Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Biblical Names

Name Precedents: Biblical Names

Abgar, Ogar
Arielle (as a feminine version of Ariel)
Bathsheba
Esther
Ethan
Hagar
Hiel
Lilith
Moriah
Sapphira
House of David

Laurel: Date: (year.month.date) Precedent:

François la Flamme 2004.03 This name has multiple problems.
The given name is documented from a Web page that asserts that Ogar was the name of a king of Urhai (modern Edessa) who Eusebius says corresponded with Jesus. Nebuly provided this information:
The relevant portion [of the website] concerns an account of "Ogar, kind [sic] of Urhai" whom Eusebius records as corresponding with Jesus. The bit that helped me trace back to the original material is in the preceding paragraph, where Urhai is identified with Edessa.
The account in question is related near the end of Book 1 of Eusebius' History of the Church in a story about the apostle Thaddeus: "Thus it happened that when King Abgar, the brilliantly successful monarch of the peoples of Mesopotamia...heard continual mention of the name of Jesus and unanimous tribute to His miracles, he sent a humble request to Him, begging for relief from his disease."
Jesus is said to have replied with a personal letter. Eusebius visited the archives at Edessa and translated the letter from Syriac, in which the recipient is named Abgar Uchama the Toparch. My edition footnotes that Abgar ruled from 13 A.D. to 50 A.D. Thus, the spelling in Eusebius (Abgar) does not match that used in the cited web page (Ogar). This appears to be an error on the part of the authors, or perhaps in the source they used. We therefore have no support for the given name in the submitted spelling.

As the documentation does not support Ogar as a period spelling, it is not registerable.
Drakon, rather than Dracon, is a Greek given name. However, no documentation was presented that it was also a reasonable byname construction in Greek. Barring that evidence, it cannot be registered as a byname.
The submission combines a 1st C A.D. name of unclear origin with a Greek name from the 7th C B.C. The LoI did not discuss the language spoken in Urhai/Edessa; Nebuly's and Siren's research suggests that it was probably Syriac but may have been Greek. If Syriac, the name clearly has two weirdnesses, one for mixing Syriac and Greek and a second for combining elements with over 600 years between them. As the College did not have the opportunity to consider the evidence for this lingual mix or for the language(s) spoken in Urhai/Edessa, this combination cannot be registered. [Ogar Dracon, 03/2004, R-Middle]

François la Flamme 2003.12 Listed on the LoI as Bathsheba of Zigana, the submission form shows that this name was submitted as Bath-Sheba Zigana. [...]
Bathsheba was documented only as a name used in the Bible (Book of Samuel 11:3). Biblical names are registerable on a case by case basis according to the plausibility of their use in period. Metron Ariston provided information regarding documented period forms of this given name:
Of the given name Withycombe (Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Bathsheba) s[a]ys "It occurs occasionally as a christian name in the Middle Ages in the form Barsabe, and more frequently after the Reformation, often as Bathshua, the form of the name in the Authorized Version of the Book of Chronicles."
[Bathsheba of Zigana, 12/2003, R-West]

François la Flamme 2003.06 Ethan was documented as "a biblical name, [...] found in I Kings 4:31 as well as the 89th Psalm." There was some question regarding the registerability of Ethan as a late period English name since no evidence could be found that Ethan was one of the Biblical names that came into use in England after the Reformation. Given the number of Biblical names that came into use in England at that time, and given that we know of no reason that the name Ethan would not have been included among the Biblical names adopted at that time, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt and registering this name. [Ethan Stewart, 06/03, A-Æthelmearc]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.05 ... Esther would appear to be constructed in a period manner - it is a Biblical name, and Biblical names were used in England. We can therefore register the name. [Esther Millar, 05/00, A-Outlands]

Jaelle of Armida 1998.02 [Lleulyth o'r Cymry verch Llewfron mab Dafydd] While the submitter says that Welsh adopted names from the bible, and that Lleulyth is Welsh version of Lilith. However Lilith is not a Biblical name -- she appears in non-canonical Jewish folklore, but not the version of the texts generally available in Europe during the medieval period. Nor does she fall in the class of figures whose names were borrowed for use. It is possible that somewhere in a period Welsh text, there is a reference to Lilith, however it does not occur in any of the texts cited by the submitter. No one in the college has any documentation for Lleulyth as a period Welsh name (whether connected with Lilith or not), nor can it be justified on the basis of existing compound name elements. And, the submitter did not provide any documentation for it, outside of her assertion. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR February 1998, p. 21)

Jaelle of Armida 1997.04 [registering the given name Arielle] The name Ariel is found in the Bible, in Ezra, as the name of a male leader. While no one could produce documentation showing that Arielle is a period name, Hebrew names of this sort are frequently feminized by adding an "a" or an "e" at the end. For instance, Rafael bcomes Rafaelle, Gabriel becomes Gabrielle, Uriel becomes Urielle, Michael becomes Michaela, etc. Since our sources for period Hebrew names give us many more for men than for women, we are registering this as a compatible name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR April 1997, p. 2)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year) 1995.11 No evidence was presented that Germany shared the late-period English vogue for resurrecting obscure Biblical names. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR November 1995, p. 7)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year) 1993.12a [Returning Bayt al-Da'ud.] Conflicts with the Biblical King David, per RfS V.5., "Names that unmistakably imply identity with or close relationship to a specific person or literary character will not be registered." As Master Bruce noted, any claim of relationship -- be it "house of David", "descendants of David", or "drinking buddies of David" -- will run afoul of this Rule. And King David was known to the Arabs as simply Da'ud. [12a/93, p.15]

Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme 1993.03 Lord Crescent has noted that the only instance of Hiel in the Bible is the name of a man "cursed before the Lord"; he suggests that, for this reason, Hiel would never have actually been used in the Middle Ages. In fact, the names of "cursed" people in the Bible were often used by the non-cursed, even by saints; it's assumed that the name was perfectly innocent before its use by one wicked person. Judas, for instance, was used both by the betrayer of Christ and by one of the Apostles (John 14:22). There's also Ananias, the name of a man struck dead for lying to Peter (Acts 5:5) and of the disciple who restored Paul's sight (Acts 9:17). There are too many such examples for us to disallow a valid period name solely because of "guilt by association"; the name must be shown to be uniquely (or at least overwhelmingly) associated with its "cursed" holder. Lacking such evidence for Hiel, the name should be available for SCA use. (Abiel ben Hiel, March, 1993, pg. 7)

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1992.02 [Sapphira] "As I have been loath to do with Withycombe and other of our 'standard' names sources, I do not wish to start going through the Bible and making lists of exceptions to the names documented therefrom. Yes, as a number of commenters noted, the name Sapphira has sufficient negative connotations in the Bible itself that it is unlikely to have been used as a name in Period. The fact remains, however, that it was in the 'pool' of available Biblical names, and it should remain available to members of the SCA until and unless proven 'guilty' of sufficient impossibility or sufficient offense to warrant banning it." (LoAR 2/92 p.10).

Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure) 1990.09 [Hagarson] "Regarding the matronymic, sufficient examples were presented by various commenters to show a 'pattern of use' of forming patronymics and matronymics in Scandinavian and English languages from Biblical names that we feel we have to allow this. (Mind you, we do not like helping to perpetuate a misconception that 'Hagar' is a Norse name simply because of the popularity of a certain comic strip which prominently features a 'Viking' named Hagar.)" (LoAR 9/90 p.7).

Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane 1986.12.28 The name Moriah has been returned previously ... on the grounds that it is a Biblical place name, the mountain where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, and not a form used in period as a given name. No evidence has been presented to contravene that precedent. (LoAR 28 Dec 86, p. 17)

Laurel:	Date: (year.month.date)	Precedent:

François la Flamme	2004.03	This name has multiple problems. The given name is documented from a Web page that asserts that Ogar was the name of a king of Urhai (modern Edessa) who Eusebius says corresponded with Jesus. Nebuly provided this information: The relevant portion [of the website] concerns an account of "Ogar, kind [sic] of Urhai" whom Eusebius records as corresponding with Jesus. The bit that helped me trace back to the original material is in the preceding paragraph, where Urhai is identified with Edessa. The account in question is related near the end of Book 1 of Eusebius' History of the Church in a story about the apostle Thaddeus: "Thus it happened that when King Abgar, the brilliantly successful monarch of the peoples of Mesopotamia...heard continual mention of the name of Jesus and unanimous tribute to His miracles, he sent a humble request to Him, begging for relief from his disease." Jesus is said to have replied with a personal letter. Eusebius visited the archives at Edessa and translated the letter from Syriac, in which the recipient is named Abgar Uchama the Toparch. My edition footnotes that Abgar ruled from 13 A.D. to 50 A.D. Thus, the spelling in Eusebius (Abgar) does not match that used in the cited web page (Ogar). This appears to be an error on the part of the authors, or perhaps in the source they used. We therefore have no support for the given name in the submitted spelling. As the documentation does not support Ogar as a period spelling, it is not registerable. Drakon, rather than Dracon, is a Greek given name. However, no documentation was presented that it was also a reasonable byname construction in Greek. Barring that evidence, it cannot be registered as a byname. The submission combines a 1st C A.D. name of unclear origin with a Greek name from the 7th C B.C. The LoI did not discuss the language spoken in Urhai/Edessa; Nebuly's and Siren's research suggests that it was probably Syriac but may have been Greek. If Syriac, the name clearly has two weirdnesses, one for mixing Syriac and Greek and a second for combining elements with over 600 years between them. As the College did not have the opportunity to consider the evidence for this lingual mix or for the language(s) spoken in Urhai/Edessa, this combination cannot be registered. [Ogar Dracon, 03/2004, R-Middle]
François la Flamme	2003.12	Listed on the LoI as Bathsheba of Zigana, the submission form shows that this name was submitted as Bath-Sheba Zigana. [...] Bathsheba was documented only as a name used in the Bible (Book of Samuel 11:3). Biblical names are registerable on a case by case basis according to the plausibility of their use in period. Metron Ariston provided information regarding documented period forms of this given name: Of the given name Withycombe (Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, s.n. Bathsheba) s[a]ys "It occurs occasionally as a christian name in the Middle Ages in the form Barsabe, and more frequently after the Reformation, often as Bathshua, the form of the name in the Authorized Version of the Book of Chronicles." [Bathsheba of Zigana, 12/2003, R-West]
François la Flamme	2003.06	Ethan was documented as "a biblical name, [...] found in I Kings 4:31 as well as the 89th Psalm." There was some question regarding the registerability of Ethan as a late period English name since no evidence could be found that Ethan was one of the Biblical names that came into use in England after the Reformation. Given the number of Biblical names that came into use in England at that time, and given that we know of no reason that the name Ethan would not have been included among the Biblical names adopted at that time, we are giving the submitter the benefit of the doubt and registering this name. [Ethan Stewart, 06/03, A-Æthelmearc]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	2000.05	... Esther would appear to be constructed in a period manner - it is a Biblical name, and Biblical names were used in England. We can therefore register the name. [Esther Millar, 05/00, A-Outlands]
Jaelle of Armida	1998.02	[Lleulyth o'r Cymry verch Llewfron mab Dafydd] While the submitter says that Welsh adopted names from the bible, and that Lleulyth is Welsh version of Lilith. However Lilith is not a Biblical name -- she appears in non-canonical Jewish folklore, but not the version of the texts generally available in Europe during the medieval period. Nor does she fall in the class of figures whose names were borrowed for use. It is possible that somewhere in a period Welsh text, there is a reference to Lilith, however it does not occur in any of the texts cited by the submitter. No one in the college has any documentation for Lleulyth as a period Welsh name (whether connected with Lilith or not), nor can it be justified on the basis of existing compound name elements. And, the submitter did not provide any documentation for it, outside of her assertion. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR February 1998, p. 21)
Jaelle of Armida	1997.04	[registering the given name Arielle] The name Ariel is found in the Bible, in Ezra, as the name of a male leader. While no one could produce documentation showing that Arielle is a period name, Hebrew names of this sort are frequently feminized by adding an "a" or an "e" at the end. For instance, Rafael bcomes Rafaelle, Gabriel becomes Gabrielle, Uriel becomes Urielle, Michael becomes Michaela, etc. Since our sources for period Hebrew names give us many more for men than for women, we are registering this as a compatible name. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR April 1997, p. 2)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 2nd year)	1995.11	No evidence was presented that Germany shared the late-period English vogue for resurrecting obscure Biblical names. (Talan Gwynek, LoAR November 1995, p. 7)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd tenure, 1st year)	1993.12a	[Returning Bayt al-Da'ud.] Conflicts with the Biblical King David, per RfS V.5., "Names that unmistakably imply identity with or close relationship to a specific person or literary character will not be registered." As Master Bruce noted, any claim of relationship -- be it "house of David", "descendants of David", or "drinking buddies of David" -- will run afoul of this Rule. And King David was known to the Arabs as simply Da'ud. [12a/93, p.15]
Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme	1993.03	Lord Crescent has noted that the only instance of Hiel in the Bible is the name of a man "cursed before the Lord"; he suggests that, for this reason, Hiel would never have actually been used in the Middle Ages. In fact, the names of "cursed" people in the Bible were often used by the non-cursed, even by saints; it's assumed that the name was perfectly innocent before its use by one wicked person. Judas, for instance, was used both by the betrayer of Christ and by one of the Apostles (John 14:22). There's also Ananias, the name of a man struck dead for lying to Peter (Acts 5:5) and of the disciple who restored Paul's sight (Acts 9:17). There are too many such examples for us to disallow a valid period name solely because of "guilt by association"; the name must be shown to be uniquely (or at least overwhelmingly) associated with its "cursed" holder. Lacking such evidence for Hiel, the name should be available for SCA use. (Abiel ben Hiel, March, 1993, pg. 7)
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure)	1992.02	[Sapphira] "As I have been loath to do with Withycombe and other of our 'standard' names sources, I do not wish to start going through the Bible and making lists of exceptions to the names documented therefrom. Yes, as a number of commenters noted, the name Sapphira has sufficient negative connotations in the Bible itself that it is unlikely to have been used as a name in Period. The fact remains, however, that it was in the 'pool' of available Biblical names, and it should remain available to members of the SCA until and unless proven 'guilty' of sufficient impossibility or sufficient offense to warrant banning it." (LoAR 2/92 p.10).
Da'ud ibn Auda (1st year of 1st tenure)	1990.09	[Hagarson] "Regarding the matronymic, sufficient examples were presented by various commenters to show a 'pattern of use' of forming patronymics and matronymics in Scandinavian and English languages from Biblical names that we feel we have to allow this. (Mind you, we do not like helping to perpetuate a misconception that 'Hagar' is a Norse name simply because of the popularity of a certain comic strip which prominently features a 'Viking' named Hagar.)" (LoAR 9/90 p.7).
Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane	1986.12.28	The name Moriah has been returned previously ... on the grounds that it is a Biblical place name, the mountain where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, and not a form used in period as a given name. No evidence has been presented to contravene that precedent. (LoAR 28 Dec 86, p. 17)