🔼The name Giddalti: Summary
- Meaning
- I Have Made Great, I Have Raised
- Etymology
- From the verb גדל (gadel), to become strong or great.
🔼The name Giddalti in the Bible
There's only one man named Giddalti in the Bible. He is mentioned as one of the sons of Heman, king David's seer, who's duty it was to sing for the service of the house of God (1 Chronicles 25:4). Additional duties were dispersed according to lot, and the twenty-second lot came out for Giddalti and his sons and relatives (1 Chronicles 25:29).
🔼Etymology of the name Giddalti
The name Giddalti comes from the verb גדל (gadel), meaning to become strong or great:
גדל
The verb גדל (gadel) means to become strong or great, particularly by combining many ordinary elements into a big strong strand or collection of some sort.
The noun מגדל (migdal) or מגדול (migdol) literally describes a place or agent for greatness. It's the word for tower, and a tower is not only a big strong thing consisting of many bricks, it also formed the center of a community around which all houses and all activity unfolded. From their tower people kept lookout over the community's territories, and launched offensives when the community was attacked. A tower could carry a fire and from it folks trumpeted signals. Towers drew its people from wherever they might roam. Over time they developed into central storage houses, banks and seats of government. Towers are buildings around which the greatness of a people forms and in which it becomes manifested.
Participle or adjective גדל (gadel) means a becoming great or growing up. Noun גדל (godel) means greatness or pride. Plural noun גדלים (gedilim) refers to tassels or festoons made from twisted strands. The very common adjectives גדול (gadol) and גדולה (gadola) mean great. Noun גדולה (gedulla) means greatness or great one.
Our name is formed from the root of the verb plus the extension תי, which marks the first-person perfect tense: "I made great" or "I have made great".
🔼Giddalti meaning
For a meaning of the name Giddalti, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads I Have Made Great. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names renders the curious I Have Trained Up. And BDB Theological Dictionary proposes I Magnify (God)