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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Uzal


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Uzal

Uzal Uzal

The name Uzal occurs twice in the Bible. The first mentioned Uzal is one of many sons Joktan, the brother of Peleg; the patriarchs of the Great Shemite Divide. Peleg is the ancestor of Abraham. The Joktanites are the last mentioned Shemite generation before the tower of Babel is built.
The name Uzal is also applied to a city or a region mentioned by Ezekiel (27:19).

The name Uzal looks like it has to do with the verb azal (azal 56) meaning to go away, about. Although this verb denotes a single action, it covers a broad pallet of English verbs. It is used as a simple going on with business or going one's way (Prov 20:14). Sometimes it means to be exhausted (Deut 32:36); sometimes it denotes water evaporating (Job 14:11), supplies thinning (1 Sam 9:7) or a shifting from ally to ally (Jer 2:36).

According to TWOTOT this verb is also the root of the word Azazel (azazel), the word for scapegoat as used in Lev 16 (although TWOTOT does not explain how the added az (az 1596a), strength, fits the picture). According to BDB this word azazel is an intensified form of an Arabic verb meaning to remove. Azazel thus mean 'entire removal' (and so reads Green). Because this azazel carried all the sin of Israel away, it is represented by later, Rabbinic writings as a fallen angel by the name of Azazel. The dual construct of Lev 16:8 (one for YHWH, one for azazel - Green: 'complete removal'; NAS 'scapegoat' with 'complete removal' and 'Azazel' in a footnote) seems to suggest an entity apart from God. The obvious counter argument points out that the theology of Biblical Israel is fiercely opposed to offering anything to anyone other than God.

The name Uzal means Take Off or Vanish.



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