🔼The name Pau or Pai: Summary
- Meaning
- Fad Of Alertness, Mental Propagation Of Alarm
- Etymology
- From the verb פעה (pa'a), to propagate a call for support from mind to mind.
🔼The name Pau of Pai in the Bible
The name Pau (פעו) belongs to the city of king Hadar of Edom. It's mentioned only once, in Genesis 36:39. In the parallel text of 1 Chronicles 1:50, the name of this city is said to be Pai (פעי).
🔼Etymology of the name Pau of Pai
Both names Pau and Pai stem from the verb פעה (pa'a), which means to call or cry out with the intention of rousing up popular support:
פעה
The verb פעה (pa'a) describes a verbal expression that propagates through a population by merit of its positive or negative appeal rather than its substance or usefulness (although it might have substance or be useful). It's used to describe the bleating of sheep, the rallying cry of a warrior and the calls of a woman who enters labor and needs the help of her kin.
Noun אפע ('epa') describes the fate of a rumor that doesn't pan out under scrutiny. Noun אפעה ('epa'a) describes a mental serpent, namely the contagious nature of an alarm cry (with or without good cause).
The difference between the final ו (waw) and י (yod) may be due to a difference in dialect and rules of transliteration. But both letters also create a possessive form, the י (yod) is associated to the first person: my Fad, and the ו (waw) to the third person masculine: his Fad.
🔼Pau and Pai meaning
For a meaning of the names Pau and Pai, NOBSE Study Bible Name List has Groaning, Bleating. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names offers Bleating, Crying Out. BDB Theological Dictionary offers no explanation of our name but does list it under the verb פעה (pa'a).