נְבַלָּט
Neballat, a place in Palestine
Definition
Neballat (נְבַלָּט) is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of Benjamin during the post-exilic period. It is listed in Nehemiah 11:34 as one of the settlements where the people of Judah lived after returning from the Babylonian exile. The name appears only in this context, identifying a specific geographical location within the restored community. No other biblical passages mention Neballat, so its meaning is confined to this single historical reference as a place name.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the Old Testament, in Nehemiah 11:34. It appears in a list detailing the repopulation of towns in the territories of Judah and Benjamin after the exiles returned to Jerusalem. The context is purely geographical and administrative, serving to document the resettlement of the land. There are no patterns of usage beyond this single occurrence as a proper place name.
Etymology
The name Neballat is derived from the Hebrew root נָבָל (nāḇāl, H5036), meaning 'fool' or 'foolish,' and possibly לָט (lāṭ, H3909), meaning 'secrecy' or 'to conceal.' Thus, the name can be interpreted as 'foolish secrecy' or 'concealment of folly.' It is a compound name, typical of many Hebrew place names that describe a characteristic of the location or an event associated with it, though the specific historical reason for this name is not provided in scripture.
Semantic Range
As a place name in the list of Nehemiah 11, Neballat reflects the post-exilic effort to reestablish the tribal territories and community identity in Judah. Its mention underscores the meticulous record-keeping and geographical restoration that were central to the renewal of the covenant community after the exile. The name itself, possibly meaning 'foolish secrecy,' may hint at a local story or characteristic known to the original audience but lost to modern readers, a common feature of ancient toponyms.
No direct synonyms exist as it is a unique proper noun. Related are other Benjaminite town names from the same list, such as Lod (לוֹד, H3850) and Ono (אוֹנוֹ, H207).
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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