🔼The name Mahseiah: Summary
- Meaning
- A Hiding Place Is Yah
- Etymology
- From (1) the noun מחסה (mahseh), place of refuge, from the verb חסה (hasa), to seek refuge, and (2) יה (yah), the name of the Lord.
🔼The name Mahseiah in the Bible
There's only one person named Mahseiah in the Bible. In some Bible versions this person is known as Maaseiah, but the distinct Hebrew name מעשיה is already transliterated as such, and that name is applied to a whopping twenty bearers.
The name Mahseiah (מחסיה) belongs to father of Neriah and the grandfather of Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 32:12), and Seraiah, whom Jeremiah charged with a message to the people of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:59).
🔼Etymology of the name Mahseiah
The name Mahseiah consists of two elements, the final part being יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.
The first part of our name comes from the noun מחסה (mahseh), meaning a place of refuge, from the verb חסה (hasa), meaning to seek refuge:
חסה
The verb חסה (hasa) means to take or seek refuge. Noun חסות (hasut) means refuge of shelter, and noun מחסה (mahseh) means place of refuge or shelter.
🔼Mahseiah meaning
For the meaning of the name Mahseiah, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Refuge Of The Lord, and BDB Theological Dictionary proposes Yah Is A Refuge.
NOBSE Study Bible Name List erroneously makes no distinction between the names Mahseiah (מחסיה) and Maaseiah (מעשיה), and only lists a meaning for the latter.