🔼The name Obil: Summary
- Meaning
- [Camel] Driver
- Etymology
- From the verb אבל ('abel), to drive.
🔼The name Obil in the Bible
The name Obil occurs only one time in the Bible. In 1 Chronicles 27:30 Obil the Ishmaelite is reported to have had charge over the camels of king David.
🔼Etymology of the name Obil
The name Obil comes from the verb אבל ('abel), which means to drive a liquid or semi-liquid along some course. The derivation אוביל ('obil) existed in Arabic, where it referred to a camel driver. Since Obil was an Ishmaelite, the chances are excellent that his name indeed originated in Arabic and since he was David's camel driver, the chances are excellent that this is what his name reflected:
בלל
The verb בלל (balal) means to mix something with oil, usually flour products, usually as ritualistic food preparation. The emphasis of this verb lies on saturation and overflowing: to fill something with oil until it can absorb no more and begins to reject an excess of oil. Noun בליל (belil) describes a very rich mix for animals to eat. Noun שבלול (shabbelul) describes a snail, or an animal that looks saturated with oil. Nouns תבל (tebel) describes sexually incompatible partners, and noun תבלל (teballul) tells of insoluble material that obstructs a person's eye.
יבל
The verb יבל (yabal) speaks mostly of a flowing along some course, which of course requires the bottom of the course to be saturated and reject any further absorption. Noun יבל (yabal) means water course or conduit, noun יובל (yubal) means stream and noun אובל ('ubal) means stream or river. Adjective יבל (yabbal) means suppurating (discharging pus from a wound). Noun יבול (yebul) denotes produce from the soil and noun בול (bul) means produce or outgrowth. Noun יובל (yobel) or יבל (yobel) describes "a carrier" or "a producer" or "something that drives a flow" (e.g. a trumpet, or the principle of Jubilee). Noun תבל (tebel) refers to the whole world-economy.
אבל
Verb אבל ('abel) is like the previous ones in that it describes a drive of liquid or semi-liquid elements along some collective course. It's often used to describe a collective mourning, which either happened in a procession or else contagious enough to drag others along. Nouns אבל ('ebel) and אבל ('abel) both mean mourning, but the latter is also the word for actual water stream or brook. In cognate languages this verb is used to describe the driving of camels. There is even a sporadically used adverb אבל ('abal), which in older texts expresses solemn affirmation (verily, truly, yes indeed I'm totally going along with you there) but later texts appear to put somewhat of a breaking force on the momentum ("yes!... but").
🔼Obil meaning
For a meaning of the name Obil, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and BDB Theological Dictionary read Camel Driver (although BDB timidly prints a question mark in front of this interpretation). Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Overseer Of Camels.