🔼The name Uzi: Summary
- Meaning
- Strong Guy's, My Strength, Power Of Yah
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb עזז ('azaz), to be strong, and possibly (2) יה (yah), the shortened name of the Lord.
🔼The name Uzi in the Bible
The Uzi is a submachine gun, which obviously didn't exist in Biblical times. But uzi is a fairly normal Hebrew word which occurs all over the Bible, for instance in Exodus 15:2. The name of the Uzi, however, comes from the name of its inventor, an Israeli army officer Uziel Gal. This name Uziel is identical to the Biblical name, which is commonly transliterated with Uzziel.
🔼Etymology of the name Uzi
The name Uzi comes from the Hebrew verb עזז ('azaz), generally meaning to be strong:
עזז
The verb עזז ('azaz) means to be strong. Adjective עז ('az) means strong, mighty or fierce and adjective עזוז ('izzuz) means mighty or powerful. Nouns עז ('oz) and עזוז ('ezuz) mean strength, might or fierceness.
Noun עזניה ('ozniya) denotes some kind of bird of prey (this word may actually be a convenient import from another language) and noun עז ('ez) denotes a she-goat (this word may actually derive from a verb that means to be wayward or perhaps strong-headed).
Verb עוז ('uz) means to bring into refuge or to seek safety. Noun מעוז (ma'oz) describes a place or agent of safety.
🔼Uzi meaning
If we regard the final yod as a possessive, then the name Uzi means My Strength. If it's the mark of an adjective it would mean something like Strong Guy's. If we regard the final yod as a remnant of the appellative יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Yahweh, then the name Uzi translates to Power Of Yahweh, or Strength Of The Lord.