Hebrew word · H3132

יוֹעֵאלָה

veyo'elah

Joelah

A personal name that occurs only here. Its origin is unclear. One common explanation links it to the verb ya'al, 'to be of use, to help,' giving something like 'may [he/God] help.' Another sees in it the familiar Yo-el ('Yah is God') with an added ending.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.12.7;

son of: Jeroham (H3395K);

brother of: Zebadiah (H2069I)

§ Joelah = "may he avail"

son of Jeroham of Gedor and one of David's mighty warriors

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 12:7

Range of meaning

A personal name that occurs only here. Its origin is unclear. One common explanation links it to the verb ya'al, 'to be of use, to help,' giving something like 'may [he/God] help.' Another sees in it the familiar Yo-el ('Yah is God') with an added ending. Lexicons such as BDB and HALOT mark the meaning as uncertain.

Against the English

All English versions simply spell it 'Joelah.' The only risk is mixing him up with the much more common name Joel. Hebrew spells the two differently.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not found anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Names with similar roots appear in the wider stock of Northwest Semitic names, but no exact match is securely known.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:7 וְיוֹעֵאלָ֧ה and Joelah

    and Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor.

    Here: A personal name found only here in the Bible. The 'and' joins him to the list of David's early supporters that runs on from verse 6. What the name means is uncertain (see studies).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.