Have you ever been stumped and just left speechless by some of the ‘little’ nuggets of information and wisdom given to us by God in the Bible?
Here’s a confession: I often try to skip the genealogies in the Bible because, well, sometimes they can be a little dry. I did read the one in Genesis 5 and the one in Matthew 1 but that’s just about it.
However, I watched this little nugget of information presented by Steve Hadley, a pastor at Harvest Family Fellowship in Reno and when the punchline was presented near the end of the video, I was just simply floored.
Watch it, and I think you’ll be as amazed and simply flabbergasted as I am!
Our God is an AWESOME GOD indeed!
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If true, that is amazing. I am going to look for a dictionary of Hebrew names and make sure they actually mean those things before I use this argument. A quick Google search came up with someone claiming, for example, that Cainan actually means “metalworker,” not “sorrow.”
Hiya Casey:
I did a quick check as well and though the direct translation of Cainan does mean what you said, I read that the root word for the name does actually mean “sorrow”. The other name in dispute is Lamech, which when translated means captive or slave or pauper, but the root word is apparently “despairing” or “lamentation”.
Further study is warranted on this, but I shared it because I found it pretty interesting and worthy of some study by those interested.
God bless, and Shalom Aleichem.
Isaiah, I shared this with my husband too, and he asked me, are you sure they mean that? So I am doing much the same as Casey is doing. I am attempting to research what the names mean as well. So far, they are all right on. Some say directly in the bible what they mean, but others aren’t so easy to find.
Blessings and Shalom!
Shalene, I’m stuck right now on authoritative sources for the meanings of Lamech, Cainan and Methuselah. If you find something, let me know. After I finish a couple of projects I’ll have more time, and I’ll let you guys know if I find anything. I don’t have any doubt that such a message is possible, I just want to make sure before I use it in my own teaching and witnessing activities.
By the way, thanks Isaiah for sharing this. I haven’t been this excited about genealogies in a long time.
Hi Casey (and Isaiah),
I have gotten one part of the answer. Lamech: though this “word” does not exist in Hebrew (lmk) Jones and NOBSE suggest relations to an untreated root meaning “strong and robust young man” Jones reads “Powerful” and NOBSE reads “Wild Man”. Also suggested as possible from particle (le 1063) meaning to or towards and verb (muk 1159) be low, deressed; or even adjacent verb (makuk 1193) be low humiliated. Thus the whole name would mean “For Lowering, For Humiliation” So to me, “despairing” seems to fit. I got this information from the following website. http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Names_Methods.html I am not a linguist, so have to rely on other sources. The NOBSE is the New Open Bible Study Edition and Jones is the reference for The proper names of the Old Testament Scriptures. By Rev Alfred Jones. Samuel Bagster and sons, 15 paternoster row, London. 1856. Blessings and Shalom. I’m sure I (or you) could find the other information in this same way. I’m going to keep looking into it.
Here is another site, with the etymological translation and almost all fit what that pastor said, except for Cainan (or Kenan, or Qenan). http://www.ki.sekunda.home.pl/link-Methusael Cainan is proving to be difficult. I am not saying these are all authoritative sites, but who knows, perhaps they will help.
Dear Shalene, Casey:
Wow, thank you both for being the Bereans we are to be, and helping to check on this! I am sorry I haven’t been answering as I am serving my reserve duty in the Armed Forces as I wrote on one of my posts.
I will finally have some time on Sunday to join you in exploring the difficulty with Kenan as you have mentioned.
God bless, and Shalom Aleichem.
Hi Isaiah, because I couldn’t find it on my own, I actually sent off an email to the pastor of that church (the one in the video) to ask him what his sources were. I’ll let you know if I get a reply. Blessings and Shalom.
Hello Isaiah,
Just found your site from our webmaster. I was very blessed that our little website was an encouragement. Like many of those who’s comments I’ve just read have discovered, the exact transliteration into english of the Hebrew names in Gen 5 are tough to nail down precisely. Unfortunately, many of the research tools we rely on don’t necessarily agree a hundred percent with each other. That said, even the close approximation of the names of Gen 5 alone is amazing enough to make us wonder in awe at our Bibles! Truely our Bible, written by 40 different people, over more than 1500 years… all bear the same distinctive fingerprint of the one true author!
In the words of Chuck Missler, our Bible is truely, “an integrated message system originating from outside our time and space demension…”
I am so very blessed that many are digging deep into the Word! “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Prov 8:17!
Keep up the great work!!
Steve
Well that was neat that the webmaster sent the pastor here, to see your site, Isaiah, but I’m kinda bummed he didn’t answer our question, or tell us where we could look. He does have a point about the fact that with so many names meaning what he said they did, it seems a Divine miracle in itself, but I sure would have liked to have seen the information with my own two eyes. Perhaps he’ll still reply to my email.
Blessings and Shalom.
Sorry our website email is not working just now.
Since the ten Hebrew names are proper names, they are not translated but only transliterated to approximate the way they were pronounced. The meaning of proper names can be a difficult pursuit since direct translations are not readily available. Many study aids, such as conventional lexicons, can prove superficial when dealing with proper names. Even a conventional Hebrew lexicon can prove disappointing. A study of the original roots, however, can yield some fascinating insights. (It should be recognized, however, that the views concerning the meaning and significance of the original roots are not free of controversy and are subject to variant readings,)
Adam
The first name, Adam, comes from adomah, and means “man.” As the first man, that seems straightforward enough.
Seth
Adam’s son was named Seth, which means “appointed.” When he was born Eve said, “For God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.”
Enosh
Seth’s son was called Enosh, which means “mortal,” “frail,” or “miserable.” It is from the root anash: to be incurable; used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness. (It was in the days of Enosh that men began to defile the name of the Living God.)
Kenan
Enosh’s son was named Kenan, from which can mean “sorrow,” dirge,” or “elegy.” (The precise denotation is somewhat elusive; some study aids unfortunately presume an Aramaic root synonymous with “Cainan.”) Balaam, looking down from the heights of Moab, employed a pun upon the name of the Kenites when he prophesied their destruction.
Mahalalel
Kenan’s son was Mahalalel, from mahalal, which means “blessed” or “praise”; and El, the name for God. Thus, Mahalalel means “the Blessed God.” Often Hebrew names included El, the name of God, as Dani-el, “God is my Judge,” Nathani-el, “Gift of God,” etc.
Jared
Mahalalel’s son was named Jared, from the verb yaradh, meaning “shall come down.” Some authorities suggest that this might have been an allusion to the “Sons of God” who “came down” to corrupt the daughters of men, resulting in the Nephilim (”Fallen Ones”) of Genesis 6.
Enoch
Jared’s son was named Enoch, which means “teaching,” or “commencement.” He was the first of four generations of preachers. In fact, the earliest recorded prophecy was by Enoch, which amazingly enough deals with the Second Coming of Christ.
Methuselah
The Flood of Noah did not come as a surprise. It had been preached on for four generations. But something strange happened when Enoch was 65, from which time “he walked with God.” Rabbinical tradition says that Enoch was given a prophecy that as long as his son was alive, the judgment of the flood would be withheld; but as soon as he died, the flood would be sent forth.
Enoch named his son to reflect this prophecy. The name Methuselah comes from two roots: muth, a root that means “death”5 ; and from shalach, which means “to bring,” or “to send forth.” Thus, the name Methuselah signifies, “his death shall bring.”
And, indeed, in the year that Methuselah died, the flood came. Methuselah was 187 when he had Lamech, and lived 782 years more. Lamech had Noah when he was 182. The Flood came in Noah’s 600th year. 187 + 182 + 600 = 969, Methuselah’s age when he died.
It is interesting that Methuselah’s life was, in effect, a symbol of God’s mercy in forestalling the coming judgment of the flood. It is therefore fitting that his lifetime is the oldest in the Bible, symbolizing the extreme extensiveness of God’s mercy.
Lamech
Methuselah’s son was named Lamech, a root still evident today in our own English word, “lament” or “lamentation.” Lamech suggests “despairing.” (This name is also linked to the Lamech in Cain’s line who inadvertently killed his son Tubal-Cain in a hunting incident. )
Noah
Lamech, of course, is the father of Noah, which is derived from nacham , “to bring relief” or “comfort,” as Lamech himself explains.
Here is a summary of God’s plan of redemption, hidden here within a genealogy in Genesis! You will never convince me that a group of Jewish rabbis deliberately “contrived” to hide the “Christian Gospel” right here in a genealogy within their venerated Torah!
Sources:
• Jones, Alfred, Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 1990.
• Kaplan, Rabbi Aryeh, The Living Torah, Maznaim Publishing Corporation, Jerusalem, 1981.
• Pink, Arthur W., Gleanings in Genesis, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL, 1922.
• Rosenbaum, M., and Silbermann, A., Pentateuch with Onkelos’s Translation (into Aramaic) and Rashi’s Commentary, Silbermann Family Publishers, Jerusalem, 1973.
• Stedman, Ray C., The Beginnings, Word Books, Waco, TX, 1978.
Courtesy khouse.org http://khouse.org/articles/2000/284/#notes
Hope that helps!
Steve
Thanks, Steve! Much appreciated!!
Yes, thank you very much for your assistance in this, Steve. Blessings and Shalom.
Dear Steve:
Thank you for dropping by and helping us with this puzzle. I am really touched that you took that much time off your busy schedule to help us with it.
I also want to thank you for all your interesting sermons that my wife and I love to check in on week after week. In fact, my wife said to thank you for your sermons, your dynamism and the incredibly interesting way you present the Word of God because she was inspired very much by your sermons to study the Bible for herself.
God bless you, your family and your congregation in Reno.
Shalom Aleichem.
Hey guys!
Nicole Hadley here. (Steve’s wife) I was just online and saw the above posting. Thank you for the kind words! It is so cool that believers can get online and share and be blessed by God’s Word! I also had to comment- as I saw the picture of Calvin in the corner of your posting- and Steve’s all-time favorite characters are Calvin and Hobbs! He LOVES them- and I thought how much you have in common!! We hope you had a great Christmas and wish for you a blessed New Year!
In Christ
Nicole Hadley- and Steve
Hello Nicole!
Thank you very much for dropping by; it is a really pleasant surprise!
I didn’t know that Steve loves Calvin and Hobbes too. They are my favorite comic besides Dilbert.
Perhaps we will have that in common too, haha!
It is also indeed amazing that we are able to share so much online nowadays. I must thank you and Steve for posting your sermons online. My wife and I both look forward every week to seeing the new videos! I thought the “12 Days of Christmas” muppet show was pretty nifty — I didn’t know that the song had a history behind it until then!
We, too, hope you had a great Christmas. A blessed and happy New Year to you and Steve too!
Shalom Aleichem!
Thanks for all this really useful discussion…One thing that comes to my mind is this: serious Bible study like this depends on the use of really precise Bible translations. We live in a day and age when folks are content to use an ‘easy reading’ paraphrase — and consequently, they lock themselves out of the ability to do this type of study/analysis of the text. The next time your friends ask you for advice about the type of Bible translation they should use, you might want to tell them about your adventures with this study…