Diklah meaning

Meaning

Palm Tree

Etymology

Perhaps from the verb דקל (daqal), to rock to and fro.

The name Diklah occurs only once in the Bible, as one of the many sons of Joktan (Genesis 10:27), and Joktan was the brother of the famous Peleg, in whose days 'the earth was divided' (Genesis 10:25) and who also became the ancestor of Abraham (Genesis 11:10-26). Both Peleg and Joktan are sons of Eber, who is a descendant of Shem, the first born son of Noah (Genesis 5:32).

The name Diklah may come from the unused root דקל (dql). This word is not used in the Bible, but Fuerst's Hebrew & Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament suggests it originally meant to rock to and fro (in the air), to wave. In post-Biblical Hebrew as well as in the cognate languages, the similar derivative is used to mean palm or date tree.

For a meaning of the name Diklah, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names and NOBSE Study Bible Name List read Palm Tree. BDB Theological Dictionary reads Date-Tree, Palm.

Also note the similarity between this name and הדקל, Hiddakel, which is the Hebrew name for the river Tigris.