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Summary
- Linda is not in the Bible under any form. It has two roots: the Germanic element lind, “soft, flexible, tender,” also the name of the linden tree, and the Spanish and Portuguese word linda, “beautiful.”
- 1 Peter 3:3-4 joins both meanings in one verse: “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
- “Gentle and quiet” is not a prescription for timidity — the same letter tells its readers to be ready to give a reason for their hope to anyone who asks.
- The Greek carries the sense of a settled spirit rather than a suppressed one: strength that has stopped needing to prove itself.
- Lind meant flexible as much as soft — bending under force instead of snapping. “A bruised reed he will not break” (Isaiah 42:3).
Bibliography (Click to show)
Sources: Behind the Name entry for Linda (Germanic element lind, “soft, flexible, tender”, Proto-Germanic *linþaz; coincides with Spanish and Portuguese linda, “beautiful”); Scripture quotations from the NIV via BibleGateway (1 Peter 3:3-4; 1 Peter 3:15; Isaiah 42:3).
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