Hebrew word · H5793

עוּתַי

'utai

Uthai

A personal name of uncertain meaning. Proposals: from a root ʿut, 'to help, sustain' (compare Isaiah 50:4), or a short form of a Yahweh name like Athaiah (עֲתָיָה).

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

What it means

A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Exile and Return, only mentioned at 1Ch.9.4;

son of: Ammihud (H5989K)

§ Uthai = "helpful"

1) son of Ammihud and a descendant of Pharez of Judah

2) one of the sons of Bigvai who returned from exile with the 2nd caravan with 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 9:4

Range of meaning

A personal name of uncertain meaning. Proposals: from a root ʿut, 'to help, sustain' (compare Isaiah 50:4), or a short form of a Yahweh name like Athaiah (עֲתָיָה).

Against the English

All versions spell it 'Uthai'. No meaning is carried over.

Used elsewhere in the period

Also Ezra 8:14 (a returnee of the family of Bigvai). In the parallel list in Nehemiah 11:4, the Perez leader is Athaiah, a closely similar name.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 9:4 עוּתַ֨י Uthai

    Uthai son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, a descendant of Perez son of Judah.

    Here: The head of the Perez branch of Judah living in resettled Jerusalem. He is named first because he stands for the whole clan. The name's meaning is uncertain. It may come from a root meaning 'to help or sustain', or be a short form of a name like Athaiah.

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 8:14 עוּתַ֣י Uthai

    and from the descendants of Bigvai, both Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.

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