🔼The name Aziel: Summary
- Meaning
- God Is My Strength, Strength Of God
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb עזז ('azaz), to be strong, and (2) the word אל ('el), God.
🔼The name Aziel in the Bible
The name Aziel occurs only once in the Bible, namely in 1 Chronicles 15:20, where he is mentioned among the musicians whose instruments were "according to alamoth." He appears to be the same man as the Jaaziel, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 15:18, and he may also be the same as the Azarel mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:18, and Uzziel mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:4, also because the names Aziel and Uzziel are spelled identical and were separated only by the Masoretes, who worked on these texts more than a thousand years after they were written.
🔼Etymology of the name Aziel
The name Aziel is a compilation of two elements. The final part is equal to the name אל, El, the abbreviated form of אלהים, Elohim, denoting the genus God:
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.
The first part of the name Aziel comes from the Hebrew verb עזז ('azaz), meaning to be strong:
עזז
The verb עזז ('azaz) means to be strong. Adjective עז ('az) means strong, mighty or fierce and adjective עזוז ('izzuz) means mighty or powerful. Nouns עז ('oz) and עזוז ('ezuz) mean strength, might or fierceness.
Noun עזניה ('ozniya) denotes some kind of bird of prey (this word may actually be a convenient import from another language) and noun עז ('ez) denotes a she-goat (this word may actually derive from a verb that means to be wayward or perhaps strong-headed).
Verb עוז ('uz) means to bring into refuge or to seek safety. Noun מעוז (ma'oz) describes a place or agent of safety.
🔼Aziel meaning
For a meaning of the name Aziel, NOBSE Study Bible Name List suggests God Strengthens. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Comforted By God. BDB Theological Dictionary proposes My Strength Is El.