🔼The name Jeshurun: Summary
- Meaning
- Upright One, Erector
- Etymology
- From the verb ישר (yasar), to be level, straight, upright.
🔼The name Jeshurun in the Bible
Jeshurun is a poetic nickname for Israel (Deuteronomy 32:15; Isaiah 44:2). This name shows that once upon a time, before the Masoretic pronunciation aids, the letters שׁ and שׂ were once quite the same: ישׁרון (Jeshurun) or ישׂראל (Israel).
🔼Etymology of the name Jeshurun
The name Jeshurun comes from ישר (yasar) meaning to be level, straight, upright:
ישר אשר
Verb ישר (yashar) means to be straight or level. Adjective ישר (yashar) means right or upright. Nouns ישר (yosher), ישרה (yeshara) and מישר (meshar) mean uprightness or straightness. Noun מישור (mishor) describes a level place or plain.
Verb אשר ('ashar) covers a decisive progression or a setting right, and is often applied to describe happiness and prosperity (right on!). This is not due to a curious coincidence but to the obvious correlation of righteousness and efficiency. Righteousness in the Biblical sense describes a solid grasp of natural law, which leads to high levels of technology, social liquidity and thus peace and prosperity.
Nouns אשר ('esher), אשר ('ashar) and אשר ('osher) mean happiness or blessedness. Nouns אשור (ashur) and אשר (ashur) mean a step, a walk or a going. The noun תאשור (te'ashur) refers to a kind of tree (a happy tree? a progressing tree?).
The relative particle אשר (asher) means who or which, and may or may not be related to the previous (but probably does).
The name means Uprighter. Or perhaps, if we serve the marriage-metaphor: Erector! Another nickname for Israel is Zion.
🔼Jeshurun meaning
For a meaning of the name Jeshurun, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Upright One. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Upright.