🔼The name Jaazaniah: Summary
- Meaning
- Yah Harkens
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb אזן (azen), to balance or listen to, and (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
🔼The name Jaazaniah in the Bible
There are four men named Jaazaniah in the Bible:
- A son of the Maacathite, who is mentioned among the leaders of the people who stayed in Judah after the bulk of the people were deported to Babylon. These leaders are supposed to be submitted to the vassal Gedaliah, but he is assassinated and the people flee to Egypt (2 Kings 25:23). In 2 Kings this name is spelled as יאזניהו (Jaazaniahu), and the prophet Jeremiah contracts this name to יזניהו (Jezaniah(u); Jeremiah 40:8 and 42:1, assuming that Hoshaiah is "the Maacathite". In Jeremiah 43:2 this man is called Azariah).
- A son of Shaphan, who stands among seventy elders of Israel in a vision endured by Ezekiel (8:11). Ezekiel too uses the expanded version of this name: יאזניהו (Jaazaniahu).
- A son of Azzur, who stands among twenty-five elders, also in a vision of Ezekiel (11:1).
- A son of Jeremiah of Habazziniah, who is a leader of a people called the Rechabites, and who adhere to the legislation of their hero Jonadab (Jeremiah 35:3).
🔼Etymology of the name Jaazaniah
The name Jaazaniah consists of two elements, the final bit being formed from the appellative יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton; the name of the Lord: YHWH.
The first part of the name Jaazaniah comes from the denominative verb אזן (azan), meaning to hear or rather to give ear to:
אזן
The verb אזן ('azan) means to balance or equalize. Noun מאזן (m'zn) describes a merchant's scale or balance and noun אזן ('ozen) means ear. The denominative verb אזן ('azan) means to harken or hear and obviously describes the turning of one's face to where sound comes from.
🔼Jaazaniah meaning
For a meaning of the name Jaazaniah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Yahweh Hearkens and BDB Theological Dictionary proposes the similar Yahweh Heareth. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has He Will Be Heard Of The Lord.