Bible Word Study
אֲבִי גִבְעוֹן
ʼĂbîy Gibʻôwn · Abi-Gibon, perhaps an Israelite
אֲבִי גִבְעוֹן
Abi-Gibon, perhaps an Israelite
Definition
Abi-Gibon is a proper name meaning 'father of Gibeon' or 'founder of Gibeon.' It appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, in 1 Chronicles 8:29, where it is listed as the name of a man, possibly an Israelite, within a genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin. The name likely indicates a person who was a prominent ancestor or perhaps the original settler of the city of Gibeon. As a single-occurrence name, it serves primarily to identify an individual within a historical lineage, with no other distinct meanings or senses recorded in the biblical text.
Biblical Usage
This name is used exactly once in the Old Testament, in 1 Chronicles 8:29, within a list of Benjaminite ancestors. It functions solely as a personal identifier in a genealogical context, with no narrative or descriptive usage elsewhere. The pattern is typical of many names found in the Chronicler's genealogies, serving to trace family and tribal heritage.
Etymology
The name is a compound of the Hebrew word 'אָב' (ʼāv, H1), meaning 'father' or 'founder,' and 'גִּבְעוֹן' (Gibʻôn, H1391), the name of the prominent Canaanite city, Gibeon. It is a straightforward construct relationship meaning 'father of Gibeon,' likely denoting ancestral or foundational association with that location.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names often conveyed information about a person's character, destiny, or origin. A name like 'Father of Gibeon' likely signified a person's status as a patriarch, founder, or leading figure associated with the city of Gibeon. This reflects the practice of using geographical or locational elements in personal names to denote lineage or place of significance.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]