🔼The name Milalai: Summary
- Meaning
- Talkative, Eloquent
- Etymology
- From the verb מלל (malal), to utter.
🔼The name Milalai in the Bible
The name Milalai occurs only once in the Bible. Nehemiah mentions Milalai among the Levites who partook in the musical element of the dedication festival of the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:36).
🔼Etymology of the name Milalai
The name Milalai comes from the verb מלל (malal):
מלל
The root מלל (malal) relates to the cycle of harvest, storage and redistribution. Various derivative forms emphasize the various stages: the severing of something from its natural origin, or its subsequent storage in dedicated facilities, or the redistribution or overflowing from those facilities.
Verb מלל (malal) may be used to mean to utter or say (and the speaking of the mouth equals the overflowing of the heart). Noun מלה (milla') describes an uttering. Noun מלילה (melila) describes an ear of wheat.
This verb may also emphasize the languishing and withering of whatever was cut off, in which case it has a more common by-form, namely אמל ('amal). Adjectives אמלל ('amelal) and אמלל ('umlal) both mean feeble.
This verb may also be used to mean to circumcise, in which case it has a more common by-form, namely מול (mul). This latter verb comes with a second by-form, namely מהל (mahal), which actually mostly means to weaken.
The verb מלא (male') means to be full, speaking mostly of a storage facility that's been filled with whatever was extracted from the land that produced it. It may also describe a river that's overflowing, or a person who acts from the contents of his heart. Nouns מלא (male') and מלאה (mele'a) mean fullness.
Nouns מלאה (millu'a) and מלאת (mille't) denote the filling of gold with jewels and nouns מלא (millu') and מלוא (millu') describe a setting or installing of monumental stones or the ordination of priests.
The letter י (yod) upon which our name ends, may either create an adjective (malal-like or pertaining to malal), a possessive form (my malal), or may be a remnant of יה (Yah), which is short for יהוה, which is the name YHWH, or Yahweh.
🔼Milalai meaning
For a meaning of the name Milalai, both NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names see in our name an adjective derived from the verb מלל I (malal I), meaning to utter or say, and read Eloquent. Jones also notes that the final yod may be a "sign of the Divine name" and adds: "i.e. the promise of the Lord".
BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't translate the name Milalai but does list it under the verb מלל (malal).