🔼The name Taralah: Summary
- Meaning
- Dove Of God
- Reeling, Flapping
- Etymology
- From (1) the noun תר (tor), dove, and (2) the word אלה ('eloah) or אל ('el), God.
- From the noun תרעלה (tar'ela), reeling.
🔼The name Taralah in the Bible
The name Taralah occurs only once in the Bible. It's mentioned as one of the many cities that were assigned to the tribe of Benjamin after the conquest of Canaan (Joshua 18:27).
🔼Etymology and meaning of the name Taralah
It's not clear how the name Taralah was formed. NOBSE Study Bible Name List appears to derive the final part of it from אלה ('eloah), meaning God:
אל אלה
In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.
The first part of our name most obvious resembles the noun תר (tor), meaning dove:
תור
The verb תור (tur) means to explore or survey and associates with a broad, circular or sweeping motion. Noun תור (tor) or תר (tor) appears to describe a circular braid of hair. Noun יתור (yetur), seems to mean a searching or range. Noun תר (tor) or תור (tor) means dove or turtledove.
Note that likewise the Greek word for dove, namely περιστερα (peristera), appears to be derived from the prefix περι (peri) meaning around or about. This suggests that to the ancients the dove stood symbol for abundance and being all around and everywhere, which explains the bodily form of the Holy Spirit.
תאר
Verb תאר (ta'ar) means to outline or trace. Noun תאר (to'ar), means shape or form. Verb תאר (ta'ar), meaning to draw an outline.
That would give our name the rather spectacular meaning of Dove Of God
Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) figures that, since the letters ע and א do at times alternate, the name תראלה may very well be a variant spelling of the noun תרעלה (tar'ela), meaning a reeling, from the verb רעל (ra'al), to flap or reel:
רעל
The verb רעל (ra'al) describes the movement of a flag or veil in the wind: to quiver or reel. Nouns רעל (ra'al) and תרעלה (tar'ela) means a reeling, and noun רעלה (re'ala) describes a reeler or flag or veil.
And so Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names translates our name with Reeling.
BDB Theological Dictionary does not offer an interpretation and lists our name alphabetically under ת instead of under a particular root.