🔼The name Zaham: Summary
- Meaning
- Foul, Loathing
- Etymology
- From the verb זהם (zaham), to be foul or loathsome.
🔼The name Zaham in the Bible
The name Zaham occurs only once in the Bible. The Chronicler mentions him among the sons of Solomon's son king Rehoboam of Judah and his cousin Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth, son of David (2 Chronicles 11:19).
Mahalath was only one of eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and certainly not the most beloved — that would be Rehoboam's other cousin, Maacah, the daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:21).
Rehoboam had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters, but judging from the meaning of his name, Zaham was also not among his father's favorites:
🔼Etymology of the name Zaham
The name Zaham comes from the verb זהם (zaham), meaning to be foul or loathsome:
זהם
The verb זהם (zaham), meaning to be foul or loathsome. This verb is used only once in the Bible and has no derivatives.
🔼Zaham meaning
For a meaning of the name Zaham, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Foul and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Loathing.
BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer an interpretation of our name but does list it under the verb זהם (zaham), albeit with a question mark to indicate an uncertain connection. A Hebrew audience would probably not have shared BDB's uncertainty.