Hebrew word · H1302
בַּרְקוֹס
varkos
Barkos
A personal name found only here and in Ezra 2:53. The most common explanation splits it into bar ('son', the Aramaic and wider Northwest Semitic word) and Qôs, the national god of Edom. That gives 'son of Qos'. Other explanations exist, but this one has wide support.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.2.53
§ Barkos = "the son cut off"
head of a family of temple-slaves who returned from exile with Zerubbabel
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 Nehemiah 7:55
- Range of meaning
A personal name found only here and in Ezra 2:53. The most common explanation splits it into bar ('son', the Aramaic and wider Northwest Semitic word) and Qôs, the national god of Edom. That gives 'son of Qos'. Other explanations exist, but this one has wide support.
- Against the English
English versions just transliterate it as 'Barkos'. Nothing is lost in translation, but an English reader cannot see the possible divine name inside it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Qos/Qaus is well attested as the Edomite god. Edomite and Idumean names built on Qos appear on inscriptions and seals, in ostraca (inscribed pottery shards), and in Josephus (Costobarus, Antiquities 15.253). Names like these became common in the Negev and southern Judah during the Persian period.
Where it appears
Ezra · 1
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Ezra 2:53 בַרְק֥וֹס Barkos
the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,
Nehemiah · 1
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Nehemiah 7:55 בַרְק֥וֹס Barkos
the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,
Here: The founder or head of a family of temple servants. Many scholars read the name as 'son of Qos', after Qos, the chief god of the Edomites. If so, it points to a family that was not Israelite by origin.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.