עַדְנָא
Adna, the name of two Israelites
Definition
Adna is a proper name given to two different individuals in the Old Testament. The name derives from the Hebrew root meaning 'pleasure' or 'delight,' suggesting a positive connotation. In Ezra 10:30, Adna is listed among the men who had married foreign wives and pledged to divorce them during the post-exilic reforms. In Nehemiah 12:15, a different Adna is mentioned as a priestly head of a family during the time of the high priest Joiakim. The name itself does not carry different meanings between these occurrences; it simply identifies two distinct persons.
Biblical Usage
The name Adna appears only twice in the Old Testament, both in post-exilic historical books. It is used exclusively as a personal name for Israelite men. In Ezra 10:30, it identifies a lay Israelite involved in the covenant renewal, while in Nehemiah 12:15, it identifies a priest. There are no patterns of usage beyond its function as a proper noun.
Etymology
Adna (עַדְנָא) is derived from the Hebrew root עָדַן (ʿādan, H5727), which means 'to be soft,' 'pleasant,' or 'delightful.' It is related to the noun עֵדֶן (ʿēden), meaning 'pleasure' or 'delight,' famously used for the Garden of Eden. The name essentially means 'pleasure' or 'delight,' reflecting a positive attribute or hope associated with the person bearing it.
Semantic Range
While the name Adna itself is not theologically loaded, its etymological connection to 'pleasure' or 'delight' (עֵדֶן) can subtly point to themes of God's good provision and the ideal of a right relationship with Him, as echoed in the Garden of Eden. In its biblical contexts, the individuals named Adna are part of significant communal moments—one in moral reform (Ezra 10:30) and one in priestly service (Nehemiah 12:15)—highlighting how ordinary individuals contributed to the restoration of Israel after the exile.
In ancient Israelite culture, names often carried meaning and reflected parental hopes or circumstances. A name like Adna ('pleasure') likely expressed a desire for the child's life to be pleasant or a thankfulness for his birth. The two bearers of the name appear in the post-exilic period, a time focused on rebuilding religious and social identity, where even the names of community members were recorded as part of that sacred history.
עֵדֶן (ʿĒden, H5730) — The related noun meaning 'pleasure' or 'delight,' most known as the name of the garden (Genesis 2:8). עָדַן (ʿādan, H5727) — The root verb meaning 'to be soft, delicate, or luxurious,' from which the name is derived.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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