I know we've talked about the meaning behind names before - and how that continues today. But, really - I think it's a bit of a stretch to attribute some of these meanings to the names of the tribes. I wouldn't mind being named "honor" (Zebulun), but to be called "my hire" after a night of bargaining fertility-inducing mandrakes (Issachar) is a little weird. I think the attempts of the later authors to explain why the tribes are named the way they are may have stretched a bit far in some of these cases.
"Kelly" was chosen simply because it went well with my previous name "O'Neill" - But names are have always been more important in Marcus's family. Rose is named after Marcus's grandmother. And Marcus and his dad both have the middle name "Christian", so Rose's middle name is Christina. Benjamin was named after the 12th son of Jacob. And his middle name is Neill - since I have no brothers (but it's not like we were really afraid of the name O'Neill dying out - any more than Hansen is likely to). Strangely, I've spent my entire life with basic last names that are constantly misspelled.
As an aside, most people in New England have read The Red Tent by now, but if you haven't, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's the story of what might have happened to Dinah. By Anita Diamant.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment