🔼The name Madon: Summary
- Meaning
- Contention, Place Of Judgment
- Etymology
- From the noun מדון (madon), strife, which derives from the verb דין (din), to judge or govern.
🔼The name Madon in the Bible
The city named Madon is mentioned twice in the Bible. The first time it's mentioned in a summary of which kings from which towns rose up against invasive Israel; Jobab, king of Madon is among them (Joshua 11:1), and is subsequently defeated by the army of Joshua (Joshua 12:19).
🔼Etymology of the name Madon
The name Madon is identical to the noun מדון (madon), meaning strife, derived of the Hebrew verb דין (din), meaning to judge or plead:
דין
The verb דין (din) means to judge or govern. It's an old verb that mostly describes the authority of a naturally superior (because that person is wiser, stronger, older, etcetera) in contrast to the governing done by a formal government (by politically favored and appointed officials).
The noun דין (dayyan) describes one such a leader, and noun דין (din) describes anything pertaining to primitive governing: a judgment, plea, complaint, contention. Noun מדון (madon) literally describes a "place or judging" and is synonymous with the contending that goes on in such a place. Noun מדונה (medina) described the jurisdiction of one judge, and became the word for province.
🔼Madon meaning
For a meaning of the name Madon, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Contention, Strife. NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Contention.