ע
ABARIM
Publications
Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault: Abiel

Abiel meaning

Abiel in Biblical Hebrew
אביאל
Abiel categories:
♂
male names
≡
browse names and categories

Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Abiel.html

🔼The name Abiel: Summary

Meaning
God Is Father, Father Of Strength
Etymology
From (1) the noun אב ('ab), father, and (2) the word אל ('el), God.
Related names
• Via אב ('ab): Abba, Abi, Abi-albon, Abiasaph, Abiathar, Abida, Abidan, Abiezer, Abigail, Abihail, Abihu, Abihud, Abijah, Abijam, Abimael, Abimelech, Abinadab, Abinoam, Abiram, Abishag, Abishai, Abishalom, Abishua, Abishur, Abital, Abitub, Abiud, Abner, Abram, Absalom, Ahab, Atroth-beth-joab, Barabbas, Bebai, Ben-abinadab, Chileab, Eliab, Huram-abi, Jeshebeab, Joab, Job, Moab, Oholiab
• Via אל ('el): See the 'browse by form' menu for a long list of 'el-names.

🔼The name Abiel in the Bible

There are two Abiels in the Bible, and both are a bit mysterious:

  • One Abiel the Arbathite is mentioned among David's mighty-men in 1 Chronicles 11:32. But in 2 Samuel 23:31 he's called Abi-albon.
  • The other Abiel is the father of Kish and grandfather of king Saul, and the father of Ner, Saul's uncle and grandfather of Abner, the son of Ner, according to 1 Samuel 9:1 and 14:50-51. But in 1 Chronicles 8:33 and 9:39, not Abiel but Ner is listed as the father of Kish, and Abiel is not mentioned. It happens a few times in the Bible that people are known by two completely different names, so Saul's grandfather may have been called Abiel by some and Ner by others. Still, Gesenius, Alfred Jones and BDB Theological Dictionary declare Abiel the grandfather and Ner the uncle of Saul.

🔼Etymology of the name Abiel

The name Abiel consists of two very common name-elements. The first element is the noun אב ('ab), meaning father:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
אב

The noun אב ('ab) means father, but describes primarily a social relationship rather than a biological one. That social fatherhood was the defining quality of the community's alpha male, the one around whom all economy revolved and from whom emanated all instructions by which the 'sons' (בן, ben) operated. It's unclear where this word אב ('ab) comes from but the verb abu means to decide.

— See the full Dictionary article —

The post-fixed letter yod creates a possessive form: my father, or father of.

The second element of the name Abiel is the word אל, El, the commonly accepted abbreviated form of Elohim, the genus God:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
אל  אלה

In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.

— See the full Dictionary article —

🔼Abiel meaning

For a meaning of the name Abiel, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names translates the word el with strength and reads Father Of Strength. NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads God Is Father and BDB Theological Dictionary offers El Is (My) Father.