🔼The name Chelubai: Summary
- Meaning
- Of The Basket, Of The Bird Cage
- Etymology
- From the noun כלוב (kelub), basket with fruit or cage with birds.
🔼The name Chelubai in the Bible
The name Chelubai occurs only once in the Bible. In 1 Chronicles 2:9 he is mentioned as a son of Hezron of Judah. This Hezron is also the father of a man named Caleb, and Caleb isn't mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:9, so scholars assume that the name Caleb (כלב) is a shortened version of the name Chelubai (כלובי).
🔼Etymology of the name Chelubai
The name Chelubai is the word כלוב (kelub), meaning cage or basket, extended with the letter י (yod):
לב לבי כלב לבן להב
The unused verb לבב (labab) probably had to do with having, forming or using the emotional (animal) part of consciousness, in contrast to the rational and word-filled mind that is unique to humans. Nouns לבב (lebab) and לב (leb) both mean heart: the seat of one's sentiments, courage and resolve. The opposite of having a heart is being either ignorant, indifferent or cowardly, but a big heart that's not properly governed by a strong mind may cause more damage than good, and be the source of all sorts of foolish bravery, massive fear or whole-hearted zeal.
One of the few words for lion, namely לבי (lebi), strongly resembles an adjective that would mean "courageous". The Hebrew word for dog, namely כלב (keleb), could be construed as a compound of כל (kal), meaning all, plus the word לב (leb), heart or courage: all-heart, entirely courageous (but not very clever). Noun כלוב (kelub) describes a cage with birds or a basket with fruits, and is perhaps illustrative of the limited rational capacities of a dog who is otherwise "all heart".
Verb לבן (laben) means to be or become white in the sense of a blank slate, meaning that "all-heart" also implies "little rational wisdom" or even "little record of wrong doings". Noun לבנה (lebanah) describes the moon, which in turn signifies roused feelings and very little rational (or solar) enlightenment. Adjective לבן (laban) means white (i.e. blank, un-written upon: stupid). Nouns לבנה (lebonah) and לבונה (lebonah) describe frankincense. Noun לבנה (lebneh) describes the poplar. Noun לבנה (lebenah) means brick, and the denominative verb לבן (laban) means to make bricks.
The unused verb להב (lahab) probably meant to flame or burn. Nouns להב (lahab) and להבה (lehaba) mean flame, but also denoted the blade or a sword or tip of a spear.
The letter י (yod) upon which our name ends, may either turn the noun into a possessive form: my basket; or it turns the noun into an adjective: basket-like or even ethnonym: of-the-basket; or it is a remnant of יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton; the name of the Lord: YHWH.
🔼Chelubai meaning
For a meaning of the name Chelubai, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names interprets the source of the word כלוב (kelub) to be a verb that means to interweave or bind, and the final י as a remnant of YHWH, and reads Binding Together Of The Lord.
Neither NOBSE Study Bible Name List nor BDB Theological Dictionary interprets this name.