Book excerpt: ORIGIN OF THE NAME BARTHOLOMEW. Bartholomew is the English form of the Syriac name of the apostle Bartholmai, which is derived from Bar, the Syriac term, as Ben is the Hebrew, for son; see Psalms ii, 12, translated "Kim the Son;" and Tholmai or Talmai (the same in Hebrew) is often found in the Old Testament, see Numbers xiii, 22; Joshua xv, 14; 2 Samuel iii, 3 and Chronicles xiii, 37, as Talmai. Its signification is "furrowed" from a Hebrew root meaning "to furrow" or "cut." The process by which Bartholmai or Bartalmai in Hebrew becomes Bartholomew in English, is through the regular Greek and Latin forms Bartholonmeos and Bartholommus, the second o being an intercalation, thence possibly through the French. The Latin ae being treated as a simple ē, as in all the other Romance languages.