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Hephzibah meaning

Hephzibah in Biblical Hebrew
חפצי־בה
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Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Hephzibah.html

🔼The name Hephzibah: Summary

Meaning
My Delight Is In Her
Etymology
From (1) the verb חפץ (hapes), to take delight in, (2) the prefix ב (be), in, and (3) the feminine pronominal suffix: ה (he), her.
Related names
• Via ב (be): Ahasbai, Babel, Bavvai, Bealoth, Bebai, Bedeiah, Beerah, Bera, Beriah, Berodach-baladan, Besodeiah, Bezalel, Bimhal, Birsha, Bishlam, Boaz, Ishbi-benob, Josheb-basshebeth, Oholibah, Sherebiah

🔼The name Hephzibah in the Bible

The extraordinarily beautiful name Hephzibah is assigned twice in the Bible:

  • The first Hephzibah we meet is the mother of king Manasseh of Judah (2 Kings 21:1).
  • The second Hephzibah occurs in the book of Isaiah, where the prophet lists a small group of nicknames for Zion and Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:4).

🔼Etymology of the name Hephzibah

The name Hephzibah consists of two elements that are separated by a maqqep (a Hebrew hyphen):

The first part comes from the verb חפץ (hapes), meaning to take delight in:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
חפץ

The verb חפץ (hapes), means to take delight in or be pleased in. The noun חפץ (hepes) means delight, and adjective חפץ (hapes) means delighting in.

— See the full Dictionary article —

The central yod in the name Hephzibah denotes possession of what precedes: my delight.

The second part of the name is the very common and ubiquitous particle ב (be), meaning in at or by (it's the first letter of the Bible: in the beginning):

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
ב

Prefix ב (be) means in, within or by means of.

— See the full Dictionary article —

The final he, denotes the feminine pronominal suffix: her.

Isaiah renders Jerusalem this wonderful name, and explains it right away by saying:

Isaiah 62:4
בי
for
חפץ
delights
יהוה
YHWH
בך
in you

...which means: Because YHWH delights in you.

🔼Hephzibah meaning

For a meaning of the name Hephzibah, BDB Theological Dictionary, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names agree: My Delight Is In Her.