Hadad meaning

There are two or three completely different names in the Hebrew Bible, which in English are all spelled Hadad. We'll call them Hadad I (הדד and אדד) and Hadad II (חדד):

Meaning

Thunder

Etymology

From the verb הדד (hadad), to thunder.

Related names

• Via הדד (hadad): Ben-hadad, Hadadezer, Hadadrimmon, Hadoram, Henadad, Hiddai

There are three men named Hadad (הדד) in the Bible, all Edomites:

• The fourth king of Edom, who was the son of Husham, the third king. King Hadad placed his seat of power in a city called Avith, and he is remembered for having defeated Midian in the field of Moab (Genesis 36:35). King Hadad was succeeded by Samlah of Masrekah.
• The eighth king of Edom, according to 1 Chronicles 1:50. In Genesis 36:39 this man is called הדר (Hadar). This Hadar/Hadad reigned from Pau, and his wife was called Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
• A descendant of one of the royal dynasties of Edom, whom YHWH raised up as an adversary to king Solomon, in reaction to the latter's forbidden marriages and worship of foreign gods (1 Kings 11:14). What Hadad did exactly isn't told, but it was evil (1 Kings 11:25), and probably well sponsored because Hadad's wife and the incumbent Pharaoh's wife Tahpenes were sisters (1 Kings 11:19). Note that this Hadad is called אדד (Adad) in 1 Kings 11:17.

Hadad, or Adad, is also the name of a prime Semitic deity, probably the same as Baal and Rimmon, whose name was often part of compound names applied to human individuals (as was customary in that time and region). It may be that the individuals mentioned above simply had the same name as this deity, or perhaps (as HAW Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament suggests), their real names were compounds, but they went by the abbreviated version. It's also entirely plausible that Hadad isn't really a name at all, but rather a royal title, much like Pharaoh in Egypt, Caesar in Rome or Abimelech in Palestine.

This version of the name Hadad comes from the verb הדד (hadad), which probably had to do with thundering or noise making:

For a meaning of the name Hadad I, NOBSE Study Bible Name List observes no difference between the two Hadads and reads Fierceness for both of them. It's not clear whether NOBSE derives our name from חדה and gives it a rather liberal interpretive swing, or from a root in a different language. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names), in a rare display of obscurity, doesn't discuss possible roots, but declares that in the Assyrian language our name signified "one". Hence Jones proposes Chief, Most Eminent, Most High for a meaning of the name Hadad.

To a Hebrew audience, however, the name Hadad would have meant Thunder or Shout, and since Hadad was the region's storm god, very few would have ventured away from that interpretation.

Meaning

Sharpness, Keen

Etymology

From the verb חדד (hadad), to be sharp, swift, keen.

Related names

• Via חדד (hadad): En-haddah, Esarhaddon, Haddakel, Hadid, Hazor-hadattah, Jahdiel, Jehdeiah

The name Hadad II (חדד) occurs twice in the Bible, but in the exact same context. In Genesis 25:15 and 1 Chronicles 1:30 Hadad is the name of the eighth son of Ishmael, the son of Abraham with Hagar.

This version of the name Hadad comes from the verb חדד (hadad), meaning to be sharp, swift or keen:

Neither BDB Theological Dictionary nor NOBSE Study Bible Name List try to interpret this name, but Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names translates it with Sharpness. Perhaps better would be Keen, Swift