🔼The name Shilshah: Summary
- Meaning
- Three, Triad
- Etymology
- From the noun שלש (shalosh), three.
🔼The name Shilshah in the Bible
The name Shilshah occurs only once in the Bible. The Chronicler lists Shilshah among the sons of Zophah, son of Helem of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:37).
🔼Etymology of the name Shilshah
The name Shilshah comes from the root שלש, which has to do with the number three:
שלש
The noun שלש (shalosh) or שלוש (shalosh) or שלשה (shalosha) means three and is also the base for the words for thirteen, thirty, third, and so on. The number three may represent confirmation (of two witnesses), the smallest form of "many," i.e. a few or some, or the smallest possible cycle.
It's probably prudent to note that the contemporary idea of a Divine Triad or Trinity stems from the Roman Capitoline Triad and not in the least from anything remotely Biblical. Of course there are Father, Word and Spirit but they are one and not at all three, or five or a hundred. Nobody within the Jewish tradition associated God with any number other than one.
🔼Shilshah meaning
For a meaning of the name Shilshah, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Triad and adds, "i.e. third son". For unclear reasons NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads "Might". BDB Theological Dictionary does not translate the name Shilshah but does list it under the root שלש.