🔼The name Ucal: Summary
- Meaning
- I Am Consumed, I Will Prevail, I Complete
- Etymology
- From the verb אכל ('akal), to eat or consume, or יכל (yakol), to be able or prevail, or כלה (kalah), to be complete.
🔼The name Ucal in the Bible
It's not clear whether Ucal is actually a name. But if so, Ucal is mentioned only once, namely in Proverbs 30:1, as one of two addressees of the sayings of Agur son of Jakeh. The other addressee is Ithiel, and the reason why some people doubt that these names are actually names is that only the name Ithiel occurs more than once in the Bible.
So yes, Agur, Jakeh and Ucal may be names and they may be highly unique names that are used only once in the entire Bible and there is no significance to the three of them sitting so awkwardly in one sentence. But on the other hand, these names may not be names and the Young translation is the only one that picks up on this:
Words of a Gatherer [Agur], son of an obedient one [Jakeh], the declaration, an affirmation of the man: — I have wearied myself [for] God [Ithiel], I have wearied myself [for] God [Ithiel], and am consumed [Ucal].
🔼Etymology of the name Ucal
It's not wholly clear from which verb the name Ucal derives but the primary candidate, favored by the Young Translation, is the similar אכל ('akal), to eat or consume:
אכל
The verb אכל ('akal) means to eat or consume (of an eater, fire or a sword). Nouns אכל ('okel), אכלה ('okla), אכילה ('akila), מאכל (ma'akal), מאכלת (ma'akolet) and מכלת (makkolet) all mean food, fuel or meal. Noun מאכלת (ma'akelet) means knife and may be a utensil to eat with or else an instrument that violently devours.
Another candidate, favored by Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names and apparently NOBSE Study Bible Name List, is יכל (yakol), 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.
Without further argumentation, BDB Theological Dictionary rejects the previous and brusquely points toward verb כלה (kalah), to be whole or complete, which indeed may assume the form אכל under certain specific grammatical circumstances (such as an imperfect first person singular):
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.
🔼Ucal meaning
For a meaning of the name Ucal, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads I Am Strong and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has I Will Prevail. BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer a translation of this name.