Jared
by Brad Scott
One of the children of Mahalal'el, we assume he had more than one, was named Jared. This word in Hebrew comes from the verbal root yarad (ירד), and means to descend or as it is most commmonly translated "to go down". In its verbal root it means "he came/went down". This word is also commonly associated with death and mortality, as it is used to express going down to sheol.
Bere’shiyt (Genesis) 37:35And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Yechezeq’el (Ezekiel) 26:20When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 14:15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
It is also sometimes used to express leaving the land of Israel as opposed to going up ('aliyah) to the land.
Devariym (Deuteronomy) 10:22Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now YHVH thy ’Elohiym hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
Zekareyah (Zechariah) 14:17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up ['aliyah] of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, YHVH of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
It may not be a coincidence that Mahalal'el, the 5th son, means the blessed or praised of God, and that Jared, the 6th son, means to go or come down and is associated with death. If my memory serves me correctly, it seems that Yochanan the apostle reveals to us someone who came down in the likeness of men to die for us. Hmmmm.
The next word is Enoch.
Shalom Alecheim! ◊