🔼The name Halah: Summary
- Meaning
- Unclear
- Etymology
- Unclear
🔼The name Halah in the Bible
There's only one city in the Bible with the name Halah. It's a city in Assyria to which the people of Israel were deported during the second deportation (2 Kings 17:6). The first deportation had occurred in the days of king Pekah of Israel, and the king of Assyria was Tiglath-pileser (1 Kings 15:29).
The second deportation occurred during the reign of king Hoshea of Israel, and the king of Assyria resettled the remaining Israelites in the cities of Halah and Habor, which were situated on the river of Gozan.
🔼Etymology and meaning of the name Halah
The name Halah is probably derived from a direct transliteration of its Assyrian name, because there's nothing in the Hebrew language that looks like it. BDB Theological Dictionary declares this Assyrian name to be Halahhu, but gives no meaning.
Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) understands the original name of Halah to be Calachene, as mentioned by several classical writers, but also gives no hint at its original meaning.
The only Hebrew verb that remotely comes close to this name is חלל (halal), to pierce, but that verb doesn't explain the letter ח (heth) upon which this name ends.