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Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault: Elishah

Elishah meaning

Elishah in Biblical Hebrew
אלישה
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Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Elishah.html

🔼The name Elishah: Summary

Meaning
God Supports
God Is My Salvation
Etymology
From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the verb ישה (yasha), to support.
From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the verb ישע (yasha'), to save.
Related names
• Via אל ('el): See the 'browse by form' menu for a long list of 'el-names.
• Via ישה (yshh): Joshah, Joshaviah
• Via ישע (yasha'): Abishua, Bar-Jesus, Bath-shua, Chemosh, Elisha, Elishua, Hosanna, Hosea, Hoshaiah, Isaiah, Ishi, Jason, Jeshua, Jesus, Joshua, Malchi-shua, Mesha, Shuah

🔼The name Elishah in the Bible

The name Elishah is assigned twice in the Bible:

  • The only human Elisha is a son of Javan, son of Japheth, son of Noah (Genesis 10:4).
  • The other Elisha is a region (Ezekiel 27:7), most probably somewhere in Greece, associated with the son of Javan (Javan is the Biblical name for Greece).

🔼Etymology and meaning of the name Elishah

The name Elishah is a compound of two elements. The first part is אל, the common abbreviation of Elohim, the genus God.

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
אל  אלה

In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.

— See the full Dictionary article —

The second part is identical to ישה (yshh), an unused Hebrew root:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
ישה

The verb ישה (yshh) isn't used in the Bible but it may have meant to support or assist. Its only extant derivation is the noun תושיה (tushiya), a relatively rare word meaning skill or craftiness.

— See the full Dictionary article —

Following this etymology, the name Elishah would mean God Supports.

Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names sees the remnant of another unused Hebrew root ישה, meaning to set upright, to stand, but then veers off towards an inexplicable meaning that includes the verb ישע (yasha'), meaning to save:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
שוע  ישע

The verb ישע (yasha') means to be unrestricted and thus to be free and thus to be saved (from restriction, from oppression and thus from ultimate demise). A doer of this verb is a savior. Nouns ישועה (yeshua), ישע (yesha') and תשועה (teshua) mean salvation. Adjective שוע (shoa') means (financially) independent, freed in an economic sense.

Verb שוע (shawa') means to cry out (for salvation). Nouns שוע (shua'), שוע (shoa') and שועה (shawa) mean a cry (for salvation).

— See the full Dictionary article —

In fact, for no discernible reason, the majority of translators seem to acknowledge no difference between the names אלישה (Elishah) and אלישע (Elisha), and go with an interpretation that Jerome once submitted: Dei Mei Salvatio, meaning God Is My Salvation.

Perhaps all assume that the name Elisha evolved into Elishah but the meaning didn't evolve along.