🔼The name Eleadah: Summary
- Meaning
- God Adorns, God Has Adorned
- Etymology
- From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) and the verb עדה ('ada), to ornament.
🔼The name Eleadah in the Bible
The name Eleadah (or Eladah as some translations have it) occurs only once. The Chronicler mentions him as one of the sons of Ephraim, son of Joseph, but that's all we know about this man (1 Chronicles 7:20).
🔼Etymology of the name Eleadah
The name Eleadah consists of two elements, the first one being אל ('el), the prominent Canaanite deity whose name became applied to the God of Israel, or the common abbreviation of Elohim, 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 second part of our name probably comes from the verb עדה ('ada II), meaning to ornament oneself or someone else:
עדד
Root עדד ('adad) describes a repeated passing by or over, or a repeated encountering. Noun עדה ('idda) describes any well-worn item.
Verb עדה ('ada I) means to advance or pass on. Nouns עד ('ad) and ועד (w'ad) describe the difficult concept of a future era advancing upon the now, or else the prey or booty upon which a predator advances. The conjunction עד ('ad) or עדי ('ady) means "as far as" or until.
The same verb, namely עדה ('ada II) is used to mean to adorn or ornament oneself — that is: to have items approach the canvas of one's bulk in order to testify of some social rank or perhaps the trade or order one belongs to. Noun עדי ('adi) means ornamentation: fancy or declarative things worn on one's body or clothes.
Verb יעד (ya'ad) means to meet, habitually and repeatedly rather than incidentally. Noun עדה ('eda) means congregation or some other joint collective. Nouns מועד (mo'ed), מועד (mo'ad) and מועדה (mu'ada) describe a place (or time) of meeting.
Verb עוד ('ud) means to return and repeat. Noun עוד ('od) denotes an addition, repetition or continuance. Nouns עד ('ed), עדה ('eda), עדה ('eda), עדת ('edut), עדות ('edut) and תעודה (te'uda) all mean witness or testimony in various nuances, and verb עוד ('ud) means to bear witness.
🔼Eleadah meaning
For a meaning of the name Eleadah, both NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary read God Has Adorned. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes the similar God Adorns.