🔼The name Addon: Summary
- Meaning
- Base, Foundation
- Etymology
- From the root אדן ('dn), to be pivotal, to be a base.
🔼The name Addon in the Bible
The names אדן (Addan) and אדון (Addon) are really the same name, just pronounced slightly different. These names denote a city in Babylon from whence came groups of exiles who could not prove that they, or their families, truly came from Israel. Both Ezra (2:59) and Nehemiah (7:61) report that the genealogical records were scrutinized to find their heritage but this proved to no avail. Thus they were considered unclean and were excluded from the priesthood.
🔼Etymology of the name Addon
The names Addan and Addon come from the stock that also produced the name Adonai:
אדן
The verb אדן ('dn) means to provide support for a piece of superstructure: to be a base for something big to stand or rotate upon. The noun אדן ('eden) refers to the foundation, base or pedestal of pillars or panels and such, and this word features lavishly in the description of the tabernacle. The tabernacle, of course, was a prototype of the temple, which in turn became embodied by God's living human congregation, and the bases and foundations of that living temple became personified by the human foundation known as אדון ('adon) or אדן ('adon), roughly translatable with lord, sir or mister.
The actual etymology and meaning of this group of names is disputed, but see our lengthy article on Adonai for a discussion.
🔼Addon meaning
For a meaning of the names Addan and Addon, NOBSE Study Bible Name List ignores the connection to the identical Hebrew word treated above, and goes with a Assyrian root and reads Strong. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names), who mistakes Addan and Addon for a person, leans towards an Arabic verb and reads Calamity.