Obed-Edom - what it means

On Beefy's Google map, I offered a prize for who could guess the origin of the name I gave my house.

I had two submissions

From Kedi-Gato (love to know what THAT means!)

and from Paladin

Well, excluding the fact that I was hoping for the Biblical text, they are both right and both wrong.

1 Chronicles 7-14

They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.


David was afraid of God that day and asked, "How can I ever bring the ark of God to me?" He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the LORD blessed his household and everything he had.
Now King David was told, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David


But Obed-Edom had quite liked being in the presence of the Lord so, with his sons, he followed the Ark into Jerusalem, quite prepared to do anything in the temple, no matter how menial (note 'Temple porter' ) just so he could remain within the glory. We therefore find the following comments which show that all the Obed-Edoms mentioned above were, in fact, the same man. Remember, this was a successful businessman of some repute and all the jobs mentioned are very lowly, menial jobs, low down in the pecking order ...

- and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps
- Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be doorkeepers for the ark.
- Asaph was the chief, Zechariah second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps
He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.
- The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-Edom, and the lot for the storehouse fell to his sons.
- Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah .... at Beth Shemesh. Then Jehoash brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate—a section about six hundred feet long. He took all the gold and silver and all the articles found in the temple of God that had been in the care of Obed-Edom, together with the palace treasures and the hostages, and returned to Samaria.


When I first heard this story I was planning to move up from Essex to join a church in Sunderland and I quite related to the motives of Obed-Edom. And so that is how I came to choose that name for my house.




Bet you all found that riveting, didn't you!

 

:D Well I think me and K-D at the very least deserve a merit for effort Dasiees!:thumb:

 

Indeed you do! And I know you won't mind 'accepting' the prize which is that I have sent a donation to the Burma and China disaster funds on behalf of you both!

 

Oh, I thought I had said what my name means when I joined in August 2006. Just in case I didn't,

"Kedi" means "cat" in Turkish
"Gato" means "cat" in Spanish and Portuguese.

My avatar is our darling Gato, now in Cat Heaven. We brought him back from Portugal in July 1992, 2.735 kilometers in the car. He was good as gold the whole way, including the two overnight stops where we smuggled him up to our hotel room.

My signature is not Gato, but a similiar one that Sis found and put up for me.

Sorry to be hijacking your thread, Daisees, but you did ask.

 

Donations made ...

 

Thanks again, Daisees, that is very generous of you.

 

:thumb: Excellent Prize...Thank you Daisees ,very kind