🔼The name Jahleel: Summary
- Meaning
- Wait For God, Hope Of God
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb יחל (yahal), to wait or hope, and (2) the word אל ('el), God.
🔼The name Jahleel in the Bible
Jahleel is the third son of Zebulun, who is the tenth son of Jacob and sixth of Leah (Genesis 46:14). Jahleel is also one of the sixty-six who came to Goshen, and his brothers are Sered and Elon. The descendants of Jahleel formed their own sub-tribe: the יחלאלי, the Jahleelites (Numbers 26:26).
🔼Etymology of the name Jahleel
The name Jahleel consists of two parts, the final bit being אל (El), the common abbreviation of Elohim, which is the Hebrew word for God:
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.
The first part of the name Jahleel comes from the verb יחל (yahal), meaning to wait or hope:
יחל
The verb יחל (yahal) means to wait or hope for something. Adjective יחיל (yahil) means waiting. Noun תוחלת (tohelet) means hope.
🔼Jahleel meaning
For a meaning of the name Jahleel, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary both read Wait For God. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Hope Of God.