🔼The name Jecoliah: Summary
- Meaning
- Yah Is Able, Yah Prevails
- Perfection Of Yah, Yah Completes
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb יכל (yakol), to be able or prevail, and (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
- From (1) the root כלל (kalal), to complete or perfect, and (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
🔼The name Jecoliah in the Bible
These two names: Jechiliah (יכיליה, 2 Chronicles 26:3) and Jecoliahu (יכליהו, 2 Kings 15:2), apply to one and the same person, namely the mother of king Azariah of Judah and the wife of king Amaziah (2 Kings 15:2), who is commonly called Jecoliah in English translations. In the parallel text of 2 Chronicles 26:3, the young king is called Uzziah and his mother is called Jechiliah.
🔼Etymology of the name Jecoliah
These names all consist of two parts. The final bit is formed by the familiar appellative יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn is the truncated form of the Tetragrammaton, or the personal name of God: יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.
The first part of the names Jecoliah, Jeciliah and Jecoliahu comes from the verb יכל (yakol) meaning to be able or prevail:
יכל
The common verb יכל (yakol) means to be able, and often translates as "can." It also carries the nuance of prevailing or being better that the person who "can" not. This verb has no extant derivations.
These names would thus mean something like The Lord's Ability, or Yah Will Prevail, or Prevalence Due To God.
The variation in this name may not have to do with inaccuracy or inconsistency, but rather with the rich array of words that any Hebrew audience would have certainly been reminded of:
כלל
The root כלל (kll) deals with limits, and particularly the limit on growth or progression. This limit may be incurred by interment or incarceration, but it may also mark the asymptotic quality of perfection or completion.
Verb כלא (kala') means to shut in or shut up. Nouns כלא (kele'), כלוא (klw') and כליא (keli) mean imprisonment. Noun מכלה (mikla), means enclosure or fold. Verb כול (kul) means to contain or cause to contain.
Verb כלה (kala) denotes the bringing to a completion of some process, and that usually but not always in a negative sense. Noun כלה (kala) mostly describes complete destruction or complete annihilation. Adjective כלה (kaleh) describes a failing with desire and noun כליון (killayon) means either a failing or pining of the eyes or annihilation. Noun מכלה (mikla) means completeness (and is identical to the word meaning enclosure or fold). The noun תכלה (tikla) means perfection. Noun תכלית (taklit) means end or completeness. The very common noun כלי (keli) describes any kind of article that (possibly) took a while to make but is now finished, or a vessel that was designed to hold some finished product; a holding pot.
Verb כלל (kalal) means to complete or make perfect. The very common noun כל (kol) means all or the whole. Adjective כליל (kalil) means entire or whole. Nouns מכלול (miklol) and מכלל (miklal) mean perfection. Noun מכלל (maklul) describes something made perfect.
The noun כלה (kalla) means bride or daughter-in-law, and noun כלולה (kelula) means espousal, which obviously reflects the Bible's expectation that humanity's ultimate perfection makes her a Bride to the Creator.
🔼Jecoliah meaning
For a meaning of the name Jechiliah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Yahweh Will Enable, and for Jecoliah NOBSE reads Yahweh Is Able. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Made Strong Of The Lord for both. BDB Theological Dictionary reads Yah Hath Been Able for both.
Taken from the כלל (kalal) cluster of words, our name could also be interpreted to mean Perfection Of Yah or Yah Completes
BDB makes mention of an unearthed Sabean name יבלאל, which is obviously similar to our name Jecoliah, except that the Yah-part is now El.