🔼The name Palal: Summary
- Meaning
- Judge, Discerner
- Etymology
- From the verb פלל (palal), to distinguish or discern.
🔼The name Palal in the Bible
The name Palal occurs only once in the Bible. He is a son of Uzai and Nehemiah mentions Palal as one of the men who worked on the restoration of Jerusalem right after the return from the Babylonian exile (Nehemiah 3:25).
🔼Etymology of the name Palal
The name Palal comes from the verb פלל (palal), which denotes a kind of intercessory praying or the act of discerning and making assessments:
פלל
Root פלל (palal) is all about distinguishing and discerning, and often emphasizes representation of something unseen or not present. It's frequently used in the sense of to entreat or pray on someone's behalf.
Noun תפלה (tepilla) means prayer. Noun פליל (palil) describes an inspector or umpire and noun פלילה (pelila) refers to the place at which an umpire operates; a judge's office. Adjective פלילי (pelili) means "for a judge" or "to be judged" and noun פליליה (peliliya) means verdict or assessment. Noun פול (pol) means beans (and was probably imported but fits right in).
Verb פלה (pala) means to be distinct or separated. Pronoun פלני (peloni) refers to "a certain person/place."
Verb פלא (pala') means to be extraordinary. Nouns פלא (pele') and מפלאה (mipla'a) refer to extraordinary things or deeds. Adjective פלאי (pil'i) means extraordinary.
Verb אפל ('pl) means to disappear, depart or set (of the sun). Nouns אפל ('opel), אפלה ('apela), מאפל (ma'apel) and מאפליה (ma'pelya) mean darkness. Adjective אפל ('apel) means gloomy. Adjective אפיל ('apil) means late or belated (i.e. long unseen).
Verb נפל (napal) means to fall (down, down to, into or upon). The plural form נפלים (napalim) literally means 'fallen ones' or 'settled ones'.
Noun נפל (nepel) refers to an abortion or untimely birth. Noun מפל (mappal) describes that what falls. Nouns מפלה (mappala) and מפלה (mappela) mean ruin, and noun מפלת (mapplet) refers to a ruined thing or a falling.
🔼Palal meaning
For a meaning of the name Palal, both NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names read Judge. BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't offer an interpretation of the name Palal but does list it under the verb פלל (palal).