As we read the Scriptures, we may be accustomed to seeking the spiritual meaning of the words, in addition to the more obvious literal meaning. Sometimes we are so intent on this that we miss the meanings of the names found therein. In the Old Testament these meanings are often explained, but not so in the New Testament.<\/p>\n
Below are some commonly suggested meanings of some common names and places found in the Holy Scriptures.<\/p>\n
Angel \u2013 (in Greek) Messenger
\nEmmanuel \u2013 God with us
\nJehovah \u2013 The Eternal One
\nJesus \u2013 The Saviour
\nMessiah (in Greek Christ) \u2013 The Anointed One
\nSeraphim \u2013 The burning ones<\/p>\n
Alleluia \u2013 Praise the Lord
\nAmen \u2013 So be it
\nHosanna \u2013 Save us, we pray
\nSabaoth \u2013 Hosts, armies<\/p>\n
Aaron \u2013 Light
\nAbednego \u2013 Servant of the light
\nAbel \u2013 Pasture
\nAbraham \u2013 Father of a great multitude
\nAdam \u2013 Red earth (the colour of the earth from which his body was made)
\nAnna (Hannah) \u2013 Gracious
\nBarabbas \u2013 The son of the father (The supreme irony, for when the crowd should have asked for Christ, the Son of the Father, to be released, in fact they asked for Barabbas, \u2018the son of the father\u2019, to be released.
\nBathsheba \u2013 The seventh daughter
\nCain \u2013 Possession
\nDaniel \u2013 God\u2019s judge
\nDavid \u2013 Beloved
\nDeborah (in Greek Melissa) – A bee
\nDelilah \u2013 Delicate
\nElias \/ Elijah \u2013 My God is Jehovah
\nElisha (in Greek Eliseus) \u2013 To whom God is salvation
\nElizabeth \u2013 To whom God has promised
\nEnoch \u2013 Dedicated
\nEve – Life
\nEzekiel \u2013 Whom God will strengthen
\nGabriel \u2013 Man of God
\nGideon \u2013 He who cuts off (iniquity)
\nHosea \u2013 Salvation
\nIsaac \u2013 Laughter
\nIsaiah \u2013 Salvation of Jehovah
\nJacob \u2013 The Usurper
\nJairus \u2013 God enlightens
\nJeremiah \u2013 Whom God has appointed
\nJob \u2013 He who is persecuted
\nJohn \u2013 God is Gracious
\nLazarus \u2013 He whom God helps
\nLot \u2013 Veil
\nLuke \u2013 The Light
\nMalachi \u2013 Messenger of Jehovah
\nMark \u2013 Shining
\nMartha \u2013 Lady
\nMatthew \u2013 The gift of Jehovah
\nMary \u2013 Mistress of the sea
\nMelchizedek \u2013 King of righteousness
\nMichael \u2013 Who is like God
\nMoses \u2013 Saved from the water
\nNathanael \u2013 The gift of God
\nNoah \u2013 Wandering
\nPaul \u2013 Small (presumably the Apostle was short of stature)
\nPeter (in Hebrew Cephas) \u2013 The Stone
\nSamson \u2013 Like the sun
\nSarah (in Greek Sara) \u2013 Princess
\nSaul \u2013 Asked for
\nSimon \u2013 He who listens
\nSolomon – Peaceful
\nSusanna \u2013 Lily
\nThomas \u2013 Twin
\nUriel \u2013 Light of God
\nZacchaeus \u2013 Pure
\nZachariah \u2013 Whom Jehovah remembers
\nZebedee \u2013 The gift of Jehovah<\/p>\n
Baal – Lord
\nBeelzebub \u2013 Lord of the flies
\nBelial \u2013 wicked, worthless
\nCyrus – The sun
\nDevil \u2013 Slanderer
\nHerod \u2013 The glory of the skin
\nIscariot \u2013 Man of Kerioth (= the cities)
\nJezebel \u2013 Unmarried, single
\nPharisees \u2013 The separated
\nPharoah \u2013 The sun (therefore worshipped by the Egyptians)
\nSaducees \u2013 The followers of the justified
\nSalome \u2013 Perfect
\nSatan \u2013 The Adversary<\/p>\n
Arabia \u2013 A desert
\nArimathea (Ramah) \u2013 High place
\nArmagedddon \u2013 High place where there are troops
\nBethany \u2013 House of dates
\nBethel \u2013 House of God
\nBethesda \u2013 House of mercy
\nBethlehem \u2013 House of bread (originally from the grain of the fertile fields around it, but for Orthodox clearly eucharistic in significance)
\nBethsaida \u2013 House of fishing
\nCanaan \u2013 Lowland
\nCapernaum \u2013 City of consolation
\nEden \u2013 Pleasantness
\nEgypt \u2013 Black
\nEmmaus \u2013 Hot springs
\nEthiopia \u2013 Blackness
\nEuphrates \u2013 The fertile river
\nGalilee \u2013 Circuit (from the shape of the Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Gennesareth)
\nGaza \u2013 Fortified place
\nGethsemane \u2013 the oil press (where the fruit from the Mt of Olives was pressed)
\nGolgotha \u2013 Skull (Calvary in Latin) (where Adam\u2019s skull and body were buried)
\nGomorrah \u2013 A rebellious people
\nHebron \u2013 Alliance
\nHermon \u2013 Lofty
\nHoreb \u2013 Desert
\nIsrael \u2013The soldier of God
\nJericho \u2013 Fragrant place
\nJerusalem \u2013 Founded in peace (but not in peace ever since\u2026)
\nJordan \u2013 Flowing down
\nKedron \u2013 Turbid
\nLebanon \u2013 The white mountain (from Mt Lebanon)
\nMagdala \u2013 Tower (the village where St Mmary Madgalene came from possessed a tower)
\nMamre \u2013 Fatness
\nNazareth \u2013 Separated
\nPalestine \u2013 The land of the strangers (the Philistines)
\nSamaria \u2013 Guard
\nSharon \u2013 Plain
\nSheba \u2013 An oath
\nSiloam \u2013 Outlet of water
\nSodom – Burning
\nSidon \u2013 Fishing
\nSinai \u2013 The pointed one (presumably from the form of the mountain, not the shape of the peninsula)
\nSion (Zion) \u2013 Raised up
\nTabor \u2013 Height
\nTyre \u2013 Rock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we read the Scriptures, we may be accustomed to seeking the spiritual meaning of the words, in addition to the more obvious literal meaning. Sometimes we are so intent on this that we miss the meanings of the names found therein. In the Old Testament these meanings are often explained, but not so in … <\/p>\n