Aug 21, 2012

Abigail means "my father redeems." It is spelled:

alef = ox, strength, first
beth = house, household
yood = hand; a deed; work
gimel = camel; pride (negative); to lift up (positive)
lamed = an ox goad; staff; authority

Abi means "my father." Gaal means "to redeem." Gaal is a gimel plus al, or el, which is the word for "God." In other words, gaal means "to lift up God." Hence, when Jesus said in John 12:32, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself," it was a comment on this word gaal, "to lift up God."

This also shows that Jesus is God, as Isaiah 12:2, 3 affirms, saying, "God is my Yeshua."

Abigail has a numerical value of 46, which is the same as Levi (in Hebrew) and Adam (in Greek). The number 46 is the number of "temple" in Scripture, because the Greek word naos, "temple," appears 46 times in the New Testament. For this reason also, Jesus said in John 2:19, 20,

(19) . . . "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (20) The Jews therefore said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"

In fact, the phrase, "forty-six years to build this temple" carries a numerical value of 3588, which is 46 x 78. The odds of this phrase carrying a numerical value that is divisible by 46 is 46 to 1. If we factor in the fact that the phrase specifically mentions the temple and that "temple" occurs 46 times in the NT, the odds go through the roof.

So Abigail means "My father redeems." The divine truth in this is the fact that Jesus is our Redeemer, and that His blood has redeemed the entire estate that Adam lost when he sinned. God is building a temple out of His redeemed ones, the "living stones" of 1 Peter 2:5.

This is the second part of a series titled "Hebrew Word Studies." To view all parts, click the link below.

Hebrew Word Studies