Genesis 5:12 ff names him as a son of Kena'an (Canaan) in the descent of Shem; he fathered Yared (ירד) at the age of 65 and lived to the age of 895.
Nehemiah 11:4 names Ata-Yah (עֲתָיָה ) the son of Uzi-Yah (עֻזִּיָּה), the son of Zechar-Yah (זְכַרְיָה), the son of Amar-Yah (אֲמַרְיָה), the son of Shephat-Yah (שְׁפַטְיָה), the son of Mahalal-El (מַהֲלַלְאֵל), of the children of Pharets (פָרֶץ), as one of the Bin-Yamin of Yehudah living in Yeru-Shala'im at the time that Ezra read the Book of the Law to the returnees from Bavel (Babylon). The list is particularly interesting as it not only takes the clan-name back to Pharets ben Yehudah, which was also King David's clan (Ruth 4:18-22, Matthew 1:3, Luke 3:33), but it also provides us with a list of names that are almost entirely Yah names, endorsing the association between David and Yah.
Scholars and synagogue cantors generally mispronounce it Mehallel, dropping or elliding the second Lamed (ל), and connecting it thereby with Hallel (הלל) = "praise", "thanksgiving"; if this were indeed the root, then the name would mean "praise of El" and would function as a masculine form of the better known Hallelu-Yah; a splendid coincidence in the circumstances, and further endorsement of the David-Yah association.
However the etymology is extremely doubtful, because the spelling simply does not accord; the double Lamed still needs to be pronounced, with the god-name appended, making it Mahalalel-El or Mahalal-El, or actually, much more likely, Mehal-La-El, treating the second Lamed as a conjunctive preposition, and rooting the first part in Mahal - מהל= "to prune the vine", a verb used figuratively for adulterating wine with water, as the ancients almost invariably did. This would link him to Dionysus/Bacchus in a manner that needs exploring.
The latter root would also give Mul (מול), the pruning of the male vine so that it too may run to fruit, which is to say the practice of circumcision; and from the same root the Mohel, the person authorised to carry out the circumcision.
The latter root would also give Mul (מול), the pruning of the male vine so that it too may run to fruit, which is to say the practice of circumcision; and from the same root the Mohel, the person authorised to carry out the circumcision.
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