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אֲדֹנִיָּה

𐤀𐤃𐤍𐤉𐤄

Adoniyah

H138 noun

SILEX Entry

Root אדן to be lord, rule, act as master

Definition

A personal name in the Hebrew Bible meaning 'Yahweh is Lord' or 'My lord is Yahweh.' Most commonly used as a proper name for male individuals, specifically several Israelite men. The semantic range is limited to use as a theophoric personal name, indicating allegiance to or identification with Yahweh as sovereign, particularly in familial and royal settings.

Semantic Range

proper personal name; (by construction) 'Yahweh is my lord,' 'my lord is Yahweh'; exclusively as a male Israelite name

Root / Etymology

The name derives from the Hebrew noun אָדוֹן (adon, 'lord, master') combined with the theophoric element יָהּ (Yah, short form of the Tetragrammaton, the personal name of Israel’s deity). Grammatically, אֲדֹנִיָּה is a construct form where אֲדֹנִי (my lord) precedes Yah, yielding 'My Lord is Yah' or 'Yahweh is Lord.' Alternative, longer form: אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ (Adoniyahu).

Historical & Contextual Notes

אֲדֹנִיָּה appears in the Hebrew Bible as the personal name of three distinct male individuals: 1) The best-known is a son of David and Haggith, who attempted to claim the throne near David’s death (1 Kings 1–2). 2) Another is the head of a Levitical family returning from exile (Nehemiah 10:17). 3) A third is listed among the post-exilic returnees in the genealogical lists (Nehemiah 10:17). Use of the theophoric ‘Yah’ in personal names reflects the growing predominance of the Yahweh cult in royal and later post-exilic periods. The name should not be understood as an abstract title or epithet but specifically as a theophoric personal name. English translations generally transliterate rather than translate, but the rendering 'lord of Yahweh' or 'Yahweh is lord' best captures the theological nuance intended by the compound. The KJV and related translations simply render the name as 'Adonijah' without reflecting its compositional meaning.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

original (prolonged) אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ ; from אָדוֹן and יָהּ; lord (i.e. worshipper) of Jah; Adonijah, the name of three Israelites; Adonijah.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

אדן (ʾ-d-n) — to be lord, rule, act as master

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H113 אָדוֹן master of
H114 אַדּוֹן lord of
H134 אֶדֶן his support-bases
H135 אַדָּן Addan (Firm-Foundation)
H136 אֲדֹנָי lord

Word Forms

5 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H138-02 אֲדֹנִיָּֽהוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah 13
H138-01 אֲדֹנִיָּ֣ה adoniyah HNp Adonijah My Lord is Yah 6
H138-03 לַ/אֲדֹנִיָּ֑הוּ laadoniyahu HR/Np to Adonijah to My-Lord-is-Yah 4
H138-05 וַ/אֲדֹ֣נִיָּ֔הוּ vaadoniyahu HC/Np and-Adonijah And My-Lord-is-Yah 2
H138-04 וַ/אֲדֹנִיָּ֧ה vaadoniyah HC/Np Now Adonijah and My-Lord-is-Yah 1

Occurrences in Scripture

26 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H138-01 2 Samuel 3:4 אֲדֹנִיָּ֣ה adoniyah HNp Adonijah My Lord is Yah
H138-04 1 Kings 1:5 וַ/אֲדֹנִיָּ֧ה vaadoniyah HC/Np Now Adonijah and My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-01 1 Kings 1:7 אֲדֹנִיָּֽה adoniyah HNp Adonijah My Lord is Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:8 אֲדֹנִיָּֽהוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:9 אֲדֹנִיָּ֗הוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:11 אֲדֹנִיָּ֣הוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:13 אֲדֹנִיָֽהוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-01 1 Kings 1:18 אֲדֹנִיָּ֖ה adoniyah HNp Adonijah My Lord is Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:24 אֲדֹנִיָּ֖הוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
H138-02 1 Kings 1:25 אֲדֹנִיָּֽהוּ adoniyahu HNp Adonijah My-Lord-is-Yah
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