H5651 H5651
Ebed ('servant'), a personal name borne by the father of Gaal at Shechem and a companion of Ezra returning from exile.
Ebed (עֶבֶד) means 'servant [of God],' a theophoric name parallel to Arabic names compounded with عبد. Two figures bear this name: the father of Gaal, who led a short-lived revolt against Abimelech at Shechem (Judg 9:26-35), and a clan head who returned with Ezra from Babylon (Ezra 8:6). The Septuagint renders the name variously as Ioabel and Obeth, reflecting different transliteration traditions. The name's simplicity — just 'servant' — is characteristic of West Semitic naming conventions that express piety through submission to deity.
Senses
1. Ebed (personal name) — A proper masculine name meaning 'servant (of God),' used of two distinct individuals. The most prominent is the father of Gaal, whose son rallied Shechem's citizens against Abimelech's rule (Judg 9:26-35). The second Ebed appears as head of a family returning from exile with Ezra (Ezra 8:6). English, Spanish, and French translations consistently transliterate rather than translate the name, preserving its identity as a proper noun across languages. 6×
AR["عَبَد"]·ben["এবদ", "এবদের"]·DE["Ebed", "Knecht"]·EN["Ebed", "Eved"]·FR["Ebed", "[עבד]"]·heb["עבד"]·HI["एबेद", "एबेद-का", "एबेद-के"]·ID["Ebed"]·IT["Ebed", "[עבד]"]·jav["Ebed", "Èbed"]·KO["에베드-의", "에벳"]·PT["'Eved", "Eved"]·RU["Эвед", "Эведа"]·ES["Eved", "Ébed"]·SW["Ebedi"]·TR["Ebed", "Eved-in"]·urd["عابد", "عَبَد-کا", "عَبَد-کے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† II. עֶ֫בֶד n.pr.m. (servant of God = עַבְדְּאֵל);— 1. father of Gaal Ju 9:26, 28, 30, 31, 35 (GFM, after HollenbThLz 1891, 371 [cf. BuIb. 1892, 63] עֹבֵד, as 𝔊L; v. also GrayProp. N. 184, 272); 𝔊 Ιωβηλ, A 𝔊L Αβεδ. 2. a companion of Ezra Ezr 8:6; 𝔊 Ωβηθ, 𝔊L Αμιναδαβ.—For list of Arabic names beginning with عبد v. NöZMG xli (1887), 724 ff., cf. also id.ib. xlii (1888), 486 WeHeid. 2, 2 ff.