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בְּנָיָ֫הוּ

Benaiah

BDB lists 10 entries for ‘Benaiah’ fuller range ↓

H1141 Strong's Hebrew
Bᵉnâyâh Transliteration
/ben-aw-yaw'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 42 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

בניה — transliterated Bᵉnâyâh — is a Hebrew name carrying the sense “Benaiah.” It first appears in 2 Samuel 8:18. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 41 verses — moderately common. More than a third of its appearances fall in 1 Kings. See 41-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
Benaiah
Modern gloss
Benaiah
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H1141 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

41
distinct verses
The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
6 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
2 Samuel 8:18
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in 2 Samuel 8:18.
Ezekiel 11:13
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Ezekiel 11:13.
#864
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 864 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 41 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 39 · 95%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 2 · 5%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 41 distinct verses.

  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 21 verses · 51%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 20 verses · 49%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

  • King James Version: Benaiah 39×, Was benaiah 2×
  • American Standard Version: Benaiah 38×, Was benaiah 2×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Benaiah 40×, Was benaiah 2×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Benaiah 39×, Was benaiah 2×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H1141 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Benaiah” 39×
  • “Was benaiah” 2×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H1141 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Benaiah” 38×
  • “Was benaiah” 2×

Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H1141 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Benaiah” 40×
  • “Was benaiah” 2×

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H1141 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Benaiah” 39×
  • “Was benaiah” 2×

Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


13 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 13 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

n.pr.m. (Yah hath built up, cf. יבנאל, Sab. בנאל DHMZMG 1883, 15)—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from בנה (bânâh) (H1129) — to build.

Part of speech: Proper Name Masculine


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

בַּנָּיָה

  • , builder. Y. Yoma III, 40ᶜ; Y. Gitt. VII, 48ᵈ bot.; Y. B. Bath. VIII, 16ᶜ top ב׳ דאורייתא a builder of the law (forming ingenious conclusions).—Pl. בַּנָּיִין. Y. Ber. IX, 13ᵃ top; v. אוּמַן.

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 26 distinct written forms H1141 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
בְּנָיָ֧הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 27:5 4
בְּנָיָ֨הוּ֙ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 27:34 4
בְּנָיָ֖הוּ Noun, Proper Ezekiel 11:1 3
וּ/בְנָיָ֨הוּ֙ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 18:17 3
בְּנָיָ֖ה Noun, Proper Ezekiel 11:13 2
בְּנָיָ֥ה Noun, Proper Ezra 10:35 2
וּ/בְנָיָ֑הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 15:20 2
וּ/בְנָיָ֥הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 16:6 2
וּ/בְנָיָ֨הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 1:8 2
וּ/בְנָיָֽה Noun, Proper Ezra 10:25 2
בְנָיָ֛הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 27:6 1
בְנָיָ֜הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 2:30 1
בְּ֠נָיָה Noun, Proper 2 Chronicles 20:14 1
בְּנָיָ֣הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 2:25 1
בְּנָיָ֤ה Noun, Proper Ezra 10:30 1
בְּנָיָ֤הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 2:30 1
בְּנָיָ֨ה Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 11:22 1
בְּנָיָֽה Noun, Proper Ezra 10:43 1
וְ/לִ/בְנָיָ֖הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 1:32 1
וְ/לִ/בְנָיָ֧הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 1:26 1
וּ/בְנָיָ֜הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 1:10 1
וּ/בְנָיָ֡הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 15:18 1
וּ/בְנָיָ֣הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Kings 1:38 1
וּ/בְנָיָ֤הוּ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 15:24 1
וּ/בְנָיָה֙ Noun, Proper 2 Samuel 20:23 1
וּ/בְנָיָהוּ֩ Noun, Proper 1 Chronicles 16:5 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1141, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Shares the same root

Proper names from this root

People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 20 — not the complete family. 8 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Benaiah). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897

Built up by Jehovah. (1.) The son of Jehoiada, chief priest (1 Chr. 27:5). He was set by David over his body-guard of Cherethites and Pelethites (2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Kings 1:32; 1 Chr. 18:17). His exploits are enumerated in 2 Sam. 23:20, 21, 22; 1 Chr. 11:22. He remained faithful to Solomon (1 Kings 1:8, 10, 26), by whom he was raised to the rank of commander-in-chief (1 Kings 2:25, 29, 30, 34, 35; 4:4).

(2.) 2 Sam. 23:30; 1 Chr. 11:31.

(3.) A musical Levite (1 Chr. 15:18, 20).

(4.) A priest (1 Chr. 15:24; 16:6).

(5.) The son of Jeiel (2 Chr. 20:14).

Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863

(made by the Lord).

+ The son of Jehoiada the chief priest, (1 Chronicles 27:5) of the tribe of Levi, though a native of Kabzeel, (2 Samuel 23:20) set by David, (1 Chronicles 11:25) over his body-guard. (2 Samuel 8:18; 20:23; 1 Kings 1:38; 1 Chronicles 18:17) One of the mighty men. (2 Samuel 23:22,23; 1 Chronicles 11:25; 27:6) The exploits which gave him this rank are narrated in (2 Samuel 23:20,21; 1 Chronicles 11:22) He was captain of the host for the third month. (1 Chronicles 27:5) Benaiah remained faithful to Solomon during Adonijah's attempt on the crown, (1 Kings 1:8,10,32,38,44) and was raised unto the place of Joab as commander-in-chief of the whole army. (1 Kings 2:35; 4:4) (B.C. 1005.) + Benaiah the Pirathonite, an Ephraimite, one of David's thirty mighty men, (2 Samuel 23:30; 1 Chronicles 11:31) and the captain of the eleventh monthly course. (1 Chronicles 27:14) + A Levite in the time of David, who "played with a psaltry on Alamoth." (1 Chronicles 15:18,20; 16:5) + A priest in the time of David, appointed to blow the trumpet before the ark. (1 Chronicles 15:24; 16:6) + A Levite of the sons of Asaph. (2 Chronicles 20:14) + A Levite in the time of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 31:13) + One of the "princes" of the families of Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:36) + Four laymen in the time of Ezra who had taken strange wives. (Ezra 10:25,30,35,43) + The father of Pelatiah. (Ezekiel 11:1,13)

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869

son of the Lord

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 41 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 41 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.