2 Kings 24:17

24:17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s ¹  uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.

Genesis 41:45

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ²  He also gave him Asenath ³  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ⁴  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁵  all the land of Egypt.

Daniel 1:7

1:7 But the overseer of the court officials renamed them. He gave ⁶  Daniel the name Belteshazzar, Hananiah he named Shadrach, Mishael he named Meshach, and Azariah he named Abednego. ⁷ 

[24:17]  ¹ tn Heb “his.”

[41:45]  ² sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 1262).

[41:45]  ³ sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.

[41:45]  ⁴ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[1:7]  ⁶ tc The LXX and Vulgate lack the verb here.

[1:7]  ⁷ sn The meanings of the Babylonian names are more conjectural than is the case with the Hebrew names. The probable etymologies are as follows: Belteshazzar means “protect his life,” although the MT vocalization may suggest “Belti, protect the king” (cf. Dan 4:8); Shadrach perhaps means “command of Aku”; Meshach is of uncertain meaning; Abednego means “servant of Nego.” Assigning Babylonian names to the Hebrew youths may have been an attempt to erase from their memory their Israelite heritage.