Once, while reading somebody’s old blog post about Kolob–as I do from time to time–I noticed a footnote that peaked my interest. The author of the blog post mentioned that once he peer reviewed a paper whose writer believed that the word Kolob derives from the Hebrew kol ab, which means “every father.” He then proceeded to say he wasn’t going to discuss that angle any further since he found it “incoherent”.
So let’s discuss it here.
You see, my theory is that Kolob is dead, having long ago collapsed into a supernova or a black hole. I think Kolob’s death put the star in a position to either provide the atoms from which we are made or to rule the galaxy as the supermassive black hole (SMBH) in its center. You can read my theory here, where I have 21 points of evidence that support this view.
Today I’m adding my 22nd point of evidence to support this theory, and it has to do with kol ab. Please note that I know next to nothing about Hebrew and how it works, so if what I propose below is impossible based on the rules of Hebrew, please let me know. I would be curious to know the thoughts of any linguists out there about this.
#22. Kol ab means “every father”, or “father of everything”
“I read a draft of a paper as a peer reviewer once that took it for granted that Kolob derives from Hebrew kol ab, meaning ‘every father.’”
Kevin Barney, By Common Consent, 2006
At least one researcher has suggested that Kolob derives from kol ab, which is Hebrew for “every father”. I am not a Hebrew scholar, so I don’t know if this would work, but it feels like to me that kol ab could also mean the reverse: “father every”, or “father of everything.” Indeed, if you enter ab kol into Google Translate to go from Hebrew to English, it produces the translation “father of all”. Kol, according to Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, could mean all, the whole, everyone, or everything; and it could stem from the primitive root kalal, which means to complete or make perfect. The name Kolob could mean “father of everything”.
This etymology works well with the idea that Kolob was a Population III star, and that its death and supernova seeded the cosmos with elements that would later be used to make new stars, planets, and living things. Population III stars are, in a sense, the progenitors or ancestors of subsequent generations of stars and planets. You could say that they are the fathers of other stars and planets, because inside of their cores the atoms of those other stars and planets were originally forged. Kolob, as one of the first and one of the greatest stars in the universe, and the candidate star that may have started the Milky Way (see #9 here), could be the father of all celestial objects in our galaxy. It very well could be the father of the atoms that are in everything in our cosmic neighborhood, including even ourselves. The father of everything.
And, if Kolob is the SMBH at the heart of the Milky Way, then its title as a father still stands. All things in the galaxy revolve around this black hole at the center, and are, in a way, a big family. Why not call the governing body in the middle the “father of all”? In this position, Kolob keeps the galaxy together as any human father would keep his family together. Kolob is said to be a symbol of Christ (see #15 here), who Himself was called the “Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are” (Alma 11:39). As an ancient and possibly dead star, Kolob may be the father of the heavens we see and the earth on which we stand and all that they contain. Thus, viewing Kolob as a Population III star provides many ways to satisfy this suggestion for its etymology.
Conclusion
Sadly, I was unable to find this kol-ab-mentioning paper on the internet, and so I do not know its contents. But I’m grateful for the insight it contained to link Kolob with this etymology. Kolob remains as mysterious as ever, but it’s cool to think of it as the father star of other worlds, and even possibly the father star of many of the atoms currently inside you.
Sources and Notes
- For further information, please read my Kolob-as-a-Population-III-star theory, titled “Kolob Might Be Dead”.
- Footnote from the LDS blog By Common Consent, post titled “Kolob as Sirius”, by Kevin Barney on 18 Nov 2006. Full quote from footnote: “(1) I read a draft of a paper as a peer reviewer once that took it for granted that Kolob derives from Hebrew kol ab, meaning “every father.” I view this suggestion as incoherent, and so I have not undertaken to discuss it further here.”; https://bycommonconsent.com/2006/11/18/kolob-as-sirius/
- Google Translate Hebrew to English: https://www.google.com/search?q=hebew+to+english&rlz=1CAJPEZ_enUS829&oq=hebew+to+english&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.2816j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
- Kol definitions: http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=hebrewlexicon&isindex=kol
- Kalal definitions: http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=hebrewlexicon&isindex=kol
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