🔼The name Jediael: Summary
- Meaning
- Known Of God
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb ידע (yada'), to know, and (2) the word אל ('el), God.
🔼The name Jediael in the Bible
There are three men named Jediael in the Bible:
- A son of Benjamin, who is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 7:6, but not in Genesis 46:21 and 1 Chronicles 8:1.
- A son of Shimri and one of David's might men (1 Chronicles 11:45).
- The second son of one of David's gatekeepers, Meshelemiah, son of Kore (1 Chronicles 26:2).
🔼Etymology of the name Jediael
The name Jediael consists of two elements, the final part being אל (El), the common abbreviation of Elohim:
אל אלה
In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.
The first part of the name Jediael comes 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).