Hebrew word · H1298

בֶּ֫רַע

bera'

Bera

Personal names found only here. In form they could be genuine West Semitic or non-Semitic names. To a Hebrew speaker they sound like 'in evil' (be-raʿ) and 'in wickedness' (be-rešaʿ).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, only mentioned at Gen.14.2

§ Bera = "son of evil"

a king of Sodom

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 14:2

Range of meaning

Personal names found only here. In form they could be genuine West Semitic or non-Semitic names. To a Hebrew speaker they sound like 'in evil' (be-raʿ) and 'in wickedness' (be-rešaʿ).

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate them, which is correct for names. But English readers miss the sound-play a Hebrew audience may have heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis Rabbah 42 plays on all four names. It reads Bera as 'evil', Birsha as 'wicked', Shinab as 'amassing wealth', and Shemeber as 'making wings' to fly after gain. Some modern commentators (e.g. Wenham, Sarna) think the names may be deliberately unflattering. Others (e.g. Westermann) treat them as old names from a source and are cautious.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 14:2 בֶּ֙רַע֙ Bera

    went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

    Here: The ruler of Sodom, named only here. To a Hebrew ear it can sound like be-raʿ, 'in evil', and later Jewish interpreters played on that.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.