What comfort, man? How is it with aged Gaunt? _Gaunt._ Oh, how that name befits my composition! Old Gaunt indeed, and _gaunt_ in being old! With this may be compared Falstaff's remark in _2 King Henry IV_, Act 3, Scene 2, where he says:—“I told you John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you might have thrust him and all his apparel into an eel-skin.” In Greek literature, too, several names occur which are even more striking, inasmuch as they foreshadow the future fate, and sometimes also the mental or physical disposition of their bearers^[43-1]. Similarly, certain Hebrew proper names are found in the Old Testament, which are attended with peculiar significance. So, for instance, in the name of the first man _Adam_ (‪אדם‬, from ‪אדמה‬, “the earth”), the final destiny of man seems to have been predicted. At a subsequent period in Adam's life, this hidden allusion to his future fate is made even more clear by the words: “For _dust_ art thou, and unto _dust_ shalt thou return” (Gen. iii. 19). Something similar is noticeable in connexion with the first woman, _Eve_. She was first called _Ish-shah_ (‪אשה‬, from ‪איש‬) “because she was taken out of man,” but subsequently, after she had tasted of the “tree of knowledge,” her name was changed into ‪חוה‬ = “Eve” (from ‪חיה‬, “living”), which is evidently a name showing that she was destined to become “the mother of all living.” In the name of one of her sons, _Abel_ (‪הבל‬, signifying “breath” or “nothingness”), a prophetic prediction of his brief life seems to have been expressed; and the names of the descendants of her second son _Cain_, viz. _Jabal_, _Jubal_, and _Tubal_ (‪יבל‬, ‪יובל‬, ‪תובל‬), indicated their respective occupations after reaching manhood. At a later period in Biblical times, we meet with the names _Noah_ (‪נח‬, meaning “rest” or “comfort”), _Abram_ (‪אברם‬, “the exalted father”), and _Sarah_ (‪שרה‬, “the princess”), and it is interesting to notice how these names foretold the future fate of their owners. There are three more proper names in the Pentateuch, which belong to the same category, viz. _Korah_, _Balaam_, and _Balak_. _Kerah_ signifies in the original Hebrew “coldness,” exemplified by his apathy to divine ordinances, when he brought about a rebellion against the authority of Moses. It has also another meaning in Hebrew, viz. “baldness,” and it is curious to observe that it gave some ardent followers of the Church of Rome a ready handle with which to banter Calvin (Lat. _Calvus_, _Calvinus_ = “bald”) as being homonymous with his predecessor (‪קרח‬) in schism (cf. Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, sub _Korah_).