זְבִינָא
Zebina, an Israelite
Definition
Zebina is a proper name of an Israelite man listed among those who had married foreign women during the post-exilic period. The name appears only in Ezra 10:43, where he is one of the individuals who agreed to put away his foreign wife in response to Ezra's call for covenant faithfulness. As a proper noun, it refers solely to this specific historical individual. The name's meaning, derived from its etymology, suggests 'purchased' or 'gain,' but this meaning is not explicitly activated in its single biblical occurrence.
Biblical Usage
The word זְבִינָא is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in Ezra 10:43. It functions strictly as a personal name within a list of men who had taken foreign wives. The context is the communal confession and reform led by Ezra to restore Israel's distinct identity after the Babylonian exile. There are no other usages or patterns, as it is a unique identifier for one person.
Etymology
The name Zebina (זְבִינָא) is derived from the unused Hebrew root זבן (zbn), which carries the core meaning 'to purchase' or 'to buy.' It is related to words like זָבַן (zāḇan, H2082), meaning 'to buy, to procure.' The name is likely a passive participle form, meaning 'purchased' or 'acquired,' possibly implying 'one who is bought' or figuratively 'a valuable gain.' This connects it conceptually to ideas of possession and value.
Semantic Range
While the name Zebina itself is not theologically loaded, its appearance in Ezra 10 is significant. It places an individual within the critical narrative of Israel's struggle for purity and covenant obedience after the exile. Understanding that his name means 'purchased' can subtly enrich the reading, as the returned exiles were themselves a people 'purchased' or redeemed by God (e.g., Deuteronomy 7:8). His action of putting away a foreign wife reflects the difficult choices required for communal holiness, a key theme in Ezra-Nehemiah.
In ancient Israelite culture, names often carried meaningful significance, sometimes reflecting circumstances of birth, parental hopes, or character traits. A name meaning 'purchased' could indicate a child viewed as a precious gift or acquisition. In the context of Ezra 10, being listed by name in a public document of confession and reform carried social weight, acknowledging personal fault and committing to a corporate religious standard to preserve the community's identity.
There are no direct synonyms for this proper name. It is a unique identifier.
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.
Full methodology & sources →