WH 215

Interpretation

Commentary: If this is indeed a name, it is previously unattested in Safaitic. The word lends itself to many interpretations. One is tempted to connect the first component to Hebrew and Aramaic ḥāzā, "to see", but the occurrence of Arabic ḥazā "to see with inner vision, of an astrologer", complicates the matter, as Safaitic ḫ does not correspond regularly with Arabic ḥ. Given the root's restricted sense in Arabic, however, it could very well be a borrowing from Aramaic, which could explain the aberrant correspondence. The final two letters could be the theophoric element yāhū. Indeed, names such as ḥazāyā (Neh 11:5); ḥazīʾel (2 Kings 8:8,13,16) etc. occur in the Bible. The derivation of a putative ḥzwy is difficult to explain. The y may be dittography, in which case, ḫzw could be a suffix conjugation verb or a participle.

Winnett, F.V. & Harding, G.L. Inscriptions from Fifty Safaitic Cairns. (Near and Middle East Series, 9). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.