חָגָב
Chagab, one of the Nethinim
Definition
Chagab is a proper name of a person listed among the Nethinim, or temple servants, who returned from the Babylonian exile (Ezra 2:46). The Nethinim were a class of individuals assigned to assist the Levites with the menial duties of the temple. As a name, Chagab is derived from the common Hebrew noun for 'locust' (חָגָב, H2284), but in this single biblical occurrence, it functions solely as a personal identifier. No other meanings or senses are attached to this specific usage in Scripture.
Biblical Usage
The word is used only once in the Old Testament, in Ezra 2:46, within a list of the Nethinim families who returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. It appears strictly as a proper name with no narrative context or descriptive action attached to the individual.
Etymology
The name Chagab is identical to the common Hebrew noun חָגָב (chāgāb, H2284), meaning 'locust' or 'grasshopper.' It is a straightforward example of a personal name derived from an animal, a common practice in ancient Semitic cultures. The meaning did not develop further in its biblical usage as a proper noun.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names were often meaningful, derived from objects, animals, or circumstances. Naming a child after an insect like a locust was not necessarily pejorative; locusts could symbolize numerousness or, in some contexts, divine judgment. As a Nethinim, Chagab belonged to a hereditary guild of temple servants, a role of humble but sacred service, likely established from groups like the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:27).
No direct synonyms as a proper name. The root noun is: חָגָב (chāgāb, H2284) — the common noun for 'locust' or 'grasshopper'.
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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