Hebrew word · H6769

צִלְּתַי

vetziletai

Zillethai

A man's name, probably from tsel, "shade, shadow". In a hot climate shade is a basic image of protection, as in Ps 91:1, Ps 121:5 and Isa 25:4. The ending -ai marks a shortened name.

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

What it means

A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.20;

son of: Shimei (H8096N);

brother of: Jakim (H3356), Zichri (H2147H), Zabdi (H2067H), Elienai (H0462), Eliel (H0447H), Adaiah (H5718H), Beraiah (H1256) and Shimrath (H8119)

§ Zilthai = "dark"

1) a Benjamite of the sons of Shimhi

2) a Manassite and commander of thousands who came to David at Ziklag

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 8:20

Range of meaning

A man's name, probably from tsel, "shade, shadow". In a hot climate shade is a basic image of protection, as in Ps 91:1, Ps 121:5 and Isa 25:4. The ending -ai marks a shortened name. The full form may have included God's name ("shade of YH" or similar), but no full form has survived, so this is a reconstruction.

Against the English

KJV has "Zilthai" and modern versions have "Zillethai". The Hebrew has a doubled l followed by a short vowel, and the modern spelling reflects that more closely. KJV's form may come from earlier printed traditions or from how the vowels were read. Either way it is the same name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Another Zillethai, from the tribe of Manasseh, appears in 1 Chr 12:20 (12:21 in Hebrew). The "shade" image for God's protection is common in the Psalms and Isaiah.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 8:20 וְצִלְּתַ֖י and Zillethai

    Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

    Here: Again "and" plus a personal name. The name is built on tsel, "shade, shadow", a common biblical picture of protection, so it probably means something like "(God is my) shade". The -ai ending is typical of shortened names.

  2. 1 Chronicles 12:20 וְצִלְּתָ֑י and Zillethai

    When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

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