Who was Beeri in the Bible?

Beeri was a Hittite man known primarily as the father of Judith, who became one of the wives of Esau, the son of Isaac and Rebekah. He is mentioned in Genesis 26:34 as part of the lineage connected to Esau's marriages.

Why is Beeri the Hittite significant?

Beeri's significance lies in his daughter's marriage to Esau, which caused grief to his parents Isaac and Rebekah because Esau married outside of their people. This event is recorded in Genesis 26:34-35 as an example of Esau's disregard for his family's covenant heritage.

What does the Bible say about Beeri's life?

The Bible provides very few details about Beeri's own life; he is only identified by his ethnicity (Hittite) and his role as Judith's father. His mention serves to highlight the cultural and spiritual tensions created by Esau's choice of wives from Canaanite tribes.

Beeri

Old TestamentPatriarchsMaleWifeFather

Beeri the Hittite was the father of Judith, one of Esau's wives.

Beeri

Biography

Beeri the Hittite was the father of Judith, one of two Hittite women whom Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, took as wives (Genesis 26:34). The marriage took place when Esau was forty years old, and Genesis records that Judith, along with Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite, became 'a grief of mind' to Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26:35). This parental grief signals the theological problem of Esau's choices: by marrying outside the covenant lineage and into Canaanite families, he demonstrated his disregard for the spiritual priorities of the patriarchal household. Beeri himself receives no further mention in Scripture and remains known solely through his daughter's marriage to Esau, but his Hittite identity places him among the indigenous peoples of Canaan during the patriarchal era.

Significance

Beeri the Hittite holds indirect theological significance through his daughter Judith's marriage to Esau. This union contributed to the growing contrast between Esau and Jacob in the Genesis narrative, Esau prioritizing immediate cultural assimilation while Jacob, guided by Isaac and Rebekah, would later marry within the covenant family. The Hittite intermarriages of Esau foreshadow the later Mosaic prohibition against marrying Canaanite peoples (Deuteronomy 7:3-4), grounded in the concern that such unions would draw Israel away from covenant faithfulness. Beeri's unknowing role in this story illustrates how the choices of ordinary people become threads in the larger narrative of covenant promise and its preservation.

Verse Appearances (1)

Genesis

Genesis 26:34

References

Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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