Bible Word Study
בֶּן־גֶּבֶר
Ben-Geber · Ben-Geber, an Israelite
בֶּן־גֶּבֶר
Ben-Geber, an Israelite
Definition
Ben-Geber is a Hebrew proper name meaning 'son of Geber' or 'son of the hero.' It refers to a specific Israelite official appointed by King Solomon to oversee a regional district. His sole biblical appearance is in 1 Kings 4:13, where he is listed as one of Solomon's twelve district governors responsible for providing provisions for the royal household. The name itself is a patronymic, identifying him primarily through his father, Geber. There are no other biblical senses or meanings for this specific name.
Biblical Usage
The name Ben-Geber is used only once in the Old Testament, in 1 Kings 4:13. It appears in the administrative list of King Solomon's twelve district officers. The context is purely governmental, detailing the officials responsible for supplying the king's court. There are no patterns of usage, as it is a unique personal name tied to this specific historical record.
Etymology
The name is a compound of two Hebrew words: בֵּן (ben, H1121), meaning 'son,' and גֶּבֶר (geber, H1397), meaning 'man,' 'strong man,' or 'hero.' It is a straightforward patronymic construction, literally 'son of Geber.' The root גֶּבֶר (geber) often implies a man of strength or maturity, distinguishing it from more general terms for 'man' like אִישׁ (ish).
Semantic Range
The name reflects the common ancient Near Eastern practice of using patronymics (identifying a person as 'son of' their father). This was a primary means of identification. Ben-Geber's role as a district governor highlights the administrative structure of Solomon's united monarchy, which organized the kingdom into tax districts to support the centralized government and royal projects, a practice seen in other contemporary kingdoms. Ben-Deker (H1127) — Another of Solomon's district governors, also using the patronymic 'son of' construction. Ben-Hesed (H1127) — Another of Solomon's district governors, sharing the same administrative context and naming pattern.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]