🔼The name Bukki: Summary
- Meaning
- Emptied [Of Yah], Examined [Of Yah], Nitpicker
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb בקק (baqaq), to empty, or בקה (baqa), to examine, and possibly (2) יה (yah), the name of the Lord.
🔼The name Bukki in the Bible
There are two men named Bukki mentioned in the Bible but neither plays much of a role:
🔼Etymology of the name Bukki
The name Bukki comes from either the verbs בקק (baqaq) or בוק (boq), to empty, or the verb בקה (baqa), to examine, which may very well be two manifestations of the same action:
בקק
Verbs בקק (baqaq) and בוק (boq) mean to be or become empty (of items, lands, etc.). Nouns בוקה (buqa) and מבוקה (mebuqa) both mean emptiness. Noun בקבק (baqbuq) means flask.
A second verb בקק (baqaq) means to be luxuriant and may either be imported from a cognate language or else refer to a proverbial wealth of bottles to empty.
There was probably also a verb בקה (baqa) that meant to search, scout out or examine, with a similarly spelled noun meaning gnat. Perhaps the link with the previous was accidental but perhaps the erratic flight of the gnat reminded observers of vainly criss-crossing an emptied land in search of something that was no longer there. Or perhaps the gnat was proverbial for something that required careful straining (see Matthew 23:24).
The letter י (yod) upon which our name ends, may either create an adjective, a possessive form (my emptiness, my search), or may be a remnant of יה (Yah), which is short for יהוה, which is the name YHWH.
🔼Bukki meaning
For a meaning of the name Bukki, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Emptying Of The Lord and BDB Theological Dictionary has Proved Of Yah. Both decree that Bukki is an abbreviated form of Bukkiah, but this is by no means certain. In a rare case of omission, NOBSE Study Bible Name List does not translate this name.
Since the English word nit could once also denote a gnat, this name quite faithfully translates as Nitpicker.