is the practice of embedding the name of a god or a deity in, usually, a proper name. Much Hebrew theophory occurs in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. The most prominent theophory involves names referring to:
Levantine deities by the epithetbaal, meaning lord. In later times, as the conflict between Yahwism and the more popularpagan practices became increasingly intense, these names were censored and baal was replaced with bosheth, meaning "shame".
''El'' theophory
The following is an alphabetical list of names referring to El and their meanings in Hebrew:
False El theophory
The name Abel, which appears to refer to El, in fact is not an instance of theophory. Abel can be translated as "breath", "temporary" or "meaninglessness" and is the word translated as "vanity" in in the King James Version. The name Jael also appears to refer to El in English, but contains ayin rather than the aleph of El. The name Eli also appears to refer to El in English, but contains ayin rather than aleph. The name Rachel also appears to refer to El in English, but contains chet.
The following is an alphabetical list of names referring to Shaddai and their meanings in Hebrew:
Yah theophory
The following is an alphabetical list of names referring to Yah/Yahweh and their meanings in Hebrew:
Baal theophory
Ba'al is a generic term meaning master; it can also be translated "Lord". In the Bible, it is frequently a reference to Hadad, although it is sometimes used to refer to other specific deities, including Yahweh, and on other occasions is used to refer to an arbitrarylord of this area. The following is an alphabetical list of names referring Ba'al, and their meanings in Hebrew:
Bosheth
In later biblical and Jewish writing, some of the theophories in Ba'al were bowdlerised, with ba'al replaced by bosheth shameful :
was the name of a Phoenician deity worshiped in Canaan. In Hebrew, "tzedek" means "righteous". The following is an alphabetical list of names referring Zedek, and their meanings in Hebrew:
Hadad
Apart from oblique references to Hadad by means of the word ba'al, some theophory references him directly:
