Biblica Analytica
H5856 Hebrew

בְּעִי

be.i

ruins

Lexicon Entry

Definition
ruins
Transliteration
be.i
Strong's Number
H5856
Occurrences
5

Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

What Original Readers Understood

Supported

# Analytical Synthesis of בְּעִי (be.i) The Hebrew word בְּעִי refers to "ruins"—the remains of destroyed structures or settlements. With only five occurrences in the biblical text, this is a relatively rare term, suggesting it was used in specific contexts rather than as an everyday vocabulary item. The limited frequency indicates that when biblical authors chose this particular word, they were likely making a deliberate rhetorical choice rather than using a standard, common expression. The rarity of בְּעִי in the biblical corpus means it appears in concentrated textual moments where the description of destruction or desolation held particular significance for the writers or their audiences. However, without access to the specific passages where this word appears, we cannot determine its precise literary or historical contexts—whether it describes actual archaeological ruins, metaphorical desolation, or prophetic visions of future destruction. The word's specialized nature suggests it carried distinct semantic weight compared to other potential Hebrew terms for destruction or emptiness.

Source data & methodology
Strong's
H5856
Lemma
בְּעִי
Transliteration
be.i
Definition
ruins
Occurrences
5
Model
claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
Prompt version
1

AI synthesis uses only the lexicon data above as context — never training knowledge.

Occurrences in Scripture

5 total occurrences across the text