Jewish
Most characters in the Bible are referred to with a patronymic. However, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel - the sons of Zeruiah, sister or stepsister of King David - are invariably referred to as "Sons of Zeruiah" and the name of their father remains unknown. Also the Biblical Judge Shamgar is referred to with the matronymic "Son of Anat".
There are indications of a Jewish history of matronymic names. Specifically, in East European Jewish society, there appeared various Matronymic family names such as Rivlin (from Rivka/Rebecca), Sorkin (from Sarah), Zeitlin (from Zeitl), Rochlin (from Rachel) and others.
Read more about this topic: Matronymic
Famous quotes containing the word jewish:
“It gives me the greatest pleasure to say, as I do from the bottom of my heart, that never in the history of the country, in any crisis and under any conditions, have our Jewish fellow citizens failed to live up to the highest standards of citizenship and patriotism.”
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