“Why Was He Called Thus?”: Talmudic Puns on Biblical Names, Unification of Personalities, and Etymologies of Biblical Words
Etymologies of Names Provided in the Bible, Mishnah, and Talmud
Part of a project on names in the Talmud. See especially my previous piece, which touches on some of the same themes as this one: ““Appropriate Names”: The Interplay of Aptronyms, Pseudonyms, and Epithets in the Talmud”. The following piece is based on research in my recent piece on Academia.edu, see there for full sources (requires registration): “Why Was He Called Thus?”: An Anthology of Talmudic Passages Relating to Explanations of Biblical Names, Unification of Ostensibly Separate Biblical Personalities, and Etymologies of Biblical Words”.
Image provided by Dall-E: “An imaginative and colorful illustration showing a collection of Talmudic texts, with Hebrew letters playfully intertwined to form shapes and patterns, symbolizing puns and wordplay. The background is filled with whimsical elements that represent different stories and characters from the Talmud. The overall atmosphere of the image is vibrant and engaging, capturing the essence of Talmudic humor and the depth of linguistic creativity found in these ancient texts.”
Etymologies of Names Provided in the Bible
Interest within Jewish literature in etymology of names can be traced to the Bible, particularly the Book of Genesis. This interest focuses on the origins of names for people and places. Examples include the names of Adam, Eve, the Patriarchs, and the 12 tribes.[1]
Interesting and unusual case of a Biblical etymology not of place name or person name is that of the word Manna - מן.
In contemporary scholarly parlance, these Biblical etymologies and etiologies, as well as the Talmudic etymologies that I’ll discuss, would be considered to be folk etymologies. They are often based on simple word play, or puns (“paronomasia”). In general, puns and word play are a major theme in Talmudic aggadic methodology.[2]
Etymologies of Names Provided in the Talmud
The Talmud further explores the etymology of many Biblical names, especially when connecting obscure figures to known figures, or otherwise harmonizing different names. Examples from the Talmud include the names of Mount Sinai, King Solomon, Moses, Jethro, and others. [3]
See Steinzaltz on Megillah 13a (bolding mine), where R’ Shimon ben Pazi gives an extreme conflation, saying that all the names in a verse are in fact referring to one individual -- Moses: “This introduction [by R’ Shimon ben Pazi to his exposition of the book of Chronicles] made reference to the fact that the book of Chronicles cannot always be interpreted literally but requires exposition, as the same individual might be called by various different names.”
The common formula in the Talmud for introducing an etymology is with the dialogical question:
“למה נקרא שמו פלוני“
meaning, why is X called this? And then giving the explanation.
Mishnah
Already the Mishnah uses this formula to introduce an etymological explanation for the given names of two Temple gates (Shekalim 6:3):
ולמה נקרא שמו שער המים
[...]
ולמה נקרא שמו שער יכניה
The Mishnah elsewhere (Sotah 9:15) even uses this formula to explain a person’s name, the way the Talmud will do dozens of times:
משמת רבי יוסי קטנותא, פסקו חסידים.
ולמה נקרא שמו קטנותא, שהיה קטנותן של חסידים.
Another Mishnah states (Shekalim 5:1):
פתחיה, זה מרדכי. למה נקרא שמו פתחיה. שהיה פותח בדברים ודורשן, ויודע שבעים לשון.
Etymologizing People and Places, And Unification of Ostensibly Separate Biblical Personalities
Obscure names of people / places in the Bible are explained to be famous people / places. The obscure name is understood to be an epithet, and so an explanation is then given for the nickname, with a play on words.
R’ Yochanan, Rav/Shmuel (חד אמר וחד אמר), R’ Meir, and “The School of R’ Yishmael” are especially cited as making these statements.[4]
In Megillah 13a, six (!) Biblical names are said to all in fact refer to a single person: Moses.
An unusal case is Sanhedrin 82b, where R’ Sheshet says that Kozbi’s name was in fact שוילנאי. It is unclear where this name comes from, and what the impetus for this is.
Certain aggadic sugyot have a large number of such unification of Biblical names: Sotah 11a-12a (3x); Megillah 12b-14a (4x); Sanhedrin 19b (2x)
An unusual instance is the explanations of the purported alternate names of R’ Meir, in Eruvin 13b.
Etymologizing Terms, especially Biblically Ones
A few examples, from the many sources below: In Chullin 7b and parallels, R’ Yochanan explains the Hebrew word for “magic”, with a play on that word. Sanhedrin 22a explains why the Hebrew script in current use is called “Assyrian”. Bava Metzia 107b explains an unusual word used for “gallbladder”. In Chullin 63a-b (3x), obscure Biblical bird names are glossed and eymologized. In Chullin 7b, a Biblical word for mules is etymologized. In Chullin 49a, R’ Yochanan explains the etymology of the Hebrew word for “lung”. In Yevamot 34b, R’ Yitzchak explains why certain women in R’ Yehuda the Prince’s household were called “Tamar”. In Nedarim 41b, R’ Elazar explains the etymology of the name of a certain disease. In Sanhedrin 26b, R’ Hanan explains the etymology of a Biblical word that refers to Torah. In Avodah Zarah 29a a Hebrew word for “cucumbers” is etymologized, to show that they’re unhealthy.
The following sources are based on the usage of the formula “למה נקרא”. This mostly correlates with etymolgizing Biblical names or words. Therefore, this is not a comprehensive collection of sources relating to etymology. The Talmud often offers an etymology (often based on Hebrew or Aramaic) of Greek loan words found in the Mishnah, such as Kordiakus (קורדייקוס), Prozbol (פרוזבול / פרוסבול), and Apotheke (אפותיקי). These will not be dealt with here.
Appendix - Full list of sources
Identifying and Etymologizing People and Places
Megillah 5b-6a ( § 18)- 3x
חמת = טבריא ; רקת = ציפורי ; כינרת = גינוסר ; רקת = טבריא ; חמת = חמי גרר ; קטרון = ציפורי
Sanhedrin 19b (§15) - מרד = כלב
Sanhedrin 19b (§19) - פלטי = פלטיאל
Sanhedrin 21a (§14) - עגלה = מיכל
Sanhedrin 37b - 38a - אסיר = שלתיאל = נחמיה בן חכליה
Sanhedrin 44b (§9) - עכן = זמרי
Sanhedrin 82b (§9) - כזבי = שוילנאי
Sanhedrin 101b (§6) - נבט = מיכה = שבע בן בכרי
Sanhedrin 105a (§7-9) - בעור = כושן רשעתים = לבן הארמי
Zevachim 113b (§13-15) - מצולה ; שנער - THREE
Eruvin 53a (§7) - נמרוד = אמרפל
Sotah 42b (§7) - הרפה = ערפה
Sotah 42b (§11) - שופך = שובך
Bava Batra 14b (§11) - רות
Bava Batra 91b (§7-9) - מחלון וכליון = שרף ויואש ; יוקים = יהושע ; כזבא = גבעון
Sotah 11a (§19) - פיתום = רעמסס
Sotah 11b (§12-14) - שפרה = יוכבד ; פועה = מרים
Sotah 12a - אשחור = כלב
Rosh Hashanah 3a (§3) - סיחון = ערד = כנען
Rosh Hashanah 3b (§10) - כורש = דריוש = ארתחשסתא
Rosh Hashanah 25a (§14) - ירובעל = גדעון ; בדן = שמשון
Megillah 12b (§11) - ממוכן = המן
Megillah 13a (§6) - משה ; יהודי
Megillah 13a (§10-13) - אסתר = הדסה
Megillah 14a (§13) - יסכה = שרה
Megillah 15a (§4) - מלאכי = מרדכי
Megillah 15a (§11) - התך = דניאל
Eruvin 13b (§4) - מאיר = נהוראי = נחמיה = אלעזר בן ערך
Berakhot 4a (§2) - כרתי ופלתי = סנהדרין
Berakhot 4a (11-12) - מפיבשת = איש בשת ; כלאב = דניאל
Bekhorot 55b (§2) - יובל = פרת
Temurah 16a (§9) - עכסה
Shabbat 89a-b - הר סיני
Sanhedrin 82b (§11) - זמרי - five names
Horayot 11b (§18) - שלום = צדקיהו = מתניה
Temurah 16a (§14) - עתניאל = יעבץ = יהודה אחי שמעון
Taanit 20a (§4) - נקדימון = בוני
Pesachim 113b - 114a - יוסף איש הוצל ; רבי יצחק בן טבלא
Bereshit Rabbah 42:8 - עוג = פליט ; אחז ; ממרא
Etymologizing Terms
Sanhedrin 22a (§2-4) - אשורית
Bava Metzia 107b (§6) - מחלה = מרה
Chullin 7b (§13-15) - ימים ; כשפים
Chullin 60b (§9-10) - עוים
Chullin 63a (§16) - החסידה = דיה לבנה ; האנפה = דיה רגזנית
Chullin 63a (§9) - רחם = שרקרק
Chullin 63b (§5) - ראה = איה
Chullin 49a (§5) - ריאה
Nedarim 41b (§3) - בורדם
Sanhedrin 26b (§7-8) - תושיה
Avodah Zarah 29a (§8) - קשואין
Shabbat 106b (§5) - צפור דרור
Yoma 18b (§1) - אורות
Bekhorot 55a (§17) - ירדן
Chullin 91a (§19) - גיד הנשה
Bekhorot 41a (§7) - ילפת
[1] See:
מדרש שם – ויקיפדיה ; משה גרסיאל, מדרשי שמות במקרא, תשמ"ח.
[2] For word play in the Bible, see Scott B. Noegel, “Wordplay” in Ancient Near Eastern Texts (2021, open-access). See his review of previous scholarship from p. 16 and on. One of the rabbinic terms for word play is “לשון נופל על לשון”, see Noegel there, p. 16 f. 2.
[3] On rabbinic etymologies and theory of language, with ample comparison to the contemporaneous Greco-Roman method, see the excellent recent book by Willem F. Smelik, Rabbis, Language and Translation in Late Antiquity (2013).
[4] R’ Meir is explicitly pointed out in the Talmud as being someone who applied drash to names (דורש שמות), in the story of Kidor the innkeeper