Almodad (Hebrew: אַלְמוֹדָ֖ד ’Almōḏāḏ) was a descendant of Noah and the first named son of Joktan in Genesis 10:26 and 1 Chronicles 1:20. While the Bible has no further history regarding Almodad, this patriarch is considered to be the founder of an Arabian tribe in "Arabia Felix".[1] This is based on the identification of Joktan's other sons, such as Sheba and Havilah, who are both identified as coming from that region.[2]

According to Easton's Bible Dictionary "Almodad" means "immeasurable", however it has also been translated as "not measured",[3] "measure of God",[4] "the beloved," or, "God is beloved",[5] "God is love",[6] and "God is a friend".[7][8]

Many translations and scholarly works use "Elmodad", including Josephus,[9] Douay–Rheims Bible[10] and the Targum Ps.-Jonathan, which elaborates Gen 10:26 and says "begot Elmodad, who measured the earth with cords."[11][12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Charles Forster (1844). "Section II: Settlements of Joktan". The Historical Geography of Arabia (Volume I). pp. 77–175. The family of this patriarch seems to have been correctly traced by Bochart, in the Almodaei, or Allumaeotae, a central people of Arabia Felix, noticed by Ptolemy; and whose geographical position can be pretty exactly ascertained, both by the statement of the Alexandrine geographer, and by the nature of the adjoining country.
  2. ^ Skinner, D.D., John, A Critical and Exegitical Commentary on Genesis, T&T Clark Ltd., 1910 (1980 ed.), p. 221. ISBN 0-567-05001-7.
  3. ^ אַלְמוֹדָד
  4. ^ Roswell Dwight Hitchcock; Nathaniel West; Alexander Cruden (1870). Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible. A.J. Johnson. ISBN 978-0-8370-1742-6.
  5. ^ "Almodad". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 1915.
  6. ^ Thomas Inman (2002). "Almodad". Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names Part 1. Kessinger Publishing. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-7661-2668-8.
  7. ^ Alfred J. Kolatch (2005). "Almodad". The Comprehensive Dictionary of English & Hebrew First Names. Jonathan David Company. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-8246-0455-4.
  8. ^ David K. Stabnow (2006). "Almodad". HCSB Super Giant Print Dictionary and Concordance. Broadman & Holman. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-8054-9489-1.
  9. ^ Josephus. "Book I". Antiquities of the Jews.
  10. ^ "The First Book of the Chronicles", Parallel Hebrew Old Testament
  11. ^ "Section II. Toledoth". Targum Ps.-Jonathan.
  12. ^ "Almo'dad". The Bible Dictionary. 1875. p. 51. OCLC 26196495.
  13. ^ Alexander Toepel (2006). "Yonton Revisited: A Case Study in the Reception of Hellenistic Science within Early Judaism". Harvard Theological Review. 99 (3): 235–245. doi:10.1017/S0017816006001234. S2CID 162433476.

Further reading

Wikisource has the text of the 1897 Easton's Bible Dictionary article Almodad.

Wikisource This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Almodad". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.

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