🔼The name Ladan: Summary
- Meaning
- Destined For Delight
- Etymology
- From (1) the particle ל (le), (on)to, and (2) the noun עדן ('eden), delight, finery or luxury.
🔼The name Ladan in the Bible
There are two men named Ladan (or as some translations have it: Laadan) in the Bible:
🔼Etymology of the name Ladan
The etymology of the name Ladan is unclear. It may be that a root לעד existed in Hebrew but it's not used in the Biblical texts. But it exists in Arabic, meaning to put in order, and Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) is sure that that's where our name came from. BDB Theological Dictionary lists no such root but offers no possible alternative etymology.
Perhaps our name is a compound of the verb לוע (lua'), meaning to talk wildly or rashly (see the name Laadah) and דן (the name Dan; meaning judge). Our name may even be construed as a compound of the particle ל (le), meaning to:
ל
The particle ל (le) means to or onto and may describe a physical or mental motion toward or a behavioral effort, an evolutionary one or express determination or purpose. The name of this letter, lamed, describes a cattle prod or goad.
And the familiar name Eden, meaning luxurious, from the noun עדן ('eden):
עדן
Root עדן ('eden) has to do with free exchange of broadly diverse information, services and goods — which is where wealth comes from, in the modern understanding of economy. Nouns עדן ('eden), עדנה ('edna) and מעדן (ma'adan) mean delight, finery or luxury. Adjective עדין ('adin) means delightful or luxurious. Verb עדן ('adan) means to luxuriate or to delight.
🔼Ladan meaning
What the name Ladan was originally meant to convey can no longer be determined. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names derives it from an Arabic verb — assuming it also existed in Hebrew, and was miraculously never used in the Bible — and translates it with Put Into Order. BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List steer safely clear from any suggestions, and leave Ladan not translated.
Perhaps the name Ladan meant nothing at all in Hebrew and was just a foreign name. But perhaps it sounded just like ל + עדן and carried the (unintentional?) meaning of Destined For Delight.