Yemu-El

ימואל


Genesis 46:10 names him as the eldest son of Shim'on (Simeon); Numbers 26:12 calls him Nemu-El (נמואל).

His siblings were Yamin (ימין), Ohad (אהד), Yachin (יכין), Tsochar (צוחר) and Sha'ul (שאול) the son of a Kena'ani (Canaanitish) woman, according to Genesis 46:10; but Yamin, Yachin, Zerach (זרח) and Sha'ul according to Numbers 26:12.

The name is understood to mean "the day of El", though this is open to debate. Firstly because the variants Nemu-El (נְמוּאֵל), Kemu-El (קְמוּאֵל) and Shemu-El (שְׁמוּאֵל - the prophet Samuel) are not obviously connected with the word Yom = "day". Secondly because the Yud prefix is often a third person singular of the future tense; e.g. Yishma-El (Ishmael) = "El will hear", Yechezke-El (Ezekiel) = El will strengthen). Thirdly because the Yud prefix is often an abbreviation of Yah, the moon goddess: e.g. Ya'akov (Jacob) may be Yah-Ekev, the goddess of the sacred heel, Yoseph may be Yah Suph, the goddess of the reeds. Much more likely the root is Yamah (ימה) = "heat", which is in fact the source of the word "day" (that being the time when the world gets hot), but not the source of the name, which I believe should be read as "El will provide warmth".


Copyright © 2019 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press


No comments:

Post a Comment