🔼The name Imrah: Summary
- Meaning
- He Rebels
- Etymology
- From the verb מרה (mara), to be rebellious.
🔼The name Imrah in the Bible
The name Imrah occurs only once in the Bible. He was a son of Zophah of Asher, and that's all we know about him (1 Chronicles 7:36).
🔼Etymology of the name Imrah
The name Imrah is an active form of the verb מרה (mara) meaning to be rebellious or disobedient:
מרר
The verb מרר (marar) means to be strong or bitter and can be used to describe tastes and smells, and hard or difficult situations.
Adjectives מר (mar) and מרירי (meriri) mean bitter. Nouns מרור (maror) and מרורה (merora) refer to any bitter thing, the former specifically to a certain bitter herb, and the latter to gall or poison.
Noun מררה (merera) also means gal. Nouns מרה (morra), מרה (mora), מרירות (merirut), ממר (memer), ממרור (mamror) and תמרור (tamrur) mean bitterness. The latter noun is spelled identical to the noun תמרור (tamrur), meaning marker or sign post, from the root תמר (tamar), meaning to be stiff or erect.
And speaking of such, the nouns מר (mor) and מור (mor) mean myrrh, a bitter and fragrant spice that was originally used to mark the tabernacle, but which came to be used to proclaim, olfactorily, the consummation of marriage. Hence, despite its links to words that mostly describe hardship, myrrh oil was known as the "oil of joy."
Verb מרה (mara) means to be contentious or rebellious, particularly against God. Noun מרי (meri) means rebellion.
The verb מור (mor) means to change. Perhaps the connection between the previous is coincidental but perhaps these words are indeed linked, as change is often reaction to bitterness or opposition. The noun תמורה (temura) means exchange.
🔼Imrah meaning
For a meaning of the name Imrah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads He (God) Resists, although nothing in the name or context suggests that God is the one who is doing it. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names derives our name indeed from the verb מרה (mara) but proposes a rather lopsided Who Will Extol Himself. BDB Theological Dictionary does not translate our name but does list it under the verb מרה (mara) meaning to be rebellious or disobedient.