🔼The name Elteke: Summary
- Meaning
- God Is Dread
- The God Of She Who Has Vomited Out
- Etymology
- From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) a verb that means to fear.
- From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the verb קיא (qi'), to vomit.
🔼The name Elteke in the Bible
The name Elteke occurs twice in the Bible, but in two spellings. It belongs to a city in the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:44; spelled אלתקה), which was given to the Kohathite Levites (Joshua 21:23; spelled אלתקא).
🔼Etymology of the name Elteke
The name Elteke consists of two elements. The first part is probably 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 appears to be derived from a root תקא (tq'), which doesn't occur in the Bible but is known to exist in Arabic, with the meaning of to fear or take heed.
🔼Elteke meaning
For a meaning of the name Elteke, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads God Is Dread and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has God-fearing.
BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer an interpretation of this name and lists it alphabetically (not even under אל, El or אלהים, Elohim).
Interestingly, the second part of our name is also identical to a particular feminine third person singular form of the verb קיא (qi'), meaning to vomit. It occurs in the form תקא in Leviticus 18:25, where the land (which is feminine) has vomited out bad people.
קיא קיה
The verbs קיא (qaya') and קיה (qaya) both mean to vomit up. Nouns קא (qe) and קיא (qi) mean vomit.
Since El is strictly masculine, our name may also mean The God Of She Who Has Vomited Out.