🔼The name Hurai: Summary
- Meaning
- Freeman, Cave Man, Maker Of Whites, Central Authority
- Etymology
- From the root חרר (harar), to be a central hub of heat.
🔼The name Hurai in the Bible
The name Hurai occurs only once in the Bible, namely in 1 Chronicles 11:32, where Hurai of the Channels of Gaash is mentioned among David's Mighty Men. Note that this name is spelled identical to the names Hori(te) and Huri, but according to the Masoretes should be pronounced slightly different.
The Book of Samuel also prints a list of David's Mighty Men, and lists instead of Hurai a Hiddai of the Channels of Gaash (2 Samuel 23:30).
🔼Etymology of the name Hurai
The name Hurai comes from the following root-group:
חרר
The root חרר (harar) describes a society's central and enclosed source of heat. It thus may express a geographical depression, but more so a being hot and ultimately a being a ruler (whether by might, political clout or wisdom).
Verb חרר (harar I) means to be hot, burned or charred. Noun חרר (harer) denotes a parched place and noun חרחר (harhur) describes a violent heat or fever. The unused verb חרר (harar II) means to be free in cognate languages, which is the opposite of being a slave. Noun חר (hor) means noble or nobleman. The unused verb חרר (harar III) appears to refer to the enclosure of kilns and ovens, as the first ones were most likely built in natural hollows. The nouns חר (hor) and חור (hor) mean hole or cavern, but obviously relate to the previous word in that freemen surround themselves with walls and armies.
Verb חרה (hara) means to burn or ignite (in the Bible solely in an emotional way: to get angry). Noun חרון (haron) describes the burning of anger. Noun חרי (hori) refers to a general burning.
Verb חור (hawar) means to be or grow white (like ash or baked bricks). Nouns חור (hur) and חורי (huray) refer to any white stuff, including garments and linen, and noun חרי (hori) describes white bread or cake.
Verb נחר (nahar) looks very much like a passive or reflexive version of חרר (harar) or its participle. This verb isn't used in the Bible but nouns נחר (nahar) and נחרה (naharah) describe the vigorous snorting of a horse, and noun נחיר (nahir) means nostril (which in turn reminds of a cavern).
The letter י (yod) upon which our name ends, may either create an adjective (such-and-such-like), a possessive form (my such and such), or may be a remnant of יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.
🔼Hurai meaning
For a meaning of the name Hurai, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Free, Noble. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) goes with the verb חור (hawar) that means to be or grow white, and since this root may also describe white linen (see for instance Esther 1:6), Jones proposes that the name Hurai means Linen Worker, with the implication that white linen was then what purple and black is today: signs of nobility and opulence.
BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't offer an interpretation of our name and lists it under the verb חור (hawar), to be or grow white.