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

Nathan meaning

Nathan in Biblical Hebrew
נתן
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Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Nathan.html

🔼The name Nathan: Summary

Meaning
Given, He Gives
Etymology
From the verb נתן (natan), to give.
Related names
• Via נתן (natan): Elnathan, Jonathan, Mattan, Mattanah, Mattaniah, Mattatha, Mattathias, Mattattah, Mattenai, Matthan, Matthat, Matthew, Matthias, Mattithiah, Nathanael, Nathan-melech, Nethanel, Nethaniah, Nethinim, Tattenai

🔼The name Nathan in the Bible

The name Nathan is assigned five or six times in the Bible. Most noted is Nathan the prophet who ministered during the days of king David (2 Samuel 12:1). He is the prophet whom God sends to David to inform him that his and Bathsheba's child will die because David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah murdered. Bathsheba's next child is named Solomon, and one of three following sons is named Nathan, possibly after the prophet. Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus through this Nathan (spelled Ναταν; Luke 3:31), Matthew goes through Solomon (Matthew 1:6).

Other Nathans are:

  • A Judahite with an Egyptian father (1 Chronicles 2:36).
  • The father of one of David's thirty mighty-men (2 Samuel 23:36).
  • A leader among the returnees (Ezra 8:16), who may or may not be the same as:
  • The Nathan who divorces his foreign wife during the purge of Ezra (Ezra 10:39).

🔼Etymology of the name Nathan

The name Nathan comes from the verb נתן (natan), to give:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
נתן

The shape-shifting verb נתן (natan) means to give in a broad bouquet of senses, from regular giving or bestowing, to setting or putting, to transforming one thing or situation into another.

This verb's three nouns מתן (mattan), מתנה (mattana) and מתת (mattat) all mean gift, again broadly ranging from a regular present to an offering to an innate talent (being "gifted").

— See the full Dictionary article —

🔼Nathan meaning

The name Nathan doesn't seem to denote something that is given (as NOBSE Study Bible Name List suggests with the meaning of Gift), but rather an active form of the verb: He Will Give. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Given.