# Consecrated to God



## Blumengarten

Hello!

I've always wondered what my name is in Hebrew.  My name is Elizabeth, it comes from Hebrew and means "consecrated to God."  Elizabeth was the sister of Mary (Jesus' mother, her real name was Miriam).  When the New Testament was translated into Greek, they "grecianized" many of the names.  I've never been able to find out what Elizabeth's real name was.  You can tell it comes from Hebrew, with the prefix _el_ and suffix _beth_, but I don't know if the entire name is actually Hebrew, or was it "grecianized" also? 

Thanks!


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## Macnas

"Elizabeth" is Grecianized ("Elissabet" in Biblical Greek), but comes from the Hebrew name אלישבע _Elisheva_. According to my dictionary, it means something like "I swear by my God" or "My God is my sustenance".

I'm not sure where the -t came from in the Greek, nor why it became -th in English (since it was tau, not theta).


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## Blumengarten

Thank you so much!  I've been asking Jewish friends this question for about 25 years and now I finally have the answer!  Thanks!


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## eli-milqo

Hello !

I don't think that elizabeth means "elishaba" I think it is " elissabath" , it is from Aramaic origin I think...and untill now in Syriac it is "elissabath"...and also usually when words come from old semetic langauges and get transliterated to latin ...the letter Ssadi "tzadi" is transliterated to "z" like " jesus nazaremus" is " yeshoa hanossri" in hebrew or " yeshoa nossroyo" in Aramaic.... the conclusion since it is "elissabath" in Syriac and since the Ssadi is usually transliterated to "z" in Latin and such biblical names in English are usually coming from latin I think that it is Elissabath....but what does this mean...!!! I don't really know... but it might be something like :

El -god
Yessabath : I don't know what does this mean if it what a verb really ...but this form of verbs exists in Aramaic " YefaAal" and in modern syriac it is "NfaAal"....
thanks!


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## Blumengarten

And I thank you, too, Eli-Milqo!  Now I've got a couple options.  Someday I'd like to learn Hebrew too, but for now I'll study my French & German.  

I really appreciate everybody's responses!


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## Nunty

And yet another opinion, or a confirmation. In the Hebrew translations of the New Testament, Elizabeth is given as אלישבע, Elisheva.

I have also seen some baby name books in the US give another derivation for Elizabeth: אלי צבאות, Eli tzavaot, my God of hosts. I don't know if that is attested anywhere or where they get it from.


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## Blumengarten

Nun-Translator said:


> I have also seen some baby name books in the US give another derivation for Elizabeth: ??? ?????, Eli tzavaot, my God of hosts.



Thanks, Nun, I've always heard that my name means "Consecrated to God" or "Oath of God."  If Elisheva is what you've seen in Hebrew translations of the NT, that's probably closest to the original Aramaic.

Again I want to thank everybody for clearing up my life-long question.  I can't believe how many people are so helpful on this forum.  I'm so glad I happened to find it!


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## eli-milqo

thanks to you all participating in this issue  
another opinion :

I yesterday found in my dictionaries that the verb : Ssbath in Aramaic that it might be Ssavath "Tzavath" in hebrew means to hold something tight so the meaning might be :

Eli - my god 
Ssavath "tzavath" - held tight ---> my god has held me tight or my god is holding me tight, and a third one might be "may god hold _me_tight".
what do you think?
thanks


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## Blumengarten

eli-milqo said:


> Eli - my god
> Ssavath "tzavath" - held tight ---> my god has held me tight or my god is holding me tight, and a third one might be "may god hold _me_tight".
> what do you think?
> thanks



I think that sounds very close to the English version!  I (not knowing any Hebrew) had always thought it might be a combination of Elisha + Beth (I don't know what Beth means but there are a two temples within a couple of blocks of my house named Beth Shalom & Beth El, so I'd thought that's where my name derived from.)  Your hypothesis fits both in meaning and in sound!  I am so very excited!


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