The Use of Semantic & Prosopographical Data in the Analysis of the Biblical Onomasticon: Methodological Principles & Miscellaneous Case Studies

Although the primary function of a name is to refer, names do not merely refer. They also have semantic content. And that content exerts a significant influence on parents as they choose names for their children. Consequently, the semantic content of the Biblical onomasticon is not randomly distributed. Rather, many Biblical names fit particular features of their bearers’ lives or environments and/or reflect particular fashions in name semantics. For instance, we find names which describe their bearer’s birth, appearance, abilities, and status; we find clusters of body-part-related names, combative names, prickly names, and wildlife-related names; we find occupational names borne mostly by servants, beauty names borne mostly by females, desert-related names in desert regions, and metalwork-related names where metalwork was done; etc. And we should analyse the Bible’s names with such phenomena in mind. The present thesis will critically evaluate the above claim(s). It will address the methodological issues entailed in the notion of name-analysis and name-translation, and establish three main conclusions. First, while many people pay little attention to name semantics (particularly in the Western world where names are often chosen simply ‘because they sound nice’), that is not generally the case, and it does not seem to have been the case in the Biblical world. Many Biblical names were chosen for their bearers precisely on the basis of their semantic content. Second, the Biblical onomasticon contains numerous semantically defined name-clusters whose existence cannot plausibly be explained as coincidental. They are genuine features of the Biblical onomasticon and reflect genuine intentionality. Third, similar name-clusters can be identified outside of the Biblical onomasticon, both in epigraphic Hebrew names and in Canaanite and Arabian names from the region roundabout. These conclusions are significant, and make a contribution to our comprehension of onomastics.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Bejon, James

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hornkohl, Aaron

• Onomastics
• Hebrew
• Bible
• Names

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/db26a97a-31b7-40e1-8bef-c5242fdf3f74/download
• http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.116938

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/381918