🔼The name Jabneh: Summary
- Meaning
- He Causes To Be Built
- Etymology
- From the verb בנה (bana), to build.
🔼The name Jabneh in the Bible
The name Jabneh is mentioned only once in the Bible. It's the name of a Philistine city which was conquered by king Uzziah of Judah (2 Chronicles 26:6). Some scholars believe that this city is the same as the city called Jabneel, which was situated on the border between the territory of Judah and that of the Philistines (Joshua 15:11).
In New Testament times, Jabneh became a center of learning and after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Great Sanhedrin moved from Jerusalem to Jabneh, but in 80 AD it moved to Usha in Galilee. In 116 AD it moved back to Jabneh.
🔼Etymology of the name Jabneh
The name Jabneh is an active form of the verb בנה (bana), meaning to build. The Chronicler engages in a bit of wordplay when he (or she) notes that king Uzziah broke the wall of Jabneh (יבנה) and built (יבנה) cities:
בנה
The verb בנה (bana) means to build, mostly of stone buildings and thus of houses and thus of families and dynasties: hence the association between this verb and the nouns אבן ('eben), stone, and בן (ben), son.
Noun בניה (binya) means a building in the sense of a structure. Noun מבנה (mibneh) means building in the sense of place of building. Noun תבנית (tabnit) means building in the sense of the act of building: a construction, pattern or image.
Noun תבן (teben) means straw (the stems of grains), which was inserted into clay to enhance the structural integrity of the building. We do the same today with carbon fibers.
🔼Jabneh meaning
For a meaning of the name Jabneh, Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Will Be Build and BDB Theological Dictionary has He Causes To Build.