🔼The name Huldah: Summary
- Meaning
- Earthling, Mole, Life
- Etymology
- From the verb חלד (halad), to be an earthling.
🔼The name Huldah in the Bible
There's only one Huldah in the Bible and she is part of a truly amazing story (2 Kings 22:14). During restoration work on the temple in Jerusalem, high priest Hilkiah finds the book of the Law of Moses, which he has obviously never seen before. He gives it to scribe Shaphan who takes it to king Josiah. Reading all the statutes, and particularly the negative consequences of transgressing the Law, Josiah becomes extremely worried. He sends a delegation to Huldah the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, who is a prophetess, and who informs the king that the words of the book will surely come to pass.
Josiah embarks on a bloody campaign against the priests of Baal and Asherah, but a few years after his death, king Nebuchadnezzar fulfills the prophecies and takes the people of Judah to Babylon in exile. Only in Babylon the people of Judah begin to take Mosaic law seriously. Judaism and the Bible as we know it begin to be formed, and in the wake of the return led by Ezra and Nehemiah, the rabbinic period begins. Christianity could not have arisen without that tradition. And without Huldah the prophetess, there may not have been any of that.
🔼Etymology of the name Huldah
The name Huldah comes from the root חלד (hld):
חלד
It's not known what the verb חלד (halad) may have signified, but it appears to have had something to do with being an "earthling". Noun חלד (holed) describes the mole or other similar burrowing animal. Noun חלד (heled) refers to the acts and deeds that sum up one's life on earth, or indeed the whole spectrum of human life: the world.
🔼Huldah meaning
The name Huldah is a feminized noun from any of the above. It may mean World or Lifetime, but it may also mean Rat. It's probably up to the audience to decide.
For a meaning of the name Huldah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Weasel, Mole. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Weasel.