🔼The name Alemeth: Summary
- Meaning
- Hidden
- Etymology
- From the verb עלם ('alam), to be hidden.
🔼The name Alemeth in the Bible
The name Alemeth (also sometimes transliterated as Alameth) is assigned to two men in the Bible:
- One is a son of Becher, who is a son of Benjamin, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, also known as Israel (1 Chronicles 7:8).
- The other Alemeth is a son of Jehoaddah (also known as Jarah), son of Ahaz, also of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 8:36).
And then there is the town named עלמת, and this name in Hebrew is identical to our name Alemeth, save for the later added Masoretic symbols. The name of this town is usually transliterated as Allemeth, but some translations of the Bible spell this name as Alemeth.
🔼Etymology of the name Alemeth
The name Alemeth comes from the Hebrew verb עלם ('alam) and can be derived of any of the following:
עלם
The verb עלם ('alam) means to be hidden or concealed and noun תעלמה (ta'alumma) describes a hidden thing, but all this with an emphasis on a potential coming out rather than a hiding for, say, safety or mysteriousness.
Noun עלם ('elem) describes a young man, עלמה ('alma) a young woman, and עלומים ('alumim) youth(s) in general, which appears to appeal to the still "hidden" potential of youth. Likewise the noun עולם (olam), which means forever or everlasting, appears to refer to the potential of any present situation, which may realize when time is unlimited.
🔼Alemeth meaning
For a meaning of the name Alemeth, NOBSE Study Bible Name List proposes Hidden. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Covering. BDB Theological Dictionary does not translate but groups this name under the verb עלם ('alam), to hide or conceal.