🔼The name Jaddua: Summary
- Meaning
- Known
- Etymology
- From the verb ידע (yada'), to know.
🔼The name Jaddua in the Bible
The name Jaddua is assigned to what seem to be two different men, although their proximity in the text suggests that they may be the same one. The first Jaddua is mentioned among the Levitical signers of the new covenant (Nehemiah 10:21). The second Jaddua is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:11 and 12:22. Since Jeshua, the great-great-great-grandfather of this Jaddua, seems to have been fit enough to partake in the return, this reference to Jaddua is assumed to be a very late addition to these records. Although verse 22 speaks of Darius the Persian, Jaddua would have been alive around the time of Alexander the Great. BDB Theological Dictionary adds that Jaddua was probably even high priest.
🔼Etymology of the name Jaddua
The name Jaddua is quite similar to the name Jada, and differs only by the vowel waw. Both names come from the verb ידע (yada') meaning to know:
ידע
The verb ידע (yada') means both to know and to have intimate relations (Genesis 4:1, Judges 11:39). Knowledge equals familiarity with truth, which in turn is the only thing all people can agree on, which in turn promotes the search for agreement and modes of expression (rather than mere data). The Bible holds all knowledge in the highest regard. God, after all, is both a God of knowledge (Jeremiah 3:15) and love (1 John 4:7).
Since all truth relates to the Word of God, wisdom begins with the reverence of the Creator (Proverbs 1:7) and learning equals love-making within a marital relation with the Creator (Isaiah 54:5).
Nouns דעה (dea), דע (dea') and דעת (da'at) all mean knowledge. Nouns ידעני (yidde'oni), מודע (moda') and מדעת (moda'at) describe familiarity or kinship. This root's Greek counterpart is γινωσκω (ginosko).
🔼Jaddua meaning
For a meaning of the name Jaddua, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Known. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names endorses the puzzling Celebrated or Known of the classical theologian Simonis.