🔼The name Jedidah: Summary
- Meaning
- Beloved
- Etymology
- From the verb ידד (yadad), to love.
🔼The name Jedidah in the Bible
The only Jedidah in the Bible is the mother of king Josiah, and the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath (2 Kings 22:1).
🔼Etymology of the name Jedidah
The name Jedidah comes from the verb ידד (yadad), meaning to love:
ידד
The root ידד (yadad) has to do with love, and that mostly in the affectionate, physical sense. Adjective ידיד (yadid) means beloved or lovely. Noun ידידות (yedidot) means love, as in "a song of love" and noun ידידות (yedidut), meaning love in the sense of beloved one.
Curiously, an identical verb ידד (yadad II) means to cast a lot and instead of being kin to the previous, it appears to be related to the verb ידה (yada), which originally meant to cast but which evolved to mean to praise.
That our root has to do with physical fondling and love-making is demonstrated by the verb דדה (dada), which means to move slowly. Noun דד (dad) denotes a women's nipple or breast specifically as object of one's husband's interest.
Unused verb דוד (dwd) probably meant to gently swing, dandle, fondle. Noun דוד (dod) or דד (dod) means beloved or loved one, and may also describe one's uncle. The feminine version, דודה (doda), means aunt. Noun דודי (duday) literally means a "love-bringer" and describes a mandrake. Noun דוד (dud) refers to a kind of pot or jar (perhaps one that was rocked or stirred?).
It may or may not be that the noun יד (yad), meaning hand, also has something to do with this root.
The name Jedidah differs from the name Jedidiah with only one letter. But this letter in the masculine name Jedidiah is the particle יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which is the common abbreviation of the personal name of God: YHWH; Yahweh. The he upon which the name Jedidah ends is a common feminization of the root.
🔼Jedidah meaning
For a meaning of the name Jedidah, both NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names read Beloved.