🔼The name Cosam: Summary
- Meaning
- Diviner, Wizard
- Etymology
- From the participle קוסם (qosam), of the verb קסם (qasam), to divine.
🔼The name Cosam in the Bible
The name Cosam occurs only once in the Bible, namely in Luke 3:28, where Cosam is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (or Joseph, rather), as the son of Elmadam, the father of Addi and the great-great-great-great-grandfather of Zerubbabel. That means that Cosam lived in the First Temple Period, during the time of the kings.
🔼Etymology of the name Cosam
Cosam is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, so we only have the name Cosam written in Greek. But it's safe to assume it's Hebrew, in which case it remains safe to assume that it derives from the participle קוסם (qosam), of the verb קסם (qasam), to divine or to be a wizard (which means wise-art). This participle occurs in Joshua 13:22, in reference to Balaam of Pethor, and in plural in Zechariah 10:2: "The קוסמים (qosemim) see lying visions and tell false dreams. They comfort in vain and therefore the people wander like sheep. They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd":
קסם
The root קסם (q-s-m) expresses the idea of dividing and dispensing portions of resources, which in Old English would be the purview of the hlafweard, or "loaf warden": the person who controlled the provisions. From this term hlafweard evolved the more recognizable word "lord".
The lords of the world hold positions of power, and use power to stay in power, whereas the people of God are equals and seek to serve each other rather than dominate. God gives useful and effective knowledge for free to anybody who is mature enough to not do damage with it, but people who aren't mature and still want to control nature or dominate humanity, take to begging and pleading as if God were an earthly lord. That begging and pleading out of ignorance is what is called magic, and the sin of it lies in the death and destruction such irresponsible behavior causes, and certainly not in knowing how to do it. In God's world there is no such thing as forbidden knowledge, only forbidden dying.
The noun קסם (qesem) means witchcraft or divination. When used properly, this noun describes a source of great good, but mostly it refers to the "art" of people who lack proper knowledge or intellectual maturity and still want to control the forces of nature and other people, or do it for personal gain — to great detriment of everybody involved. The denominative verb קסם (qasam) means to divine or practice witchcraft.
Not at all because Cosam is an ancestor of Joseph (there are other dubious characters in his genealogy), but for truth and clarity, it must be emphasized that there is no such thing as forbidden knowledge, and the sin of witchcraft has nothing to do with actually getting things done, or attempting to violate the laws of nature (which will not happen, or else they're not laws). Rather, the sin of witchcraft is the sin of tyranny: making use of whatever theatricals or scaremongering or technological devices or even scientific knowledge or other information to get an angle or advantage over somebody else (see our article on Tyrannus). It's the sin of domination, not the sin of knowing what one is doing. In God's world, there is no such thing as forbidden knowledge. There is only abuse of knowledge.
There was nothing wrong with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because that tree was created along with the rest of perfect paradise, and God saw that it too was good, just like everything else he had created. Things started to go sideways when the Fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil were consumed for the express benefit of Eve first and Adam later. The fruit was good. The consumption of it was not.
"A קסם (qesem) is on the lips of the king; his mouth should not err in judgment" (Proverbs 16:10, also see Isaiah 3:2 and Micah 3:6).
🔼Cosam meaning
The name Cosam means Diviner or Wizard, which is essentially someone who has the power to dispense resources (and blessings) because of some skill or information that common folks don't have. Such a skill is most commonly abused by humans, who seek power above all else, which means that pretending to be a wizard, or even being a wizard for hire, is almost always a bad idea. But then again, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is a wizard.