בְּנָיָ֫הוּ
be.na.yah
Benaiah
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Benaiah: A Proper Name in Hebrew Scripture Based on the lexical data provided, בְּנָיָ֫הוּ (Benaiah) is a Hebrew proper noun that appears once in the biblical text. As a personal name, it functions as a designation for a specific individual rather than a common noun with semantic range or metaphorical usage. The name itself likely carries etymological significance—Hebrew names of this period typically incorporated meaningful elements—but the lexicon data does not provide the morphological breakdown or etymological analysis needed to determine its constituent parts or original meaning. The single occurrence in the biblical corpus limits what can be concluded about the name's significance or frequency in Hebrew literature. Unlike common words or names appearing multiple times, which might show variation in context or usage, a hapax legomenon (single occurrence) provides only one instance of reference. Without additional lexical data regarding the person so named, their role in the biblical narrative, or parallel attestations of the name in inscriptional evidence, the available information permits only the identification that this represents a proper noun—a personal name—rather than any broader analysis of meaning or biblical significance.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text