Bible Word Study
אֶלְנַעַם
ʼElnaʻam · Elnaam, an Israelite
אֶלְנַעַם
Elnaam, an Israelite
Definition
אֶלְנַעַם (Elnaam) is a proper name meaning 'God is delight' or 'God is pleasantness.' It appears only once in the Old Testament as the name of an Israelite, Elnaam, who was the father of Jeribai and Joshaviah, two of King David's mighty men (1 Chronicles 11:46). As a personal name, it functions solely to identify this individual within the genealogical and military records of David's reign. No other meanings or applications of the word are found in the biblical text.
Biblical Usage
This name is used exactly once in the entire Old Testament, in 1 Chronicles 11:46. It appears in a list detailing the valiant warriors who served under King David, specifically identifying Elnaam as the father of two of these heroes. Its usage is purely onomastic (related to naming) within a historical and genealogical context, with no narrative or dialogical development.
Etymology
The name אֶלְנַעַם (ʼElnaʻam) is a compound of two Hebrew elements: אֵל (ʼēl, H410), meaning 'God,' and נָעֵם (nāʻēm, H5276), a verb meaning 'to be pleasant, delightful, or lovely.' Thus, the name translates directly to 'God is delight' or 'God is pleasantness.' It belongs to a common class of Hebrew theophoric names that express a characteristic or action of God.
Semantic Range
While the name itself is not theologically loaded, its etymology reflects a common Israelite practice of embedding theological affirmations into personal names. Names like Elnaam served as constant, personal reminders of God's character—in this case, His pleasantness and the delight found in Him. This practice underscores how faith was woven into the daily identity and family heritage of God's people. In ancient Israelite culture, names were often descriptive and carried significant meaning. A name like Elnaam ('God is delight') likely expressed the parents' piety and their hope or experience of God's favor. It places the individual within the community of those who identify Yahweh (God) as the source of true pleasure and goodness, contrasting with Canaanite deities. אֱלִיעָם (ʼEliʻam, H463) — Also a theophoric name meaning 'God of the people' or 'my God is kinsman,' borne by the father of Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3). אֱלִישָׁמָע (ʼElishāmaʻ, H476) — A name meaning 'God has heard,' borne by several individuals, including an Ephraimite chief (Numbers 1:10).
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]