🔼The name Jahdai: Summary
- Meaning
- Yah Leads, Yah Masters Snakes
- Etymology
- From (1) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord, and (2) the verb הדה (hada), to snake-charm.
🔼The name Jahdai in the Bible
The name Jahdai occurs only once in the Bible. In 1 Chronicles 2:47 he is mentioned as what appears a son of Caleb of Hezron with Ephah, one of his concubines. The wording is somewhat confusing and some commentators have suggested that Jahdai and the Moza mentioned in the previous verse are the same, but that seems unnecessary. Jahdai had six sons: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah and Shaaph.
🔼Etymology of the name Jahdai
The name Jahdai consists of two elements. The first part is יה (yah), which is a shortened form of יהוה, or YHWH, the name of the Lord. The second part appears to derive from the very rare verb הדה (hada), meaning to stretch out one's hand, particularly in order to handle snakes:
הדה
The verb הדה (hada) means to stretch out one's hand, or more specifically: to manually extract snakes from their burrows, or to snake-charm.
🔼Jahdai meaning
For a meaning of the name Jahdai, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Yahweh Leads and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes He Will Be Directed Of The Lord.
BDB Theological Dictionary does not translate our name, but does list it under the verb הדה (hada), and cites the formidable linguist Gesenius, who translated it as Yah Leads, but curtly deems it "dub."
Here at Abarim Publications we don't think the verb essentially means to lead but rather speaks of mastering snakes. Hence we translate this name as Yah Masters Snakes.