🔼The name Beth-pelet: Summary
- Meaning
- House Of Escape, House Of Deliverance
- Etymology
- From (1) the noun בית (beth), house, and (2) the verb פלט (palat), to escape or deliver.
🔼The name Beth-pelet in the Bible
The name Beth-pelet — or in some translations Beth-palet — occurs only once in the Bible. It's mentioned in a list of cities that were located at the southern border of the territory of the tribe of Judah with the land of Edom (Joshua 15:27). It may be that the mighty-man of David, Helez the Paltite, came from Beth-pelet but that's by no means certain (2 Samuel 23:26).
🔼Etymology of the name Beth-pelet
The name Beth-pelet consists of two elements. The first part is identical to the common Hebrew word בית (bayit) meaning house:
בית
The noun בית (bayit) means house. It sometimes merely denotes a domestic building, but mostly it denotes the realm of authority of the house-father, or אב (ab). This ab is commonly the living alpha male of a household, but may very well be a founding ancestor (as in the familiar term the "house of Israel"). The אב (ab) may also be a deity, in which case the בית (bayit) is that which we know as a temple.
In the larger economy, a house interacts with other houses. These interactions are governed by the אב (ab), or "father" and executed by the בנים (benim), or "sons": those people living in the house, irrespective of any biological relation with the אב (ab). The "sons" combined add up to אם ('em), which means both "mother" and "tribe".
The second element of our name comes from the verb פלט (palat), meaning to secure, escape or deliver:
פלט
The verb פלט (palat) means to bring into security, cause to escape, or to deliver. Noun פלט (pallet) means deliverance. Nouns פליט (palit) and פליט (palet) mean fugitive. Noun פליטה (peleta) means escape or deliverance. Noun מפלט (miplat) describes an agent or place of escape or deliverance.
🔼Beth-pelet meaning
For a meaning of the name Beth-pelet both BDB Theological Dictionary and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names read Place Of Escape. NOBSE Study Bible Name List has House Of Escape