🔼The name Eluzai: Summary
- Meaning
- God Is My Strength, God Is My Refuge
- Etymology
- From (1) the word אל ('el), God, and (2) the adjective עז ('az), strong, or the verb עוז ('uz), to take refuge.
🔼The name Eluzai in the Bible
The name occurs only once in the Bible. The Chronicler mentions him as one of the mighty-men of David (1 Chronicles 12:5), but nothing else is known about this man.
🔼Etymology of the name Eluzai
The name Eluzai consists of two or three components, the first of which being אל, El, the prominent Canaanite deity whose name became applied to the God of Israel, or the common abbreviation of Elohim, the genus God:
אל אלה
In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.
The second part of our name appears to derive either from the adjective עז ('az), meaning strong or the verb עוז ('uz), meaning to take or seek refuge:
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.
Thirdly: the letter י (yod) upon which our name ends, may either create an adjective (safe-ly), a possessive form (my safety), or may be a remnant of יה (Yah), which is short for יהוה, which is the name YHWH, or Yahweh.
🔼Eluzai meaning
For a meaning of the name Eluzai, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads God Is My Defense and BDB Theological Dictionary proposes God Is My Strength.
Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) takes the scenic route and insists that if the verb עוז ('uz) means to take refuge, it should also mean to flee, and thus to gather and therefore must have something to do with one's family. Ergo Jones translates this name as God Of My Congregation, which is quite an achievement but ultimately a touch fantastic.