Calcol
1:
CALCOL (PERSON) [Heb kalkōl (כַּלְכֹּל)]. A man from Judah, he was the son of Zerah, whom Tamar conceived by her father-in-law Judah (1 Chr 2:4, 6). In 1 Kgs 5:11—Eng 4:31, Calcol is identified as one of the sons of Mahol. Mahol should not be understood as a proper name but, as Albright (ARI, 123) and de Vaux (AncIsr, 382) have suggested, the title of a guild of musicians, “sons of the choir.” See DARA.
Calcol was one of the four wise men whom Solomon excelled in wisdom. According to Albright (ARI, 123) the name Calcol appears as Kulkul in several inscribed ivories found at Megiddo. According to these inscriptions, written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, which have been dated in the 13th century b.c., Kulkul was the name of a female singer of the god Ptah in the Canaanite city of Aijalon (Loud 1939: 11–13). According to Albright, Calcol was the name of a flower or plant. In the ANE that name was applied to musicians.
Bibliography
Loud, G. 1939. The Megiddo Ivories. Chicago.
Claude F. Mariottini
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1:808). New York: Doubleday.
2:
Calcol — (1 Chr. 2:6), sustenance, the same probably as Chalcol (1 Kings 4:31), one of the four sages whom Solomon excelled in wisdom; for “he was wiser than all men.”
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3:
CALCOL One of Mahol’s three sons and a member of Judah’s tribe (1 Kgs 4:31, kjv “Chalcol”; 1 Chr 2:6). He and his brothers were noted for their wisdom and musical abilities.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (249). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
4:
CAL´COL (kalʹkol). One of the four sons of Mahol, who were famous for their wisdom before the time of Solomon (1 Kings 4:31), before 960 b.c. In 1 Chron. 2:6 he and his brothers are given as the sons of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
5:
Calcol (Heb. kalkōl)
1. The grandson of Judah by his daughter-in-law Tamar and their son Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6).
2. One of the sons of Mahol, which was probably the name of a guild of musicians. 1 Kgs. 4:31 (MT 5:11) compares Solomon favorably to Calcol, one of the four wisest men of his day.
Paul L. Redditt
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (210). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
