Hi,
I'm studying Judges and ran across your study. im excited about this find but i cant find anything to back up Ehud, means ‘I will give praise’, or ‘I will give thanks’. or Gera chew the cud
thanks.
Hi,
thanks thanks for the email and glad you enjoy the studies. It has
been quite a few years since I wrote the Judges studies so I can't say
exactly what I was looking at back then, but as a general rule I get the meanings
of the names from the following sources:
A dictionary of proper names by
J.B Jackson
Hitchcocks Bible Names Dictionary
Jones Dictionary of Old
Testament Proper Names
And I also have a nosey at what Strong's Concordance and Easton's Bible
Dictionary have to say.
Concerning some names (especially uncommon
names), it should be noted that the dictionaries are not always consistent (as
you have probably seen!) - be nice if this were an exact science but that
doesn't seem to always be the case. But for the most part I have trusted the
top two sources.
So... the names you mentioned:
Ehud:
Jackson
- contains two meanings for this name: 'undivided, union' OR 'I
will give thanks, praise.'
Hitchcock - 'He that praises'
Strongs
and Easton say United and Union respectively.
I also have an old book on
Judges by a brethren writer called Samuel Ridout. He says that Ehud means
'praise' or 'confession'
Gera:
Jackson - gives three names: the cud, a grain,
pilgrimage
Hitchcock: pilgrimage, combat; dispute
Jones:
'rumination' - the food which animals bring up to chew, commonly called
the cud.
Strongs: a grain
Annotated Bible Commentary and Believers
Bible Commentary: Meditation (likely from the thought to chew something over)
And while we're at it... another tricky one:
Eglon:Jackson - 'a bull calf'
Hitchcock - 'heifer' or 'round'
Ridout's book on Judges - circuit, circle
Strong's - 'calf like' - with the root word meaning 'circular', 'round'
So I hope that helps. May have confused you more! : ) These names do have more than one meaning given by the sources unfortunately but at least you'll see where I got my info from. I should actually update that study to give the source of the name meanings.
All the best!