Christian Pure

Laura Is Not in the Bible — It Means “Laurel”

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Laura is not in the Bible and has no Hebrew form. It is Latin, from laurus, the laurel — the evergreen bay whose leaves were twisted into a victor’s wreath.
  • Paul describes that wreath exactly: athletes train “to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
  • Near his death he claims the other crown himself — “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
  • Psalm 1:3 offers the better image: not a cut wreath but a planted tree “whose leaf does not wither,” evergreen because of where it stands.
  • Saint Laura of Córdoba, a ninth-century widow, nun and abbess, was martyred by the Moors at about seventy.

Laura is not in the Bible. It is Latin — from laurus, the laurel — and the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek by people who had no reason to reach for a Roman word for a tree. But of all the names that are not in Scripture, this one comes closest to walking in. Because Paul knew exactly what a laurel was, and he had something to say about it. What does the name Laura mean? Laurel.…

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Bibliography (Click to show)

Sources: Behind the Name entry for Laura (Latin laurus, “laurel”; Saint Laura of Córdoba; Petrarch’s Laura); Scripture quotations from the NIV via BibleGateway (1 Corinthians 9:24-25; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; Psalm 1:3).

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