🔼The name Rhesa: Summary
- Meaning
- Pinnacle, Disenfranchised
- Etymology
- From the root ראש (ro'sh), which has to do with primality.
🔼The name Rhesa in the Bible
The name Rhesa occurs only once in the Bible. He is mentioned as the son of Zerubbabel and thus ancestor of Jesus of Nazareth according to the genealogy of Luke (Luke 3:27).
The evangelist Matthew traces Jesus' ancestry through David's son Solomon (Luke goes through Solomon's brother Nathan) but although both touch down on Zerubbabel, Matthew doesn't mention Rhesa.
🔼Etymology of the name Rhesa
The name Rhesa is a Greek transliteration of a name that obviously derives from the root ראש (ro'sh), meaning head:
רוש
The shape-shifting verb רוש (rush), ריש (rish), ראש (re'sh) or simply רש (rash) means to be disenfranchised; to have lost liberty and civil rights, usually due to poverty or conquest. Nouns ריש (rish) and ראש (ri'sh) reflect the state of being disenfranchised.
ירש
The verb ירש (yarash) means to enfranchise, to take possession of (at the implied cost of disenfranchisement of others, obviously). Nouns ירשה (yerasha), ירשה (yerushsha), מורש (morash) and מורשה (morasha) all mean possession. Noun רשת (reshet) denotes a net or a similar device to catch game with.
ראש
Noun ראש (ro'sh) expresses primality: chief, head, top, etcetera. It may also refer to the beginning of a period: adjective ראשון (ri'shon) literally means chiefly but is mostly used in the sense of previous or former. Noun ראשה (ri'sha) means pinnacle but may also refer to some past golden age or bygone glory days.
The final "a" of our name probably comes from the Aramaic propensity to endow words with a fancy post-fixed "a". It looks snazzy but it doesn't change the meaning.
🔼Rhesa meaning
The name Rhesa primarily means Head but may also be interpreted as Disenfranchised or more to the point: Relieved Of Social Burdens.