Jidlaph is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Jidlaph was one of the sons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham. He appears only once in the King James Bible, in a genealogy recorded in Genesis 22:22. That passage lists the children born to Nahor and his wife Milcah: “And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” Jidlaph is the fourth of these eight sons named in the verse, standing between Pildash and Bethuel.
The setting of this genealogy is significant within the Abraham narrative. Genesis 22 opens with the account of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, and the chapter closes by returning to Abraham’s extended family back in the region of Haran. The list of Nahor’s sons is given as a bridge, connecting Abraham’s line to the wider family from which a wife would later be sought for Isaac. Bethuel, Jidlaph’s brother, would become the father of Rebekah, who became Isaac’s wife. Jidlaph himself, however, is not mentioned again anywhere in Scripture.
Scripture says nothing further of Jidlaph’s life, character, or deeds. He is simply one name in a family record, a single verse preserving his place among Nahor’s descendants. The Bible offers no account of what he did or how he lived. His inclusion in the genealogy is the whole of what is revealed about him, and that is enough to mark him as a member of the family through whom God’s purposes would continue to unfold.
The Name
The name Jidlaph (Hebrew *Yidlaph*) is of uncertain meaning. Suggested derivations have been offered—some connecting it to a root related to weeping or to a word for a drop—but no meaning is clearly established, and scholars do not agree. Because the etymology is not reliably recoverable, it is best to say plainly that the meaning of this name is unknown rather than to assign it a definition the text does not support.
A Closing Thought
Most of us will never be remembered by multitudes. Jidlaph’s entire legacy in Scripture is a single mention in a list of names. Yet that name was written down, preserved across centuries, and read aloud in the story of God’s faithfulness to Abraham’s family. There is quiet comfort here. A life does not have to be famous to be held by God. He knows the ones the world forgets, and He weaves even the unnoticed into His purposes. Faithfulness in obscurity is still faithfulness, and it is never lost to the One who keeps every name.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Genesis 22:22 — And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.