Eliphaz meaning

Meaning

God Is Fine Gold, God Is Agile, "Elephant"

Etymology

From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the verb פזז (pazaz), to be agile.

Related names

• Via אל ('el): See the 'browse by form' menu for a long list of 'el-names.

• Via פזז (pazaz): Uphaz

There are probably two different men named Eliphaz mentioned in the Bible:

• A son of Esau with Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite (Genesis 36:4, 36:10-12, 1 Chronicles 1:35-36). The first-born son of Eliphaz was called Teman, who was also the first chief of Edom (Genesis 36:15-16), and who probably gave his name to the city of Teman, where probably the chiefs of Edom resided (Jeremiah 49:20).
• One of the four locutionary friends of Job, who was a Temanite (Job 2:11, 4:1, 15:1, 22:1 and 42:7-9).

Note the tantalizing possibility that the two Eliphazes are the same one; that Eliphaz-of-Esau lived in the city named after his own son Teman, and was therefore called a Temanite. The story of Job certainly plays in the patriarchal era and the two Eliphazes were thus roughly contemporaries.

Many have marveled over the difficult and both highly advanced and most fundamental themes of the Book of Job, which are obviously projected on a fictional stage — even that of a fable, with Eliphaz as the elephant, Zophar as the bird and Bildad as a herdling (see our article on How The Mind Works for a much more elaborate look at the Book of Job). But the story of Job may be far less fictional than is generally assumed. It may in fact be a kind of transcript of a greater discussion between dominant strands of theology that existed in the Levant during the patriarchal era.

In that discussion, Job would obviously represent an early form of Hebraic Yahwism. Eliphaz, who emphasizes strength, certainties and linear causality, would represent whatever Edom believed in — note that Job lived in Uz in Edom, so the conflict of Job versus Eliphaz may in fact represent Jacob versus Esau; or rather: both may represent a fundamental development in theology, possibly a rift between proto-Yahwism and Edomism (which appears to be more natural and personal strength-oriented; also note that this archaic conflict is revisited in the story of Jesus versus the Idumean Herod).

Friend Bildad would probably have something to do with Bel and Baal worship. What Zophar is all about isn't immediately clear, but Elihu, son of Barachel might represent the El-theology of the native Canaanites from which Hebraism borrowed quite a bit of names and imagery.

The name Eliphaz consists of two elements, the first one being אל (El), the prominent Canaanite deity whose name became applied to the God of Israel, or the common abbreviation of Elohim, the genus God:

The second part of our name comes from the verb פזז (pazaz):

The verb פזז (pazaz) occurs only once in the Bible, namely in 1 Kings 10:18 (and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 9:17), where we read that the proverbially wise king Solomon has a great throne made from ivory and overlaid with fine gold.

Our English word elephant actually stems from the Greek word for ivory, namely ελεφαντος (elephantos), which is the genitive form (meaning "of the") of the word ελεφας (elephas), which is the actual word for the animal. Where that word comes from isn't entirely obvious but it appears all over the Semitic language spectrum, plus its immediate neighbors, so chances are pretty much solid that it's Hebrew (i.e. Phoenician). Since in the Book of Job, the name Zophar obviously relates to the name Zipporah, meaning bird, chances remain pretty solid that Eliphaz (in the Septuagint spelled Ελειφαζ) represents the elephant and either gave his name to the animal or vice versa.

In antiquity, teeth had everything to do with learning and mulling things over and grinding absorbed information down to digestible constituents. Noun שן (shen), tooth, derives from the verb שנן (shanan), to sharpen by repetition. Verb שנה (shana) means to change or create a difference. The Greek word for tooth, namely οδους (odous), bears a striking resemblance to the noun οδος (hodos), road. The natural and organic formation of such a road (by a lot of people spontaneously going to same way), is described by the verb τριβω (tribo), to rub or wear smooth — specifically of a highway in the desert (Matthew 3:3). The Hebrew word for desert, namely מדבר (midbar) comes from the verb דבר (dabar), to formalize or put into words.

Note the proximity of the English noun "nose", from the widely attested Proto-Indo-European "nehs", also meaning nose, to the Greek noun νους (nous), which means mind and whose origin is obscure. All this suggests that Solomon's throne was designed to emulate the elephant's agile trunk over its ivory tusks, and serve as a symbol of learnedness.

For a meaning of the name Eliphaz, NOBSE Study Bible Name List, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names and even BDB Theological Dictionary read God Is Fine Gold in rare unison, but that may not be correct.

First of all, the word פז (paz) probably doesn't denote fine gold but "agile" gold or rather gold leaf. Then, this name may not so much point towards gold but rather to agility or ability. The name Eliphaz may in fact denote an over-appreciation of one's skills and abilities and convey the meaning of My God Is Skill or My God Is Agility. This Eliphaz-theology is obviously at fundamental conflict with Job's view, as Job's strength obviously comes from his weakness and surrender to the Powers that Be.