Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

> Dave wrote: "If the names originated as compounds of the Canaanite deity, I
> would suspect that by the time of Ezra (and perhaps even of David?) such
> meanings would have been lost."
> *************
> So why not assume that the names in the later writings are faithful
> representations of names that indeed originated at an earlier time?  This
> would indicate that they are not made up out of whole cloth, non?  Or
> perhaps they are permutations of an earlier positive name in the same way
> that several Baal names are changed to boshet compounds.
> Charles David Isbell
> 
First, I'm not sure why "made up out of whole cloth" is a problem.  
I'm also not sure why these are the only options.  More significantly, 
I'm not sure how important the question really is, so I'm not sure 
how much time I want to spend on it :-)
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do 
with it.
                  -Emerson