רֶשֶׁף
Resheph, an Israelite
Definition
Resheph is a proper noun referring to an Israelite man, the son of Rephah, mentioned in the genealogy of the tribe of Ephraim in 1 Chronicles 7:25. This personal name is identical to the common noun רֶשֶׁף (resheph, H7565), which means 'flame' or 'firebolt,' and is also the name of a Canaanite deity associated with plague and the underworld. In its only biblical occurrence as a personal name, it carries no overt theological or negative connotations, functioning simply as an ancestral identifier within the Chronicler's list.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in 1 Chronicles 7:25: 'and Rephah was his son, and Resheph his son...' It appears strictly in a genealogical context, listing the descendants of Ephraim. There are no other patterns of usage for this proper noun.
Etymology
The name Resheph is derived directly from the Hebrew root ר-ש-ף (r-sh-p), meaning 'to burn' or 'to kindle.' It is the same as the common noun רֶשֶׁף (resheph, H7565), meaning 'flame,' 'spark,' or 'arrow' (as a metaphor for lightning). The name is also a known cognate with Resheph, a major Canaanite god of plague, pestilence, and the underworld, often depicted with a gazelle's head.
Semantic Range
While the personal name itself is theologically neutral in its single biblical use, its etymological connection to the word for 'flame' and the Canaanite deity provides a subtle cultural backdrop. For the biblical author, using a name associated with a pagan god for an Israelite ancestor may indicate a process of cultural reclamation or simply reflect common naming practices of the time, stripped of their original pagan significance within the genealogy of God's people.
In the broader ancient Near East, Resheph was a widely worshipped Canaanite and Phoenician deity, a bringer of plague and a god of the underworld, often linked with Mesopotamian Nergal. An Israelite bearing this name highlights the interaction between Israelite and Canaanite cultures. For the original audience of Chronicles, the name would have evoked this cultural association, even though the biblical text itself makes no comment on it, presenting Resheph solely as a link in the Ephraimite lineage.
אֵשׁ (ʾesh, H784) — The common, general word for 'fire.' רֶשֶׁף (resheph, H7565) — The identical common noun meaning 'flame' or 'firebolt,' from which the personal 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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