🔼The name Pelaliah: Summary
- Meaning
- Distinguished Of Yah, Yahweh Has Interposed
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb פלל (palal), to distinguish or discern, and (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
🔼The name Pelaliah in the Bible
The name Pelaliah occurs only once in the Bible. Pelaliah is a son of Amzi, father of Jeroham, and grandfather of a man named Adaiah, who worked on the temple's restoration project immediately after the return from the Babylonian exile (Nehemiah 11:12).
🔼Etymology of the name Pelaliah
The name Pelaliah has two elements, the final one being יה (Yah), which is an abbreviated form of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh.
The first part of the name Pelaliah comes from the verb פלל (palal), meaning to pray, intercede, discern or judge:
פלל
Root פלל (palal) is all about distinguishing and discerning, and often emphasizes representation of something unseen or not present. It's frequently used in the sense of to entreat or pray on someone's behalf.
Noun תפלה (tepilla) means prayer. Noun פליל (palil) describes an inspector or umpire and noun פלילה (pelila) refers to the place at which an umpire operates; a judge's office. Adjective פלילי (pelili) means "for a judge" or "to be judged" and noun פליליה (peliliya) means verdict or assessment. Noun פול (pol) means beans (and was probably imported but fits right in).
Verb פלה (pala) means to be distinct or separated. Pronoun פלני (peloni) refers to "a certain person/place."
Verb פלא (pala') means to be extraordinary. Nouns פלא (pele') and מפלאה (mipla'a) refer to extraordinary things or deeds. Adjective פלאי (pil'i) means extraordinary.
Verb אפל ('pl) means to disappear, depart or set (of the sun). Nouns אפל ('opel), אפלה ('apela), מאפל (ma'apel) and מאפליה (ma'pelya) mean darkness. Adjective אפל ('apel) means gloomy. Adjective אפיל ('apil) means late or belated (i.e. long unseen).
Verb נפל (napal) means to fall (down, down to, into or upon). The plural form נפלים (napalim) literally means 'fallen ones' or 'settled ones'.
Noun נפל (nepel) refers to an abortion or untimely birth. Noun מפל (mappal) describes that what falls. Nouns מפלה (mappala) and מפלה (mappela) mean ruin, and noun מפלת (mapplet) refers to a ruined thing or a falling.
🔼Pelaliah meaning
For a meaning of the name Pelaliah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads: Yahweh Has Judged and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Judge Of The Lord.
BDB Theological Dictionary lists our name indeed under the verb פלל (palal) and translates it as Yah Hath Interposed.