🔼The name Leb-kamai: Summary
- Meaning
- Heart Of Uprising, Elevated Heart
- Etymology
- From (1) the noun לב (leb), heart, and (2) the verb קום (qum), to rise up or stand.
🔼The name Leb-kamai in the Bible
It's not clear whether Leb-kamai (or even just Leb) is a Biblical name, or rather in which sense the prophet Jeremiah (or a later editor) meant to use it. It occurs only once in the Bible, namely in Jeremiah 51:1, where YHWH declares that he will arouse a destroying spirit against Babylon and against "the settlers of Leb-kamai". Of the major modern English translations, only the ASV, NAS, NIV and JSP speak of Leb-kamai. The KJV has "them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me," and the Darby Translation has the similar "them that dwell in the heart of those that rise against me". The Young Translation, uniquely, has "the inhabitants of Leb — My withstanders".
Leb-kamai may be a region or city but no other writer mentions it, which suggests that it wasn't very significant. And that makes it rather odd that it is mentioned as singled-out victim of a destroying force that is potent enough to sack Babylon. Some scholars (as endorsed by BDB Theological Dictionary) suggest that Leb-kamai (לב קמי) was another name for the Gambulai (קמבלי), which was an unmentioned nomadic tribe in the south of Chaldea, but this theory lacks any compelling evidence and also doesn't explain why Jeremiah would use this alternate name.
Other scholars have pointed out that when we run our name through the Athbash cipher (replacing the letter א with the ת, the letter ב with the ש, and so on), we get כש דים, Kashedim, which is Hebrew for Chaldeans. The name Sheshach appears to be another instance of this (Jeremiah 25:26, 51:41), but it's not clear why Jeremiah thought it necessary to create or utilize these nicknames. It may very well be that Jeremiah used a kind of code which neither Babylonian security nor modern Scripture theorists have been able to crack.
In other words, there are reasons galore to construe Leb-kamai as the name of a specific region in Babylon, but very little material to explain why Jeremiah would zoom in on this particular region. Perhaps there is yet undiscovered portent in this particular instance of employ of the Athbash cipher, and perhaps the phenomenon is a cute coincidence and nothing more. All things considered, the phrase Leb-kamai appears to makes most sense when it's considered as part of the narrative, and describing a condemning quality of Babylon itself:
🔼Etymology of the name Leb-kamai
The pseudo-name Leb-kamai consists of two elements. The first part of our name is the word לב (leb), meaning heart:
לב לבי כלב לבן להב
The unused verb לבב (labab) probably had to do with having, forming or using the emotional (animal) part of consciousness, in contrast to the rational and word-filled mind that is unique to humans. Nouns לבב (lebab) and לב (leb) both mean heart: the seat of one's sentiments, courage and resolve. The opposite of having a heart is being either ignorant, indifferent or cowardly, but a big heart that's not properly governed by a strong mind may cause more damage than good, and be the source of all sorts of foolish bravery, massive fear or whole-hearted zeal.
One of the few words for lion, namely לבי (lebi), strongly resembles an adjective that would mean "courageous". The Hebrew word for dog, namely כלב (keleb), could be construed as a compound of כל (kal), meaning all, plus the word לב (leb), heart or courage: all-heart, entirely courageous (but not very clever). Noun כלוב (kelub) describes a cage with birds or a basket with fruits, and is perhaps illustrative of the limited rational capacities of a dog who is otherwise "all heart".
Verb לבן (laben) means to be or become white in the sense of a blank slate, meaning that "all-heart" also implies "little rational wisdom" or even "little record of wrong doings". Noun לבנה (lebanah) describes the moon, which in turn signifies roused feelings and very little rational (or solar) enlightenment. Adjective לבן (laban) means white (i.e. blank, un-written upon: stupid). Nouns לבנה (lebonah) and לבונה (lebonah) describe frankincense. Noun לבנה (lebneh) describes the poplar. Noun לבנה (lebenah) means brick, and the denominative verb לבן (laban) means to make bricks.
The unused verb להב (lahab) probably meant to flame or burn. Nouns להב (lahab) and להבה (lehaba) mean flame, but also denoted the blade or a sword or tip of a spear.
The second part of our name could convincingly be drawn from the verb קום (qum), meaning to rise up or stand:
קום
Verb קום (qum) means to stand or rise up, both literally (getting up from sitting or erecting some statue) or figuratively (establishing someone in some office). Noun קימה (qima) means a rising up, noun תקומה (tequma), denotes an ability or power to stand, and noun מקום (maqom) describes some set location, place to stand or station.
Noun קמה (qoma) or קומה (qoma) means height or highness and noun קים (qim) describes someone who rises up against someone (an adversary or enemy). Noun קיממיות (qommiyut) means uprightness. Noun קמה (qama) denotes standing grain. And noun יקום (yequm) denotes substance or existence.
The final letter י (yod) is the mark of a possessive form or an adjective.
🔼Leb-kamai meaning
The phrase Leb-kamai means Heart Of Uprising or rather Elevated Heart, but it seems to not be derogative, as is suggested by the KJV, Darby and Young interpretations. Leb-kamai rather confirms the glory and superiority of Babylon, but accuses it of its prideful neglect to give the Creator his due honors.
The core sentiment of this pseudo-name is possibly also expressed in Revelation 17:1-6 and particularly in Revelation 18:7, where is said of Babylon the Great: "for she says in her heart, 'I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning".