MIRIAM: WHAT'S IN A NAME?

 Names were very important to those living in biblical times and often carry more information than meets the eye. For example, Miriam appears in the book of Exodus as Moses' older sister, and including their brother Aaron the three of them were the leaders of the Israelites as they fled from Egypt. But the origin of the name Miriam is shrouded in mystery.

Branch says that her name “perhaps means 'wish' or may come from the Egyptian word mr for love.” However, after her rebellion against Moses resulted in her temporarily contracting leprosy, “Miriam's name evidently became associated with punishment and leprosy (see Deuteronomy 24:9). Her name can also mean 'bitterness' for it resembles the Hebrew word for bitterness.” Smalley expresses his strong doubt that “love” or “beloved” is the proper etymology.

It turns out that words derived from mar (“bitter”) are found especially in the Pentateuch in passages such as Genesis 26:35; 37:34; Exodus 1:14; 12:8; 15:23,25; 23:21; Numbers 5:18-27; and Deuteronomy 32:24.

A short article in “Biblical Archaeology Today” (Fall 2023) also weighs in with additional information concerning the origin of the name: “The biblical Hebrew name likely combines the Egyptian verb mrj (to love) with the Semitic theophoric element yam (sea), possibly referencing the Canaanite sea god, Yamm. The particular verbal forms 'beloved' (passive participle) and 'loving' (active participle, albeit both without the feminine ending, t) produce the meanings 'Beloved of Yamm' and 'Lover of Yamm.” But it is also conceivable that the name Miryam comes solely from an Egyptian noun of agent mr 'the one who loves', reformulated into Northwest Semitic. A different etymology links the name to the identically spelled phrase 'their rebellion' (miryam) found in Nehemiah 9:12. In the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) and the NT, the name is spelled Mariam and Maria.”

That brings us up to the New Testament, by which time the name Mary (or its variations just mentioned) had become more common, witness Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Smalley notes that for the latter personage, the manuscripts are divided between spelling it as Mariam or Maria.

Raymond Brown has the following to say on the subject: “Since Mariam is closer to Masoretic Heb. Miryam, some have proposed [in John 20:16] that John portrays Jesus as speaking to Mary 'in Hebrew' [i.e. in Aramaic]...The whole theory is dubious on a number of scores.” The two major problems are as follows:

    1. Mariam is probably to be read also in John 20:18, which is not a direct speech.

    2. The original Hebrew form in consonants only was Mrym. However, by the 1^st cent. AD Mryh also appears in inscriptions so that Maria might be “an informal designation for women named Maryam from the Aramaic rather than from the Hebrew Miryam.”

Returning back to the OT usage, the BAR article notes some hidden puns in the text: “The unvocalized written form of the name [i.e. containing no vowels] – which is how the Hebrew Bible circulated before vocalization marks were added in the ninth century CE – offers several interesting wordplays in the books of Exodus and Numbers, where during their desert wanderings the Israelites rebel against their leaders. In Numbers 20:10 some scholars see the prophet's name echoed in the word 'water' (mayim), while the word 'rebels' (morim”) and the name 'Miriam' appeared identical in the pre-Masoretic text. In Exodus 15:22-23, following Miriam's victory song, her name may echo in the words 'days' (yamim), 'water' (mayim), and Marah (marah), while the word 'bitter' (marim), again, looked identical in the unvocalized text.”

So you can see that where the Bible is concerned, often the answer to “What's in a name?” is “A lot.”