2017 A to Z mashup Pt 2

If you don't know what this post is about, read this and come back.  For those of you who do know what's going on (relatively speaking), let's get right to the fun!

N is for Naam.   According to I Chronicles, he is a son of Caleb- yes, that would be the Caleb who went with Joshua to spy out the Promised Land and managed to return with his faith (some might say his manhood) intact.  His name, according to the Targum (basically the Jewish version of the Commentaries), was given him "because he purged his soul from the counsel of the spies"- apparently a comment on dear old dad.  HOWever, upon consulting my concordance, I found that the name CAN be interpreted as "dog" or "male prostitute".

O is for Obadiah.  The prophet of the same name, I found a handful of interesting legends about him.  Supposedly he was brought to faith by a descendant of Job's friend Eliphaz the Temanite.   He was the one that hid the 100 prophets God told Elijah about from Jezebel.  I Kings 18 explains how he managed that- he was a servant in Ahab's household.  And, better yet, when the king sent the three captains and their men to Elijah, and Elijah had God roast two of them, Obadiah was the third captain.


P is for Paarai.  In 2 Samuel, this gent was one of the third class of David's "Mighty Men".  In I Chronicles, his name is Naarai.  If we went by that, you'd have never met him.

Q is for Quirinius.  Quirinius, or Cyrenius, was a Roman functionary which Luke claims was governor of Syria during a census of the Palestine.  But historians have found a lot more excuses to disprove Luke's dating system than to try and prove it, go figure.  At debate isn't so much the timeframe, but WHICH of three or four censuses (censi?) is the one Luke means, and what exactly Luke defined as being "governor", since Quirinius floated in and out of the area in various roles for many years.


R is for Raamah.  In Genesis 10, we find he's the grandson of Ham and basically founded the civilization of south Arabia.  His son Sheba would be a ruler in Ethiopia, possibly starting the line of Solomon's friend the Queen of Sheba.  Both he and the next entry are brothers to the great king Nimrod.

S is for Sabtah.  And you pretty well have HIS story.

T is for Tabeal.  According to Ezra 4, this ratfink was one of the Syrians living in Israel at the time of the restoration, who got together and wrote a "They're being bad" letter to King Artaxerxes.

U is for Ucal. While his name sounds like a Californian utility, Ucal is named in Proverbs 30 as a student of a wise man named Agur the son of Jakeh.  Agur may well have been a name for Solomon, as Lemuel later on as well might be.

V is for Vajezatha.  This unlucky chap was unfortunately for him the son of Haman, whom got on the bad side of Esther and a gallows; later the next day, the 10 sons of Haman were served similarly.

W is for Wormwood.  The Bible doesn't give you a lot of w's, and the only name was this one, the symbolic name of the meteor that strikes the earth and  poisons the fresh water in Revelation 8.  Admittedly, it's an inanimate object, but an inanimate object with a name.

X is for Xerxes.  While those who want to dethrone the Bible by picking nits with dates debate this, Xerxes is the Ahasuerus who married Esther, promoted Mordecai, and turned Haman into a large Christmas ornament.

Y is for Yah. Short poetic form of Yahweh, the name of God.  Known by 70's music fans from the song Pass The Dutchie.

Z is for Zavan.  Cousin of previous entries Ebal and Jaakan (I Chronicles).  If not for that family, I'd have been screwed here.


And that'll close out my participation in the 2017 A to Z Challenge!  Tune in next time for more alphabetical obscura!