents the mind prior to the development of a theory of mind, which in human individuals would end at about one year of age.

The Hamite mind centers on self — self-preservation and personal gain — and is the most primitive and most animal of human mentalities. On a national level, the Hamite mind will allow for little more than rudimentary chiefdoms; nationalisms with very little regard for the merits of neighboring states or thoughts about the whole of mankind.

When Noah drank of the wine of his vineyard (which refers to mankind's culture, see our articles on the words כרם, kerem, meaning vineyard, and יין, yayan, meaning wine) and became drunk, Ham thought it was amusing, but Japheth and Shem walked in without looking and covered up their father. When Noah awoke, he cursed Ham (or rather Ham's son Canaan) and declared him the servant of his two brothers (Genesis 9:20-27).

🔼Etymology of the name Ham I

This name Ham is identical to the adjective חם (ham), meaning warm, and also to the noun חם (ham), meaning father in law:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
חמם

The verb חמם (hamam) means to be hot and is sometimes used to describe mental agitation. Nouns חם (hom) and חמה (hamma) mean heat. Adjective חם (ham) means hot. The noun חמן (hamman) denotes a kind of mysterious small pillar (perhaps a device?).

The verb יחם (yaham) also means to be hot, but mostly in a mental sense: to be exited or angered. The noun חמה (hema) mostly refers to a severe mental "burning": anger or rage.

The verb חמה (hmh) is not used in the Bible, but in cognate languages it means to surround, guard or protect. Perhaps this verb has nothing to do with the previous and only accidentally looks similar, but perhaps it ties into the fact that natural open fires aren't very warm and smelting metals require sophisticated ovens. Noun חם (ham) means father-in-law and its feminine equivalent, חמות (hamot), means mother-in-law — and note that the Trojan theme of the "girl" kept in the city of her forceful lover is very common in classical literature. Noun חומה (homa) describes a protective wall.

The noun חום (hum) describes a color or pattern of coloration of sheep and goats. It's not clear whether this pattern resembled sparks, fire or enclosures, or perhaps that this word in not related to the previous.

Noun חמת (hemet) means waterskin and may derive from a wholly different verb. Still, the verb נהר (nahar) means both to flow (of water) and to shine (of light) and a waterskin filled with water is not unlike a kiln containing a very warm fire.

🔼Ham I meaning

For the meaning of this name Ham, Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) confidently derives it from the verb חמם (hamam), meaning to be hot, and renders it Heat, Black. Then he goes off on the tried and commonly rejected ramble that connects blackness with sin. Jones rather reluctantly admits that Ham was the grandfather of Nimrod, the world's first emperor, but quickly relativizes this feat by fantastically stating, "no doubt [Ham] was the sole introducer of the worship of the sun," and thundering, "even while the hand of God was bearing him up in safety in the Ark of gopher wood, the leaven of his horrid idolatry was working in his breast".

What escapes the otherwise fine scholar is that:

  • This version of the name Ham is also identical to חם (ham), father-in-law, from the unused root חמה (hmh) of which the cognates mean to protect or surround.
  • In the Bible not blackness but whiteness is associated with sin. Miriam turned white because of her aggression against Moses' second wife, who was a Cushite and thus quite likely very black. And the bride of the Song of Solomon, often regarded as a type of the Church, was black as well (Song of Solomon 1:5). For more on black-and-white in the Bible, read our article Meet Mrs. God.

NOBSE Study Bible Name List simply reads Hot for Ham, but in view of the above, a closer rendering would be Passion or Intensity.


🔼The name Ham II: Summary

Meaning
Noisy
Etymology
From the verb המה (hama), to be noisy.

🔼The name Ham II in the Bible

Ham 2, which is spelled הם and pronounced as Ham, denotes a once-mentioned town where kings Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer and Tidal defeated the Zuzim during the war of four against five kings (Genesis 14:5).

🔼Etymology of the name Ham II

Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names derives this Ham from the verb המה (hama), meaning cry aloud:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
המה

The masculine pronouns הם (hem) and המה (hemma) mean "they." The feminine versions are הנה (henna) and הן (hen). The singular versions (meaning he and she) are הוא (hu) and היא (hi).

The similar verb המה (hama) means to be noisy, and that particularly of a "them". The derived masculine noun המון (hamon) denotes a noisy multitude.

נהה

The verb נהה (naha) means to wail or lament, and is probably onomatopoeic, after the sound of crying. Nouns נהי (nehi), נהיה (nihya), ני (ni) and הי (hi) all describe forms of wailing.

נהם

The verb נהם (naham) describes a muffled groaning. Nouns נהם (naham) and נהמה (nehama) mean a growling.

נאם

The noun נאם (ne'um) describes a labored utterance of a prophet in trance. Denominative verb נאם (na'am), means to utter a prophetic utterance.

🔼Ham II meaning

NOBSE Study Bible Name List incorrectly lists this Ham as one of the occurrences of Ham 1, for which it reads Hot. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names renders this version of the name Ham as Noisy.