Hebrew word · H462

אֱלִיעֵינַי

ve'eli'enai

Elienai

A man's name found only here. It is generally explained as a contracted form of Elioenai / Elyehoenai (אֶלְיְהוֹעֵינַי), which means "to YHWH (are) my eyes". In that name the first element is the preposition 'el, "toward", not the noun 'el, "God". The contraction is likely but not certain.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.20;

son of: Shimei (H8096N);

brother of: Jakim (H3356), Zichri (H2147H), Zabdi (H2067H), Zillethai (H6769), Eliel (H0447H), Adaiah (H5718H), Beraiah (H1256) and Shimrath (H8119)

§ Elienai = "unto God are my eyes"

a Benjamite

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 8:20

Range of meaning

A man's name found only here. It is generally explained as a contracted form of Elioenai / Elyehoenai (אֶלְיְהוֹעֵינַי), which means "to YHWH (are) my eyes". In that name the first element is the preposition 'el, "toward", not the noun 'el, "God". The contraction is likely but not certain. Some take the first part as 'eli, "my God", which gives "my God is my eyes" or "toward my God are my eyes".

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate the name, which is right. A reader sees no meaning in it. A first hearer might have caught the echo of a prayer.

Used elsewhere in the period

The fuller forms Elioenai and Elyehoenai appear in Ezra 8:4, 1 Chr 3:23–24, 4:36, 7:8 and 26:3. The idea behind the name matches the language of the Psalms: "My eyes are ever toward the LORD" (Ps 25:15), "my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord" (Ps 141:8), and Ps 123:1–2. Hebrew names that work as small confessions of trust are common in inscriptions and seals from the time of Israel's kings onward.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 8:20 וֶאֱלִיעֵנַ֥י and Elienai

    Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel,

    Here: The prefix ve- means "and" and ties this name to the run of names that started in v.19. The name itself is most likely a shortened form of Elioenai, "toward YHWH are my eyes", which says the bearer looks to God for help.

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