🔼The name Punon: Summary
- Meaning
- Pivot, Turning Point
- Etymology
- From the verb פנן (panan), to turn or turn to.
🔼The name Punon in the Bible
The name Punon occurs twice in the Bible, but in one breadth: it's listed as one of the stations where Israel camped during the wilderness years (Numbers 33:42-43), after Zalmonah and before Oboth.
🔼Etymology of the name Punon
The name Punon appears to be an active participle of the verb פנן (panan), to turn:
פנה
The verb פנה (pana) means to turn toward. This verb's primary derivative is the plural noun פנים (panim), which literally means turnings or inclinations, but which is the common Biblical word for "face", and may also refer to anything's obvious front-end or visible surface, or anyone's scope, sight or attention.
This plural noun פנים (panim) is often used to describe someone's presence, in the sense that being out of someone's presence also means being out of their mind or scope or attention. This word occurs in the Bible's familiar idiom "the face of God", which describes God's presence or rather (as he is omnipresent) his immediate attention or interest. The very common compound לפני (lipne) means "in the face of ...", "in the presence of ..." or simply "before ...".
Adverb פנימה (penima) means toward the inside. Adjective פנימי (penimi) means inner. Noun פנה (pinna) means corner, and is commonly used to describe where a wall makes a turn. This noun is thought to have derived from a by-form or parental form of the verb פנה (pana), namely פנן (panan), of similar meaning.
A second derivation of this form is the plural noun פנינים (peninim), which describes a red coral, probably with swirling branches or otherwise corrugated structure. The noun אופן ('opan) describes a wheel of a chariot or a threshing device. Most notably, wheels are a significant feature of the throne of God.
🔼Punon meaning
The name Punon simply means Pivot or Turning Point, but with the added implication of turning one's face toward something and starting to pay attention to that thing. Alternatively, our name Punon may be designed to describe a Going Around In Circles, the realization of which is of course the first step of breaking out and going on the proper Way to the Promised Land.
For a meaning of the name Punon, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads an overly creative Distraction, assuming it has to do with the adverb אפונה ('apuna), which occurs only once in Psalm 88:15 and means something like "in turbulent disarray" or "in threshed turmoil". It relates to the much more common word אופן ('opan), meaning wheel and emphasizes the chaotic swirl of having too much on one's mind, much rather than being merely distracted by something.
NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary don't interpret this name.