BERIAH

(Be·riʹah).

The meaning of this name is obscure. If derived from Hebrew, it would mean “evil” or “calamity,” and that would explain why Ephraim so named his son. (See No. 2 below.) Some authorities, however, think it is of Arabic origin and means “prominent” or “excellent,” and that the name of Ephraim’s son was a play upon words due to similarity with the Hebrew.

1. The fourth-listed son of Asher who, perhaps with his own two sons Heber and Malchiel, came to Egypt with Jacob’s household in 1728 B.C.E. (Gen. 46:8, 17) He and his two sons are listed as ancestral family heads, his descendants being Beriites.—Num. 26:44, 45; 1 Chron. 7:30, 31.

2. A son of Ephraim, born after men of Gath had killed his older brothers. Ephraim “called his name Beriah, because it was with calamity that she [Beriah’s mother] happened to be in his house.”—1 Chron. 7:20-23; see first paragraph above.

3. One of the five sons of Elpaal and one of the Benjamite family heads who chased away the inhabitants of Gath.—1 Chron. 8:12, 13.

4. The last-named son of Shimei, a Levite descendant of Gershon. Beriah and his brother Jeush “did not have many sons; so they became a paternal house for one official class.”—1 Chron. 23:6-11.