Hebrew word · H3376

יִרְאִיָּיה

yir'iyaih

Irijah

A personal name, most likely from raʾah 'to see' + Yah: 'Yah sees'. Some derive it from yareʾ 'to fear' ('Yah is feared'). The first is more usual.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at Jer.37.13;

son of: Shelemiah (H8018N)

§ Irijah = "Jehovah sees me"

son of Shelemiah, a captain of the guard who arrested Jeremiah

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 Jeremiah 37:13

Range of meaning

A personal name, most likely from raʾah 'to see' + Yah: 'Yah sees'. Some derive it from yareʾ 'to fear' ('Yah is feared'). The first is more usual.

Against the English

English 'Irijah' hides the sound play with 'Jeremiah' (Yirmeyahu), which a Hebrew listener would catch.

Used elsewhere in the period

He appears only in Jer 37:13–14. Names ending in -yah/-yahu, like Shelemiah and Hananiah, are very common on seals and bullae (clay seal impressions) from late Judah.

Where it appears

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 37:13 יִרְאִיָּ֔יה [was] Irijah

    But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”

    Here: The name probably means 'Yah sees'. It sounds a lot like Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah), so the reader hears the two names side by side.

  2. Jeremiah 37:14 יִרְאִיָּיה֙ Irijah

    “That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.

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