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Help[Facts] Telach
Telach is a male name in the bible. I have seen it in several Jewish magazines as well. Do you have any further information about the name?
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Replies
I think Comay has good reasons not to give a meaning.
M.Noth says, the biblical text is corrupt and we should read SHUTELAH instead - but then does not give a meaning of that name.
The Hebrew dictionary has nothing to offer that even from afar looks like TELAH or SHUTELAH.
However, various books with biblical names do give meanings, and I wonder where they take them from:
TELACH: fracture, strength
SHUTELAH: upheaval, crashing of a lightning, plantation (“shut” in Hebrew) of Telah
Very obscure, I should say ...
M.Noth says, the biblical text is corrupt and we should read SHUTELAH instead - but then does not give a meaning of that name.
The Hebrew dictionary has nothing to offer that even from afar looks like TELAH or SHUTELAH.
However, various books with biblical names do give meanings, and I wonder where they take them from:
TELACH: fracture, strength
SHUTELAH: upheaval, crashing of a lightning, plantation (“shut” in Hebrew) of Telah
Very obscure, I should say ...
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Yes, that is obscure. Thank you anyways, Andy!
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I think that at least two possibilities should be studied, regarding the name of Shutelah:
1. Four-consonantal roots are rare in Hebrew, and some of them are loanwords.
2. Since Shutelah is son/descendant of Ephraim, born in Egypt (and even Ephraim had an Egyptian mother), an Egyptian origin of the name should be searched for. There are a few Egyptian words from that period, like PINHAS (Phineas, „dark skinned”), SHA‘TNEZ (mixt stuff, „false woven”, Lev 19:19) etc.
3. It is also possible that the word SHUTELAH was originally the name of an animal not mentioned in the Bible. Some animals in Hebrew are called by four-consonantal words: ARNEBETH (hare), TAHMAS (ostrich?), TINSHEMETH (white owl; chameleon), ‘ATALEPH (bat), HARGOL (kind of locust), ‘AKBAR (jerboa).
1. Four-consonantal roots are rare in Hebrew, and some of them are loanwords.
2. Since Shutelah is son/descendant of Ephraim, born in Egypt (and even Ephraim had an Egyptian mother), an Egyptian origin of the name should be searched for. There are a few Egyptian words from that period, like PINHAS (Phineas, „dark skinned”), SHA‘TNEZ (mixt stuff, „false woven”, Lev 19:19) etc.
3. It is also possible that the word SHUTELAH was originally the name of an animal not mentioned in the Bible. Some animals in Hebrew are called by four-consonantal words: ARNEBETH (hare), TAHMAS (ostrich?), TINSHEMETH (white owl; chameleon), ‘ATALEPH (bat), HARGOL (kind of locust), ‘AKBAR (jerboa).
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In English language Bibles, this name is normally given as "Telah". "Telach" is a transliteration of the original Hebrew form. The original Telah or Telach was an ancestor of Joshua, mentioned only in one verse in I Chronicles in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, no original meaning is given for this name in Who's Who in the Old Testament by Joan Comay, and it is not mentioned at all in The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names by Smadar Shir Sidi.
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That is too bad! Thanks anyways :)
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