Some claim that Jebediah is a Hebrew name.
Is it a Jewish name?
Either way; what does/would it mean, and how is it/would it be spelled and pronounced in Hebrew?
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3I can't demonstrate it dispositively, but I'm pretty sure that "Jebediah" is just a corruption of "Jedediah" (with two 'd's), which is an Anglicization of the Hebrew name "ידידיה."– Isaac Moses ♦Commented Jun 26, 2014 at 18:08
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1Can you elaborate on this "some"?– Double AA ♦Commented Jun 26, 2014 at 18:23
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@DoubleAA OK?– AdámCommented Jun 26, 2014 at 18:26
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Could it be some corruption of Ovadiah?– Noach MiFrankfurtCommented Jun 26, 2014 at 20:10
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1 Answer
Looking at several baby naming websites, you will find that Isaac is correct. The meaning given to the English name Jebediah is given as "Friend of the Lord," or in Hebrew ידיד י-ה.
Even the sites that do not source it as a variant of Jedediah explain its meaning this way - see here.
Regarding Jebediah being its own term, Malbim does not have such a word as יבד, nor does the Etymological Dictionary based on R' Hirsch (sorry, I don't see an online copy that goes that far into the book). The word does not appear in Tanach, although I only checked for the three letter shoresh. Thus, "Jebediah" appears to not be a Jewish name.
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@NBZ see edit. לא ראינו אינו ראיה but those are pretty solid indicators, I think.– Y e zCommented Jun 26, 2014 at 19:30
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