Hebrew word · H454

אֶלְיוֹעֵינַי

'elyo'einai

Elioenai

A name that is a whole sentence: ʾel ('toward, to') + yəhô (YHWH) + ʿênay ('my eyes'). So: 'To YHWH [are] my eyes.' In Hebrew, 'eyes toward' someone is a picture of waiting on them and expecting help, like a servant watching their master's hand (Psalm 123:2).

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.3.23;

son of: Neariah (H5294);

brother of: Hizkiah (H2396H) and Azrikam (H5840);

father of: Hodaviah (H1938), Eliashib (H0475), Pelaiah (H6411B), Akkub (H6126), Johanan (H3110I), Delaiah (H1806) and Anani (H6054)

§ Elioenai or Elihoenai = "unto Jehovah are my eyes"

1) a descendant of David

2) a Simeonite

3) a Benjamite, a son of Becher

4) priests in time of Ezra

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 1 Chronicles 26:3

Range of meaning

A name that is a whole sentence: ʾel ('toward, to') + yəhô (YHWH) + ʿênay ('my eyes'). So: 'To YHWH [are] my eyes.' In Hebrew, 'eyes toward' someone is a picture of waiting on them and expecting help, like a servant watching their master's hand (Psalm 123:2).

Against the English

BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV keep the full spelling 'Eliehoenai'. KJV and YLT have 'Elioenai', the shortened form found elsewhere in the Bible (e.g. 1 Chronicles 3:23; Ezra 10:22). Both refer to the same type of name. In neither spelling can an English reader see the prayer inside it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Same name in Ezra 8:4 (full form) and the contracted Elyôʿênay in 1 Chronicles 3:23-24; 4:36; 7:8; Ezra 10:22, 27; Nehemiah 12:41. The same idea appears in Psalm 25:15 ('My eyes are ever toward YHWH'), Psalm 141:8 ('toward you, YHWH Lord, are my eyes'), and 2 Chronicles 20:12 ('our eyes are upon you').

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 5

  1. 1 Chronicles 3:23 אֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֧י Elioenai

    The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam—three in all.

  2. 1 Chronicles 3:24 אֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֗י Elioenai

    The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani—seven in all.

  3. 1 Chronicles 4:36 וְאֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֡י and Elioenai

    Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,

  4. 1 Chronicles 7:8 וְאֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֤י and Elioenai

    The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth; all these were Becher’s sons.

  5. 1 Chronicles 26:3 אֶלְיְהוֹעֵינַ֖י Eliehoenai

    Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, and Eliehoenai the seventh.

    Here: A name that works as a short sentence: 'Toward YHWH are my eyes.' It is a confession of looking to God in hope or dependence, the same idea as in the Psalms.

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 8:4 אֶלְיְהֽוֹעֵינַ֖י Eliehoenai

    from the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;

  2. Ezra 10:22 אֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֤י Elioenai

    From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

  3. Ezra 10:27 אֶלְיוֹעֵנַ֤י Elioenai

    From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 12:41 אֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֛י Elioenai

    as well as the priests with their trumpets—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah—

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