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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Nathan


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Nathan Nathan

The name Nathan is assigned five or six times in the Bible. Most noted is Nathan the prophet who ministered during the days of king David (2 Sam 12:1). He is the prophet whom God sends to David to inform him that his and Bathsheba's child will die because David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah murdered. Bathsheba's next child is named Solomon, and one of three following sons is named Nathan, possibly after the prophet. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through this Nathan (Luke 3), Matthew goes through Solomon (Mat 1). For a possible reason for this duality, read our article on Names in the Bible.
Other Nathans are: A Judahite with an Egyptian father (1 Chr 2:36); The father of one of David's thirty mighty men (2 Sam 23:36); A leader among the returnees (Ezr 8:16), who may or may not be the same as the Nathan who divorces his foreign wife during the purge of Ezra (Ez 10:39).

The name Nathan comes from the verb Nathan (natan 1443), to give. Besides the regular meaning of giving, this verb is used in all sorts of placing, putting, committing, bestowing, even suffering, throwing, etc. Obviously, the derivations of this verb all mean gift: mattan (mattan 1443b); mattana (mattana 1443c); mattat (mattat 1443d). A special term for a certain kind of servant to Levites, netinim (netinim 1443a), the Nethinim or Given Ones, is also derived from this root (see Ezr 2:58, 8:20; compare with Num 31:30).

The name Nathan doesn't seem to denote something that is given (as NOBSE suggests with the meaning of Gift), but rather an active form of the verb: He Will Give.

Names that are constructed from the name Nathan are: Elnathan, Nathanael, Nethanel, Nathan-melech, Nethaniah, and Jonathan.



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