How were Biblical names (in the past) differentiated from common nouns?

Question

I am new to this site, so if someone has asked this, please accept it as a newbie move and denigrate not. (lol)

Caleb חלב means dog. How did Caleb (Joshua 1:9) know he was being called a human name, and not a dog (slur)? (Revelation 22:13-16) Helev חלב means milk. How did Helev (2 Samuel 23:29-31) know he was being called a human name, and not a beverage? (Exodus 23:19) Nabal נָבָל means fool. How did Nabal know his name was being used and not an epithet? (1 Samuel 25:25)

What Hebrew prefix or word (etc. I am not a linguist) was attached to indicate a human name was being used when using that name, rather than simply the word (eg. dog or milk).

Would this be את before the word (e.g. את מבל)?

Answer 1

Hebrew is complex, and there are several possibilities here that must be considered.

Hebrew Grammar

In Hebrew, there is no case distinction and no special way of indicating a name. Hebrew names do not have the article "הָ" (ha), for example, because names are already definite. Context informs the reader whether or not a Hebrew word is a name. Some Hebrew "names" are actually full sentences in Hebrew, such as "Melchizedek," which means "My king is righteous." If you have a sentence like "My king is righteous, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine" (Genesis 14:18)...obviously, the grammatical context shows that this "sentence" should be considered as a name.

Hebrew Names

In Hebrew, names always have a meaning. The meaning usually is important to the story, and fits the character or role of the one so-named. This hand-in-glove fit is often so nearly perfect as to inspire multiple theories of interpretation as to the reason for this.

One theory which scholars hold is that the writer of the story cared less about the actual names of the persons involved, and focused, instead, on their roles--essentially giving them names that would best fit the historical record. Proponents of this theory assume that the original names are unimportant, and that the author of the story chose names that were better suited to the storyline.

Another theory holds that the actions, character, or events that took place during the lifetime of the biblical characters involved determined the meaning of their names afterward. For example, to this day we associate Jehu with driving insanely fast because he was known for this. We also associate Samson with strength--and brand names like "Samsonite" may well be exploiting this image. When, for example, the sons of Naomi died early, it becomes an interesting question of whether she or their father would really have given them the names "sick" and "pining" or whether these were just the meanings that those names came to be associated with ever after. (Personally, I lean toward this latter theory.)

Caleb

In Caleb's case, the article is not prefixed to the word. He being a righteous man, seems exceptional in terms of his name. However, the word spelled as "כָּלֵ֛ב" (Caleb) is never translated as "dog". The similar word "כֶּ֣לֶב" is. These are spelled differently, with the name "Caleb" having a patach as its first vowel, whereas the word "dog" has a segol. There are other differences as well, though certainly the three root letters are the same for both, and the original Hebrew did not have these added vowel pointings (so whether or not there was any difference in the original pronunciation is debatable).

Nabal

In Nabal's case, the word does appear in Job 30:8 where it is translated as "fools" ("sons of fools" instead of "sons of Nabal"). As with Caleb, there is no definite article to distinguish "Nabal" as a name where it is used for the husband of Abigail. However, in other places where "fool" is used, it may occur as a separate word root, or it may take a different form, such as appearing as the adjective "נָבָ֖ל" (foolish) in Deuteronomy 32:6, or as "הַנְּבָלִ֖ים" (the fools, plural) in 2 Samuel 13:13.

Context is always very important with interpreting Hebrew, and often more than one meaning may be simultaneously accurate and/or intended.

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UPDATED after consultation with my Hebrew professor: Names never need the article in Hebrew.

Answer 2

With regard to biblical hermeneutics, it is the biblial meaning of names that are to be examined. Using Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, there appears to be no idea that 'Caleb' means 'dog'. It is given as the name of three different men in the Hebrew scriptures, and once as the place-name of Caleb Ephratah. This is said to have been located near to Bethlehem-Judah, named after Caleb who was married to Ephratah.

As for the name, Caleb, its meaning is given as 'bold, impetuous'. No mention of it meaning a dog.

The word Helev does not appear anywhere in the Concordance. The name of Heleb (meaning 'fat') is synonymous with Heled. Heleb was one of David's valiant fighting men, mentioned twice in the Hebrew scriptures (the second time as Heled.) Yet even if the word you give is biblical and means 'milk', there would be no slur in also using it as a person's name.

The only name you list that means something derogatory is Nabal, which means 'fool, projecting'. He was a rich man in Mahon who insulted David, and died of fright. The man had a terrible reputation and seems, indeed, not to have been liked and to have been very foolish. But the Bible is perfectly clear in 1 Samuel chapters 25 to 30 that he was named Nabal while alive, so that it could not have been an epithet.

Sometimes different meanings to names can attach in later centuries. Perhaps that is what happened with the first two examples you gave. There are cases in history where a once oft-used name stopped being used after a particularly notorious person caused it to become undesirable as a person's name. It is not clear when the idea of 'dog' and 'milk' began to attach to those two person's names, so if some facts about that could be supplied, the question could get a more fulsome answer.