Ok, this one is really confusing. I have been using two works by “Jastrow,” thinking they were the same guy. But, lo and behold, they are a father-and-son duo. Marcus Jastrow was a Talmudic scholar who wrote a great dictionary of rabbinic sources, this is a must-have for students of Hebrew and Aramaic. Marcus’ son is Morris Jastrow, Jr. who wrote a commentary on Song of Songs, which I have been reading. The confusing part is why Morris gets the “Jr.” appellation when his father’s name is “Marcus.” There must be some naming conventions that I don’t know about. Maybe he was named after his grandfather? Or maybe the family thought that “Marcus” sounded too antiquated, so they named the baby “Morris” yet still after his father? Or maybe they thought that “Morris” was etymologically related to “Marcus”?
Catholic Bible Student – A Blog About the Bible, Catholicism and the Habit of Study
A Blog About the Bible, Catholicism and the Habit of Study
Morris was originally Moritz in the Mannheim, Germany Family Register which was also the name of a brother of his father, Marcus. Marcus”s middle name is Mordicai which has been changed to Morris by some who immigrated to America. Marcus’s sister Rebecca is my husband’s second great-grandmother.
@Alice: Thanks for your input! So it sounds like baby “Morris” was either named after his uncle “Moritz” or after his father’s middle name “Mordicai/Morris.” Confusing!