🔼The name Jeshanah: Summary
- Meaning
- Old
- Etymology
- From the noun ישן (yashen), old, from the root שנן (shanan), to repeat.
🔼The name Jeshanah in the Bible
The name Jeshanah occurs only once in the Bible. It's the name of one of the villages that were captured by king Abijah of Judah from king Jeroboam of Israel, in an attempt by Abijah to reunite the tribes (2 Chronicles 13:19). The battle ended in favor of Judah, but the tribes were never reunited.
🔼Etymology of the name Jeshanah
The name Jeshanah appears to be a feminine form of the masculine noun ישן (yashen), which means old:
שנן
The root שנן (shanan) speaks of repetition or the creation of distance between elements, often preceded by a breaking apart, and followed by a removal or even storage.
Verb שנן (shanan) means to sharpen, and sharpening is achieved by removing material by repeatedly stroking a blade against a whetstone. This verb is also used in the sense of sharpening a mind by repeating the same exercise. Noun שן (shen) means tooth. Noun שנינה (shenina) denotes a "sharp" word; a taunt.
Verb שנה (shana) means to change or create a difference — of one's mind, or one's clothes, and this mostly through repetition. Noun שנה (shana) means year.
Perhaps formally separate but obviously related, or else the very same verb שנה (shana) means to repeat or reoccur. Noun שנים (shenayim) or שתים (shetayim) is the common word for two or a pair. Adjective שני (sheni) or שנית (shenit) means second and noun משנה (misneh) means second, double, or copy. Noun שנאן (shin'an) is used as a superlative in figures of speech (i.e. expressions like double-down, super-double-good).
Noun שני (shani) denotes the color purple. This noun might formally derive from a third wholly separate verb of unclear meaning but obviously reminds of the many times a garment has to be dipped in dye to have its color changed.
Verb ישן (yashen) means to sleep, which seems to indicate that the ancients related one's daily activities to a forward stroke of one's mental blade against the whetstone of life, whereas sleep counted as the trailing stroke backward and removal of the burr. Adjective ישן (yashen) means sleeping or sleepy, and is obviously similar to its sibling noun ישן (yashen), which means old. Nouns שנה (shena), שנא (shena') and שנת (shenat) mean sleep.
Verb שנא (sane') is commonly translated with to hate but actually lacks the angry emotion that our English word conveys. It rather means to reject, create distance from and send away. Adjective שניא (sani') means hated (i.e. the hated wife), and noun שנאה (sin'a) means a hating or hatred, which comes down to a separating or a sending away.
🔼Jeshanah meaning
For a meaning of the name Jeshanah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Old and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Old, Ancient. BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer an interpretation of the name Jeshanah.