These examples of interesting etymologies might easily be multiplied; they serve, at any rate, to indicate a rich mine of suggestive teaching. It must, however, be remembered that a name is not necessarily a personal name because it occurs in a genealogy; cities, districts, and tribes mingle freely with persons in these lists. In the same connection we note that the female names are few and far between, and that of those which do occur the “sisters” probably stand for allied and related families, and not for individuals.
As regards Old Testament theology, we may first notice the light thrown by personal names on the relation of the religion of Israel to that of other Semitic peoples. Of the names in these chapters and elsewhere, a large proportion are compounded of one or other of the Divine names. _El_ is the first element in _Elishama_, _Eliphelet_, _Eliada_, etc.; it is the second in _Othniel_, _Jehaleleel_, _Asareel_, etc. Similarly _Jehovah_ is represented by the initial _Jeho-_ in _Jehoshaphat_, _Jehoiakim_, _Jehoram_, etc., by the final _-iah_ in _Amaziah_, _Azariah_, _Hezekiah_, etc. It has been calculated that there are a hundred and ninety names(49) beginning or ending with the equivalent of Jehovah, including most of the kings of Judah and many of the kings of Israel. Moreover, some names which have not these prefixes and affixes in their extant form are contractions of older forms which began or ended with a Divine name. Ahaz, for instance, is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions as Jahuhazi—_i.e._, Jehoahaz—and Nathan is probably a contracted form of Nethaniah.
There are also numerous compounds of other Divine names. _Zur_, rock, is found in _Pedahzur_,(50) _Shaddai_, A.V. Almighty, in _Ammishaddai_(51); the two are combined in _Zurishaddai_.(52) _Melech_ is a Divine name in _Malchi-ram_ and _Malchi-shua_. _Baal_ occurs as a Divine name in _Eshbaal_ and _Meribbaal_. _Abi_, father, is a Divine name in _Abiram_, _Abinadab_, etc., and probably also _Ahi_ in _Ahiram_ and _Ammi_ in _Amminadab_.(53) Possibly, too, the apparently simple names _Melech_, _Zur_, _Baal_, are contractions of longer forms in which these Divine names were prefixes or affixes.
This use of Divine names is capable of very varied illustration. Modern languages have Christian and Christopher, Emmanuel, Theodosius, Theodora, etc.; names like Hermogenes and Heliogabalus are found in the classical languages. But the practice is specially characteristic of Semitic languages. Mohammedan princes are still called _Abdurrahman_, servant of the Merciful, and _Abdallah_, servant of God; ancient Phœnician kings were named _Ethbaal_ and _Abdalonim_, where _alonim_ is a plural Divine name, and the _bal_ in Hannibal and Hasdrubal = _baal_. The Assyrian and Chaldæan kings were named after the gods Sin, Nebo, Assur, Merodach, _e.g._, _Sin-akki-irib_ (Sennacherib); _Nebuchadnezzar_; _Assur-bani-pal_; _Merodach-baladan_.
Of these Divine names El and Baal are common to Israel and other Semitic peoples, and it has been held that the Hebrew personal names preserve traces of polytheism. In any case, however, the Baal-names are comparatively few, and do not necessarily indicate that Israelites worshipped a Baal distinct from Jehovah; they may be relics of a time when Baal (Lord) was a title or equivalent of Jehovah, like the later Adonai. Other possible traces of polytheism are few and doubtful. In Baanah and Resheph we may perhaps find the obscure(54) Phœnician deities Anath and Reshaph. On the whole, Hebrew names as compared, for instance, with Assyrian afford little or no evidence of the prevalence of polytheism.
Another question concerns the origin and use of the name Jehovah. Our lists conclusively prove its free use during the monarchy and its existence under the judges. On the other hand, its apparent presence in Jochebed, the name of the mother of Moses, seems to carry it back beyond Moses. Possibly it was a Divine name peculiar to his family or clan. Its occurrence in _Yahubidi_, a king of Hamath, in the time of Sargon may be due to direct Israelite influence. Hamath had frequent relations with Israel and Judah.