בְּנֵי־בְּרַק
sons of lightning, Bene-berak, a place in Palestine
Definition
בְּנֵי־בְּרַק (Bene-berak) is a proper noun referring to a specific location in ancient Israel. It is the name of a city within the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan, as recorded in Joshua 19:45. The name itself is a compound phrase meaning 'sons of lightning' or 'children of lightning,' which likely served as a descriptive or symbolic identifier for the place. In the biblical record, it appears solely as a geographical marker within a list of Danite cities, with no further narrative events attached to it.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the entire Old Testament, in Joshua 19:45, within a detailed inventory of the cities inherited by the tribe of Dan. Its usage is strictly geographical and administrative, functioning as a place name in a boundary list. There are no narrative stories, prophetic references, or poetic uses associated with Bene-berak in the biblical text.
Etymology
The name is a compound construct phrase built from two Hebrew roots. The first part, בְּנֵי (bᵉnêy), is the plural construct form of בֵּן (H1121, bēn), meaning 'son' or 'child.' The second part, בְּרַק (bᵉraq), comes from the root בָּרָק (H1300, bārāq), meaning 'lightning' or 'flash.' Thus, the name translates literally as 'sons of lightning.' Such compound place names were common in the ancient Near East, often reflecting a characteristic of the location, its founders, or a local deity.
Semantic Range
Place names in ancient Israel often held descriptive or symbolic meaning, reflecting physical features, historical events, or tribal associations. A name meaning 'sons of lightning' might suggest a place known for swiftness, brilliance, or perhaps even a connection to storm phenomena, which were sometimes associated with divine manifestations in Canaanite and Israelite thought (e.g., Psalm 18:14). However, for Bene-berak, the specific cultural reason for the name is lost to history, and the Bible provides no explanatory narrative.
No direct synonyms exist as it is a unique proper name. Geographically, it is one among many Danite cities like יָפוֹ (Yāp̄ô, H3305 — Joppa) and אֶלְתְּקֵא (’Eltᵉqē, H514 — Eltekeh).
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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