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Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in Abarim Publications' Biblical Name Vault: Mattattah

Mattattah meaning

Mattattah in Biblical Hebrew
מתתה
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Source: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Mattattah.html

🔼The name Mattattah: Summary

Meaning
Gift Of Yah
Etymology
From (1) the noun מתת (mattat), gift, from the verb נתן (natan), to give, and probably (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
Related names
• Via נתן (natan): Elnathan, Jonathan, Mattan, Mattanah, Mattaniah, Mattatha, Mattathias, Mattenai, Matthan, Matthat, Matthew, Matthias, Mattithiah, Nathan, Nathanael, Nathan-melech, Nethanel, Nethaniah, Nethinim, Tattenai
• Via יה (yah): See the 'browse by form' menu for a long list of yah-names.

🔼The name Mattattah in the Bible

The name Mattattah occurs only once in the Bible. He is one of the sons of Hashum, who had married and divorced their foreign wives during the purge of Ezra (Ezra 10:33).

🔼Etymology of the name Mattattah

The name Mattattah is derived from the verb נתן (natan) meaning to give, or more precisely, the noun מתת (mattat), meaning gift or reward:

Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary
נתן

The shape-shifting verb נתן (natan) means to give in a broad bouquet of senses, from regular giving or bestowing, to setting or putting, to transforming one thing or situation into another.

This verb's three nouns מתן (mattan), מתנה (mattana) and מתת (mattat) all mean gift, again broadly ranging from a regular present to an offering to an innate talent (being "gifted").

— See the full Dictionary article —

Where the final letter ה (he) comes from is not immediately clear but scholars generally appear to assume that our name is a contraction of the name מתתיה (Mattithiah), and that means that the final he is a remnant of יה (Yah), which in turn is an abbreviated form of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.

🔼Mattattah meaning

For a meaning of the name Mattattah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Gift Of Yahweh. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has the similar Gift Of The Lord. BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't translate our name but does list it under the verb נתן (natan) meaning to give.