Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <Yigal.Levin AT biu.ac.il>]

Hi Uri,

While this is probably true for the name Abram, how do you explain the He in
Abraham? Does the word "raham" have any meaning?

Yigal Levin

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Uri Hurwitz
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2013 3:29 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] The Name Abraham

   
  The meaning of the name is 'father  is high/exalted' .
 Compare with the name 'yoram'/ 'Yehoram" where YHWH is  high exalted.

    The name is part of series of Semitic names which  refer to the gods as
relatives - father, brother or uncle.
   
   Compare to the Phoenician name Ahiram.

   This goes back to periods of  tribal societies. This type  of name is
sometimes referred in literature as 'Amorite',  after the language in which 
they were occurred.
  
   Uri Hurwitz

 

   Dear List-Members:

This may have been a subject of past discussion but as I am new to the forum
I do seek some help.

Hebrew names usually have meanings that can be determined from semantic and
phonetic analysis. However, the name Abraham seems to be quite a challenge
as the traditional interpretation "Father of a multitude" or "Father of many
nations" just does not account for the presence of the consonant *rosh.
*
*
*
Can anyone help to a better understanding or suggest an approach that could
assist with determining a more appropriate meaning.

Thanks,

Lascelles James



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