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Parshandatha meaning


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🔼The name Parshandatha in the Bible

The name Parshandatha occurs only once in the Bible, namely in Esther 9:7 where he is listed as the first of ten sons of Haman, the would-be murderer of Israel. This genocide was averted by queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai, and their victory is up to present times still celebrated annually with the Purim festival. Haman and his ten sons were duly killed.

🔼Etymology of the name Parshandatha

The name Parshandatha is doubtlessly Persian, but was transliterated into Hebrew in such a way that it actually meant something. In fact, it means something so virtuous that it's a bit of a mystery why this Persian name was not shoehorned into a Hebraized version that meant something rotten. In the twelfth century, this name was interpreted in the way we will describe below, and was subsequently attached as honorary title to the great French rabbi Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki).

The name Parshandatha was considered to consist of two elements. The final part was considered to be the Persian loan-word דת (dat), meaning law or decree:

The first part of our name was thought to stem from the same root as did the name Pharisee, namely the verb פרש (parash I), meaning to convey with great precision:

🔼Parshandatha meaning

For a meaning of the name Parshandatha, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads a rather lame Inquisitive, and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names goes back to the Persian and proposes Of Noble Birth.

The same name applied to rabbi Rashi has been interpreted as Interpreter Of Law (Jewish Encyclopedia) or The Commentator Of The Law (Yonathan Kolatch, Masters of the Word).