🔼The name Padon: Summary
- Meaning
- Redemption, Upgrade
- Etymology
- From the verb פדה (pada), to upgrade the operating standard.
🔼The name Padon in the Bible
The name Padon occurs twice in the Bible but in the same context. Both Ezra and Nehemiah list Padon among the patriarchs of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:44, Nehemiah 7:47).
🔼Etymology of the name Padon
The name Padon comes from the verb פדה (pada), to pay an individual price for collective freedom:
פדה
The verb פדה (pada) describes a letting go of an old standard (say, phonetic spelling) and assuming a new one (standardized spelling). The new standard may appear more restrictive at a personal level but it allows a much greater precision and thus basin of exchange and thus liberty at the collective level.
This verb speaks of an individual price paid for collective freedom and is as such often translated as to ransom or redeem. In the stories of the Bible, the old standard often appears as captor or abductor or slave-driving task master.
Nouns פדוים (peduyim), פדות (pedut), פדיום (pidyom), פדיון (pidyon) and פדין (pidyon) all mean ransom or price of redemption.
🔼Padon meaning
For a meaning of the name Padon, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary suggest Ransom. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Redemption.