🔼The name Jephunneh: Summary
- Meaning
- He Will Turn To, He Will Face
- Etymology
- From the verb פנה (pana), to turn.
🔼The name Jephunneh in the Bible
There are two men named Jephunneh in the Bible:
- The Kenizzite father of Caleb who nevertheless represented the tribe of Judah in the all-tribe reconnaissance outfit, which Moses dispatched to scout out Canaan (Numbers 13:6). Only Joshua (of the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb returned with favorable reports about the Promised Land, so they got to see it again while the other spies died in the desert (Numbers 14:30).
- A son of Jether of Asher (1 Chronicles 7:38).
🔼Etymology of the name Jephunneh
The name Jephunneh is an active form of the verb פנה (pana), meaning to turn:
פנה
The verb פנה (pana) means to turn toward. Adverb פנימה (penima) means toward the inside. Adjective פנימי (penimi) means inner.
This verb's primary derivation is the plural noun פנים (panim), literally turnings or inclinations. It's the common Biblical word for face and may also be used to mean scope, sight, surface, and so on.
The noun פנה (pinna) means corner, and is commonly used to describe where a wall makes a turn. This noun is thought to have derived from a by-form or parental form of the verb פנה (pana), namely פנן (panan), of similar meaning.
A second derivation of this form is the plural noun פנינים (peninim), which describes a red coral, probably with swirling branches or otherwise corrugated structure.
🔼Jephunneh meaning
For a meaning of the name Jephunneh, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads It Will Be Prepared, but that's very hard to defend.
Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) insists that our verb may also mean "to behold," and interprets our name as He Will Be Beheld.
BDB Theological Dictionary does not translate the name Jephunneh but does list it under the verb פנה (pana), meaning to turn.