Bible Word Study
מְחִיר
Mᵉchîyr · Mechir, an Israelite
מְחִיר
Mechir, an Israelite
Definition
Mechir (מְחִיר) is a proper noun referring to an Israelite man mentioned in the genealogical records of the tribe of Judah. He is identified as the son of Chelub and the father of Eshton in 1 Chronicles 4:11. The name itself is identical to the common Hebrew noun for 'price' or 'payment' (H4242), but in this context, it functions solely as a personal name. There are no other major senses or meanings for this word in the biblical text, as it appears only this one time as the name of an individual.
Biblical Usage
The word is used only once in the Old Testament, in 1 Chronicles 4:11, within a list of Judah's descendants. It functions strictly as a personal name in this genealogical context, with no narrative or descriptive usage elsewhere in Scripture.
Etymology
The name Mechir is derived from the identical Hebrew common noun מְחִיר (mᵉchîyr, H4242), which means 'price,' 'hire,' or 'payment.' It shares the same root (מ־ח־ר) as the verb 'to hire' or 'to acquire by payment.' As a personal name, it likely carried the symbolic meaning of 'purchased' or 'valuable,' reflecting a common ancient practice of using meaningful words for names.
Semantic Range
In ancient Israelite culture, names were often significant and descriptive, derived from common words that conveyed a characteristic, hope, or circumstance. Naming a child 'Mechir' ('price') may have reflected concepts of value, redemption, or a transaction, perhaps expressing gratitude to God or acknowledging a child as a precious gift. Its use in a genealogy underscores the importance of lineage and identity within the tribe of Judah. None applicable for a proper noun.
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]