🔼The name Ibhar: Summary
- Meaning
- [Whom] He Elects
- Etymology
- From the verb בחר (bahar), to select by preference.
🔼The name Ibhar in the Bible
Ibhar is a son of David, but it's not clear who his mother is, hence whether he is a full brother of either Solomon or Absalom. He is mentioned only three times in Scriptures and that only in genealogies (2 Samuel 5:15).
🔼Etymology of the name Ibhar
The name Ibhar comes from the verb בחר (bahar), meaning to choose:
בחר
The verb בחר (bahar) means to choose in the sense of to select by preference. That means that any "chosen" people are not the patsies of a sadistic deity but simply the best performing players in the public court of the open market. Obviously, such a high score in a truly open and free market requires great practical wisdom and recognizable virtue.
Nouns בחור (bahur) and בחיר (bahir) mean choice young man or chosen one (because of supreme qualities). Plural noun בחורים (behurim) means youth (choice-hood; one's best years). Nouns מבחר (mibhar) and מבחר (mibhor) mean best or choicest.
🔼Ibhar meaning
Jones translates this name with Whom He (God) Elects, but assumes that the yod with which our name begins is a remnant of the divine name יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH, or Jahweh.
BDB simply sees this name as an active form of the verb בחר: He (El or YHWH) Chooses. NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads He (God) chooses.