Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Sat 12 May 2001 (20:11:16), delbourne AT home.com wrote:
> Who named Ichabod in 1 Sam. 4:19-22? Most interpret the text to mean the
> mother gave the child his name before she died. But the text does not seem
> to be clear. The first word of verse 21, "she called," could refer either to
> the mother or the woman standing beside her. Since the last two verbs
> of the previous verse indicates that the mother is incoherent and
> unresponsive, it would seem more likely that the woman standing beside her
> did the naming. Is this possible? What do you think?

 Dear Don,

 The women (plural) standing by her HaNNiTsTsaBoT would need a plural verb if
 they were the ones doing the naming. The WAYYIQTOL verb beginning verse 21
 WaTTiQ:Ra' indicates that Phinehas' widow managed to name her child before 
she
 died, and give her reason for the unusual name (vv 21-22).

 The adverbial expression of Time, uWK:`eTh MuWThaHh, at the beginning of 
verse
 20, doesn't mean she was already dead. The midwives would hardly have named
 the little orphan with such a prophetic name; compare the naming of the boy
 John the Baptist in Luke 1:60. Zacharias could not speak; but he wrote "His
 name is John".

 Phinehas' widow named the child `iY-KaBoWD before she died; but the name
 would not have been final until his circumcision on the 8th day. "Last words"
 of the dying are often given great respect. And she was right: the Shekinah
 glory KaBoWD had departed from Shiloh with the capture of the Ark. Compare
 Psalm 78:59-64; Jeremiah 7:12-14, 26:6. The Philistines didn't just capture
 the Ark; they thoroughly devastated the whole of Shiloh. The Ark couldn't
 return there; it had to be accommodated in Jerusalem somewhere pending the
 building of the Temple. Then the Shekinah Glory returned (1 Kings 8:10-11).

 I just love the sequel, when the statue of Dagon fell down before the 
presence
 of the Ark of the Covenant, and the One Whose mercy seat it was (chapter 5).

 Just my thoughts...
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
 http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm