Benaiah ( he, בניה, "

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately fr ...

builds up") is a common name in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

Etymology

In the

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

of the name, the first part of Benaiah comes from the root-verb בנה (bana), which is a common

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

verb meaning "to build". The second part of Benaiah is יה (Yah), which is not a derivative of the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are '' yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', an ...

, but a contraction of it (ie, the first and last consonants of יהוה are contracted as יה).

Benaiah, son of Jehoiada

The most famous Benaiah in the Bible is the son of Jehoiada, who came from the southern Judean town of Kabzeel. Benaiah was one of King David’s mighty men, commander of the 3rd rotational army division; (; ). He helped David's son Solomon become king, killed Solomon's enemies, and served as the chief of Solomon's army. On Solomon's instructions he was responsible for the deaths of Adonijah (), Joab () and Shimei (). He was in charge of the Cherethites and Pelethites. Several verses in make clear that Benaiah was closely associated with Solomon's party and excluded from Adonijah's faction., , , , , and He is also mentioned in , , and . Benaiah by William Etty YORAG 70

Other Benaiahs

Other Benaiahs of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

are: *Another of David's mighty men, an Ephraimite from Pirathon, commander of the 11th rotational army division (1 Chr. 11:31, 1 Chr. 27:14, 2 Sam. 23:30) * A Levite musician who played his stringed instrument accompanying the Ark of the Covenant when it was brought to Jerusalem and placed in the tent David had prepared for it (1 Chr. 15:18, 20; 16:1, 5). * A priest who played the trumpet when the Ark was brought to Jerusalem during David's reign (1 Chr. 15:24; 16:6). * A Levite descendant of Asaph, son of

Berachiah Berechiah is a Jewish name that occurs several times in the Bible. It is derived from Berakhah, "blessing". People named Berechiah In scripture * the father of the Hebrew prophet Zechariah (Hebrew prophet), Zechariah and son of Iddo (prophet), ...

the Gershonite (2 Chr. 20:14). * A Simeonite, possibly a contemporary of King

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to th ...

(1 Chr. 4:24, 36–43). * A Levite appointed by Hezekiah to help care for the bounteous contributions to Jehovah's house (2 Chr. 31:12, 13). * Father of Pelatiah, one of the wicked princes seen in

Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is ackn ...

’s vision (Eze. 11:1, 13). * Four men who, at

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest ('' kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρ� ...

's admonition, dismissed their foreign wives and sons. These four were descendants of Parosh, Pahath-Moab, Bani, and Nebo respectively (Ezr. 10:25, 30, 34, 35, 43, 44).

Footnotes

References

* {{cite book, last1=''Eerdmans'', first1= David Noel Freedman, ed.-in-chief; Allen C. Myers, associate ed. ; Astrid B. Beck, managing, title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, date=2000, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA164, publisher=Eerdmans, location=Grand Rapids, MI tc.isbn=9789053565032 David's Mighty Warriors Biblical murderers