Bible Word Study
חָגָב
Châgâb · Chagab, one of the Nethinim
חָגָב
Chagab, one of the Nethinim
Definition
Chagab is a proper name of a person listed among the Nethinim, or temple servants, who returned from the Babylonian exile (Ezra 2:46). The Nethinim were a class of individuals assigned to assist the Levites with the menial duties of the temple. As a name, Chagab is derived from the common Hebrew noun for 'locust' (חָגָב, H2284), but in this single biblical occurrence, it functions solely as a personal identifier. No other meanings or senses are attached to this specific usage in Scripture.
Biblical Usage
The word is used only once in the Old Testament, in Ezra 2:46, within a list of the Nethinim families who returned to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel. It appears strictly as a proper name with no narrative context or descriptive action attached to the individual.
Etymology
The name Chagab is identical to the common Hebrew noun חָגָב (chāgāb, H2284), meaning 'locust' or 'grasshopper.' It is a straightforward example of a personal name derived from an animal, a common practice in ancient Semitic cultures. The meaning did not develop further in its biblical usage as a proper noun.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names were often meaningful, derived from objects, animals, or circumstances. Naming a child after an insect like a locust was not necessarily pejorative; locusts could symbolize numerousness or, in some contexts, divine judgment. As a Nethinim, Chagab belonged to a hereditary guild of temple servants, a role of humble but sacred service, likely established from groups like the Gibeonites (Joshua 9:27). No direct synonyms as a proper name. The root noun is: חָגָב (chāgāb, H2284) — the common noun for 'locust' or 'grasshopper'.
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]