🔼The name Lo-ruhamah: Summary
- Meaning
- No Mercy
- Etymology
- From (1) לא (lo'), no or without, and (2) the verb רחם (raham), to love deeply or have mercy.
🔼The name Lo-ruhamah in the Bible
Lo-ruhamah is the symbolical name that the prophet Hosea was to give his daughter (Hosea 1:6). Hosea's whole family was a bit of a symbol. His wife Gomer was a prostitute and Hosea was to marry her to symbolize God's fidelity towards wayward Israel. Their first son they were to name Jezreel, their second son was named Lo-ammi.
🔼Etymology of the name Lo-ruhamah
The name Lo-ruhamah consists of two parts. The first part is the word לא (lo'), the common particle of negation: no or without:
לא לו
The particle לא (lo') or לוא (lo') is the primary particle of prohibition. It's used in prohibitive commands (thou shalt not), and is non-negotiable. It also serves as a particle of exclusion, which absolutely negates whatever follows: "not my people" means "absolutely totally not my people".
The particle לו (lu) or לוא (lu') is a minor particle of entreaty, and means "if only it were."
The second part comes from the root רחם (raham), meaning to love deeply or have mercy:
רחם
Verb רחם (raham) means to love deeply or have mercy, and commonly reflects the attentions of a superior toward an inferior (parents to children, God to people). It appears to derive from the noun רחם (rehem), womb.
Noun רחמים (rahamim) means compassions or tender mercies and adjective רחום (rahum) means compassionate.
🔼Lo-ruhamah meaning
NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names agree: the name Lo-ruhamah means No Mercy.