יְהוּדִי
Jehudi, an Israelite
Definition
The Hebrew word יְהוּדִי (Yᵉhûwdîy) is a proper noun referring to a specific individual named Jehudi. In the Bible, Jehudi is a court official serving King Jehoiakim of Judah. His role is significant in the narrative of the prophet Jeremiah, as he is the official sent to retrieve the scroll containing Jeremiah's prophecies and is commanded to read it aloud before the king (Jeremiah 36:14, 21). The name itself means 'Jew' or 'Judahite,' identifying him as a member of the tribe of Judah. While the word is used exclusively for this one person in the biblical text, its meaning is directly tied to his ethnic and national identity as a man from the kingdom of Judah.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only three times in the Old Testament, all within Jeremiah 36. It consistently refers to the same individual, Jehudi, who acts as a messenger between the officials and King Jehoiakim. The usage is purely narrative, describing his actions in fetching and reading Jeremiah's scroll. There are no other senses or applications of the word in the biblical corpus; it functions solely as the name of this specific courtier.
Etymology
The name יְהוּדִי (Yᵉhûwdîy) is derived from the same Hebrew root as H3064, יְהוּדָה (Yᵉhûwdâh), meaning 'Judah.' It is an adjective meaning 'Jewish' or 'of Judah,' used here as a personal name. Essentially, 'Jehudi' means 'the Judahite' or 'the Jew,' indicating his origin from the tribe and kingdom of Judah. It is linguistically related to the later term for the Jewish people.
Semantic Range
While the name Jehudi itself is not theologically loaded, his story in Jeremiah 36 carries significant theological weight. He is a key figure in the dramatic confrontation between God's prophetic word (delivered through Jeremiah) and royal arrogance (embodied by Jehoiakim). Jehudi's act of reading the scroll, which the king then destroys, highlights the rejection of divine warning and the certainty of God's judgment. Understanding his name as 'Judahite' underscores the tragedy—a man from the covenant people participates in the king's defiance against Yahweh's prophet.
In the cultural context of the late monarchy, a name like Jehudi ('Judahite') reinforced tribal and national identity. As a court official, he held a position of some trust and literacy, as he was tasked with reading a scroll. His role reflects the bureaucratic structure of the Judean court. The narrative shows the dangerous tension between prophetic messengers and political power in ancient Judah.
יְהוּדָה (Yᵉhûwdâh, H3064) — The tribal and territorial name 'Judah,' from which the personal name Jehudi 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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