Melissa Is Not in the Bible — but Deborah Means the Same Thing

19 9 月, 2026

摘要

Melissa is not in the Bible, but it means “bee” in Greek — and Deborah is the Hebrew word for bee.
Deborah was “a prophet… leading Israel at that time”, holding court under a named palm while the nation came to her for judgement (Judges 4:4-5). Scripture reports this without explanation or apology.
When she summoned Barak with God’s instruction, he answered “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”
She went, and told him the honour would go to a woman. It went to Jael.
Her song is among the oldest passages in Scripture, and she calls herself “a mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7) — a description of authority rather than a domestic diminishment.

Melissa is not in the Bible — but the word it translates is. Melissa means bee in Greek, and there is a woman in Scripture whose name means exactly the same thing in Hebrew. She is Deborah, and she is one of the most extraordinary figures in the Old Testament. What does the name Melissa mean? Bee. The Greek μέλισσα, plainly and without ornament. It was used of nymphs and priestesses in the old stories, and it entered English as…

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参考书目（点击显示）

Sources: Behind the Name entry for Melissa (Greek μέλισσα, “bee”); Scripture quotations from the NIV via BibleGateway (Judges 4:4-9; Judges 4:17-22; Judges 5:7). The Hebrew name Deborah, דְּבוֹרָה, is the ordinary word for a bee.

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Melissa Is Not in the Bible — but Deborah Means the Same Thing

摘要

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