ע
ABARIM
Publications
Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault: Sisera

Sisera meaning

סיסרא

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

🔼The name Sisera: Summary

Meaning
Meditation
Keen And Swift, See The Horse
Etymology
From a Hittite verb that means to meditate.
From (1) the noun סוס (sus), swift one or horse, and (2) the verb ראה (ra'a), to see.

🔼The name Sisera in the Bible

Sisera is the commander of the army of Jabin, the king of Canaan who attacks Israel (Judges 4:2). Judge Deborah and general Barak mount a highly successful counter attack, but Sisera himself dies at the hand of a lady named Jael.

🔼Etymology of the name Sisera

BDB Theological Dictionary suggests that the extension -sira is common for Hittite names but gives no meaning. Fuerst's Hebrew & Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament draws towards a foreign word meaning meditator (someone who meditates) and NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Meditation as well.

To a Hebrew audience, however, the first part of the name Sisera may have reminded of the word סוס (sus), meaning swallow or horse (note that some later versions of Jeremiah 8:7 indeed use the form סיס, sis for סוס, sus):

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
סוס

The unused verb סוס (sus) probably meant to dart forth or be swift. The noun סוס (sus) literally means "swift one" and is applied to a bird, namely the swallow, and a large land mammal, namely the horse. The feminine version is סוסה (susa), but instead of it meaning mare (as is commonly thought) it rather refers to the horse-force of an army.

Long before any animal would become a pet, the horse was a unit of cavalry. Regular people didn't ride horses; they had mules and donkeys, and merchants didn't use horses; they had camels. Seeing a horse in the ancient world was like seeing a tank today.

The -ra part of the name may have sounded as if it came from the verb ראה (ra'a), meaning to see or look:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
ראה

The verb ראה (ra'a) means to see, and by extension to understand. It may mean to become visible (of, say, an angel) or to become understandable (of, say, a theory). Noun ראה (ro'eh) means either seer, or prophetic vision, and noun מראה (mar'a) means either vision as means of revelation, or mirror. Nouns ראית (re'ut) and ראות (re'ut) mean a looking. Nouns ראי (ro'i) and מראה (mar'eh) mean sight or appearance. Adjective ראה (ra'eh) means seeing.

🔼Sisera meaning

The original meaning of the name Sisera may have been Meditation, but to a Hebrew audience the name Sisera may have sounded as something like Keen And Swift or See The Horse.