Bible Word Study
אַדָּר
ʼAddâr · Addar, a place in Palestine; also an Israelite
אַדָּר
Addar, a place in Palestine; also an Israelite
Definition
אַדָּר (ʼAddâr) is a proper noun with two distinct biblical referents. First, it designates a geographical location in the southern border of the tribe of Judah, appearing as a place name in the territorial description of Joshua 15:3. Second, it serves as the name of an individual, a son of Bela from the tribe of Benjamin, as recorded in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 8:3. The name itself carries the connotation of 'ample' or 'majestic,' likely describing the character of the person or the nature of the place.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only twice in the Old Testament, each time as a proper name in distinct contexts. In Joshua 15:3, it functions as a toponym (place name) in a detailed list of Judah's southern boundary markers. In 1 Chronicles 8:3, it is used as a personal name within a genealogical record of Benjamin's descendants. There is no narrative usage; it appears solely in descriptive lists.
Etymology
The name אַדָּר is derived from the Hebrew root אָדַר (ʼādar, H142), which means 'to be majestic' or 'wide.' It is an intensive form of this root, giving the sense of 'ample,' 'majestic,' or 'glorious.' This suggests the name was given to signify prominence or nobility.
Semantic Range
As a place name in Joshua 15:3, Addar was part of defining tribal inheritance, reflecting the importance of land and borders in Israelite identity. As a personal name in 1 Chronicles 8:3, it follows a common cultural practice of using names with positive, aspirational meanings ('majestic') for children, often reflecting hoped-for character or divine blessing. אָדַר (ʼādar, H142) — the root verb meaning 'to be majestic,' from which the proper name is derived.
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]