Peleg meaning

Meaning

Division, Dividing Canal

Etymology

From the verb פלג (palag), to split or divide.

Peleg was the brother of Joktan, who were the sons of Eber (Genesis 10:25). Peleg and Joktan are the two dividing arch-fathers of the Shemites. Peleg became the ancestor of Abraham and the Joktanites are the last mentioned Shemite generation before the tower of Babel was built.

And since Peleg also became an ancestor of Christ, his name occurs in the Greek New Testament as well, incorporated in the Lucan genealogy and spelled as Φαλεκ, Phalek (Luke 3:35).

Note that Peleg was the first to die after the flood. Peleg died in 340 AF (After the Flood), one year before Nahor, the grandfather of Abraham, who was born in 292 AF, well before anyone had died after the flood.

The name Peleg comes from the verb פלג (palag), to split or divide, "for in his days the earth was divided" (Genesis 10:25):

NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names agree: the name Peleg means Division or Divider, although the word פלג is commonly used to denote a channel or canal.

Note that this "division of the earth" follows the pattern of the second creation day, in which Joktan represents the waters under the dividing firmament, which eventually produced dry land and all its creatures, while Peleg represents the dividing firmament, which eventually came to house the celestial lights that would lead the living on earth (Genesis 15:5, Daniel 12:3). For a lengthy discussion of the creation week, see our Introduction to Scripture Theory.