Bible Word Study
חַרְנֶפֶר
Charnepher · Charnepher, an Israelite
חַרְנֶפֶר
Charnepher, an Israelite
Definition
Charnepher is a proper name of an Israelite man, appearing only once in the Old Testament. He is listed as one of the sons of Zophah, a descendant of Asher, in a genealogical record (1 Chronicles 7:36). As a personal name, it carries no other semantic meaning or different senses in the biblical text. The name's significance is purely genealogical, identifying an individual within the tribe of Asher.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively in 1 Chronicles 7:36 within a genealogical list of the tribe of Asher. It functions solely as a proper noun to name a specific individual, the son of Zophah. There are no patterns of usage, contextual variations, or appearances in other books.
Etymology
The etymology of חַרְנֶפֶר (Charnepher) is uncertain, as noted by most lexicons. It does not derive from a clear Hebrew root, suggesting it may be a name of foreign or archaic origin. Some scholars propose it could be a compound name, but no consensus exists on its original meaning or derivation.
Semantic Range
As a personal name from the tribe of Asher, it reflects the Israelite practice of recording detailed genealogies to preserve tribal lineage, inheritance rights, and identity. The name itself, while its meaning is lost, represents an individual counted among God's covenant people.
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]