presents so much difficulty, that I fear such a derivation as W.G.H. wishes to obtain for the name is not practicable by any known etymology. Nothing that I am aware of, either in Hebrew, Syriac, or Arabic, will help us. The nearest verb that I can find is the Chaldee
אֲזָא
, signifying, "to light a fire," parts of which occur two or three times in Dan. iii.; but I fear it would be too daring a conjecture to interpret the name quem Belus accendit on the strength of that verb's existence. At present I feel myself obliged to take the advice of Winer, in his Lexicon, "Satius est ignorantiam fateri quam argutari."
"Nominis origo (he says) non liquet. Sunt qui interpretentur non stercus, Coll. 2 Reg. ix. 27., ineptè.
Simonis in Onom. dictum putat Ino
נְאִי זֶבֶל
, mansio habitationis (habitatio tectissima); Gesenius cui nemo concubuit, Coll.
זבל
, Gen. xxx. 20. Sed satius," &c.
Admitting that Hasdrubal is, in fact