Hebrew word · H4314

מֵי זָהָב

mei

Mezahab

Literally 'waters of gold'. It could be a person's name, a family name, or a place (compare the Dizahab, 'of gold', in Deuteronomy 1:1).

Appears 4 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.36.39;

father of: Matred (H4308)

§ Mezahab = "waters of gold"

father of Matred and grandfather of Mehetabel, the wife of Hadad, the last named king of Edom

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 Jubilees 38:23

Range of meaning

Literally 'waters of gold'. It could be a person's name, a family name, or a place (compare the Dizahab, 'of gold', in Deuteronomy 1:1).

Against the English

English Bibles transliterate it as 'Me-zahab', and Charles has 'Metabedza'ab'. Neither shows that the name may be a place, not a grandparent.

How it drifted

In the Ethiopic the form seems to have been mixed up with the Mehetabel that comes just before it (Me-tab-…), which produced a hybrid name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 36:39 and 1 Chronicles 1:50. The Aramaic Targums (Onkelos, Pseudo-Jonathan) explain it by reference to gold-refining or wealth, which shows that by late antiquity readers already found it puzzling.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 36:39 מֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃ Me-, Zahab

    When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:50 מֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃ Me-, Zahab

    When Baal-hanan died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

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