בְּאֵרָא
Beera, an Israelite
Definition
Beera is a proper name meaning 'well' or 'spring', given to an Israelite man from the tribe of Asher. He is listed as a son of Zophah and is mentioned only in the genealogical record of 1 Chronicles 7:37. As a name derived from the common noun for a well, it likely carried positive connotations of life, sustenance, and blessing. In the biblical context, personal names often reflected character, parental hopes, or circumstances, though no specific narrative about this individual is provided.
Biblical Usage
The name Beera is used exactly once in the Old Testament, within a genealogical list in 1 Chronicles 7:37. It appears in the context of chronicling the descendants of Asher, specifically among the 'heads of their fathers' houses, choice mighty men, chiefs of the princes' (1 Chronicles 7:40). Its usage is purely onomastic, serving to identify an individual within a tribal lineage without any accompanying narrative story.
Etymology
Beera (בְּאֵרָא) is a proper noun directly derived from the common Hebrew noun be'er (בְּאֵר, H875), meaning 'a well' or 'pit for water'. The final 'aleph' (א) likely functions as a nominal ending for a personal name. It is related to the verb ba'ar (בָּעַר, H1197), meaning 'to burn' or 'to consume', but the connection to 'well' is through the concept of a dug-out pit. Cognate words exist in other Semitic languages, like Arabic bi'r, also meaning 'well'.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names were significant and often descriptive. A name like Beera ('well') would evoke the vital importance of water sources in the arid Near East. Wells were centers of community life, symbols of provision, and sometimes sites of covenant-making (e.g., Genesis 21:30-31, Genesis 26:18-33). Bestowing such a name may have expressed a hope for the child to be a source of blessing or sustenance to his family or tribe, reflecting a common naming practice.
be'er (בְּאֵר, H875) — the common noun for 'well' or 'spring' from which the name is derived. ayin (עַיִן, H5869) — another word for 'spring' or 'fountain', often a natural water source as opposed to a dug well. ma'yan (מַעְיָן, H4599) — a spring or fountain, emphasizing a flowing source of water.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
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