Hebrew word · H1577
גָּמוּל
legamul
Gamul
A personal name found only here. The root g-m-l covers 'to deal (fully) with someone', for good or ill, 'to repay', and 'to wean' a child (1 Sam 1:23; Isa 11:8). The form looks like a passive participle: 'weaned' or 'dealt with, rewarded'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.24.17
§ Gamul = "weaned"
a priest, the leader of the 22nd course in the service of the sanctuary
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 1 Chronicles 24:17
- Range of meaning
A personal name found only here. The root g-m-l covers 'to deal (fully) with someone', for good or ill, 'to repay', and 'to wean' a child (1 Sam 1:23; Isa 11:8). The form looks like a passive participle: 'weaned' or 'dealt with, rewarded'.
- Against the English
Every English version transliterates it as 'Gamul'. The two possible meanings cannot be settled. A name given at weaning is plausible, since weaning was a household celebration (Gen 21:8), but it is not certain.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Hebrew Bible the name occurs only in this verse. The ordinary noun gəmûl, 'recompense, deed', comes from the same root (e.g. Ps 103:2, 'all his benefits').
Where it appears
1 Chronicles · 1
-
1 Chronicles 24:17 לְגָמ֖וּל to Gamul
the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul,
Here: 'To Gamul', another priestly family head. This verse is the only place in the Bible where the name appears. It comes from the root g-m-l, which can mean 'to deal fully with, repay' or 'to wean'. The name may mean 'weaned' or 'one who has been dealt with (kindly)'. We cannot be sure which.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.