Ichabod
Ichabod (
Etymology
The First Book of Samuel (4:21–22) tells how Ichabod's mother named him because the glory has departed from Israel, because of the loss of the Ark to the Philistines, and perhaps also because of the deaths of Eli and Phinehas. She repeats the phrase "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured", to show her piety,[2] and to express that the public and spiritual loss lay heavier upon her spirit than her personal or domestic calamity.[3] Yairah Amit suggests that his name indicates "the fate of this newborn child who would have no parents, no grandfather and not even God, because even the glory has departed from the place".[4]
Biblical commentator Donald Spence Jones states that
the meaning of the term I-chabod is much disputed, owing to the doubt which hangs over the first syllable, "I", followed by "chabod". It is usually taken to mean a simple negative: "not": chabod signifying "glory", I-chabod thus represents "not glory", i.e., there is no glory. Others render the "I" syllable as a rhetorical question, "Where?", "Where is the glory?", the answer, of course, being, "It is nowhere". But the best rendering seems to be to understand the syllable "I" as an exclamation of bitter sorrow, "Alas!": the name then could be translated, "Alas! the glory."[5]
The
While the Hebrew Bible barely mentions Ichabod, the fact that Ahitub is elsewhere referred to as the brother of Ichabod, rather than as son of Phinehas (or of anyone else), has led textual scholars to suspect that Ichabod was considered a significant individual in the time of Samuel[7] (11th century BCE).
References and notes
- ^ 1 Samuel 4:2–3
- ^ Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 4, accessed 23 April 2017
- ^ 1 Samuel 4:21–22
- ^ Yairah Amit, "Progression as a Rhetorical Device in Biblical Literature" JSOT 28 (2003) 13.
- ^ Ellicott's Commentary for Modern Readers on 1 Samuel 4, accessed 23 April 2017
- ^ 1 Samuel 4:21: Brenton's Septuagint Translation
- ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia, Books of Samuel
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Ichabod". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.