🔼The name Saraph: Summary
- Meaning
- Burning, Serpent
- Etymology
- From the verb שרף (sarap), to burn.
🔼The name Saraph in the Bible
The name Saraph appears only once in the Bible. He is mentioned as a descendant of Judah (apparently through Judah's son Shelah), who ruled in Moab and Jashubi-lehem (1 Chronicles 4:22).
🔼Etymology of the name Saraph
The name Saraph is identical to the noun שרף (sarap), meaning either viper or Seraph, from the verb שרף (sarap), meaning to burn:
שרף
The verb שרף (sarap) means to burn — to literally burn with fire, rather than metaphorically with passion or something like that — with an emphasis on a burning up or a destruction by means of fire.
Nouns שרפה (serepa) and משרפה (masrepa) mean a burning. Noun שרף (sarap) denotes a sort of serpent or viper, suggesting that to the ancients a snake's movements and the sudden destruction it may inflict, even its propensity to suddenly burst forth in large numbers, seemed akin flames.
שרב
Possibly related to the previous, the verb שרב (sharab) means to scorch or parch. Noun שרב (sharab) means heat or parched ground.
🔼Saraph meaning
For a meaning of the name Saraph, NOBSE Study Bible Name List goes with the core meaning of the root and reads Burning. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) recognizes that our name is the same as the word meaning viper, and proposes Serpent. BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't interpret our name but does confirm that it is identical to the noun שרף (sarap), meaning serpent.