And there he found a certain man,.... In a house in that city, into which he entered:named Aeneas; which is a Gentile name, and so might the person be; though there is mention made of this name among the Jews.
We read of one R. Samuel Bar, ayyna "Aenea, or Aeneas" ; but it was more common among the Greeks. Aeneas the Trojan is well known in history, who, after the destruction of Troy, went into Italy, and settled there; and from him the Trojans are sometimes called Aeneadae.
The name comes from the Greek word ainw, "ainoo", which signifies "to praise"; and Aeneas is one "worthy of praise": though Jerom takes it to be an Hebrew name, which he interprets "one that answers", or a "poor man", or "misery"; as if it came from the Hebrew word hne, "anah", which signifies "to answer, or to afflict".
Which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy; so that the distemper was grown stubborn, and thought incurable; nor perhaps had he, or his friends, any hope of his ever being restored to health again.
T. Hieros. Yebamot, fol. 6. 2. & Midrash Kohelet, fol. 73. 3. De Nominibus Hebraicis, fol. 105.