H1298 H1298
Bera, king of Sodom in Genesis 14, a name of unknown etymology
This royal name appears in Genesis 14:2, identifying 'Bera king of Sodom' among the five kings defeated by Chedorlaomer's coalition. The name's etymology is unknown—BDB notes the root is uncertain, and the Septuagint renders it as 'Balla.' The name may be non-Semitic, fitting the enigmatic nature of the Genesis 14 kings and cities. Bera and his ally Birsha of Gomorrah led the rebellion that brought foreign invasion to the Jordan valley and resulted in Lot's capture and Abraham's rescue mission.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A personal royal name for the king of Sodom in Genesis 14:2, whose etymology remains obscure. Bera joined four other Canaanite kings in rebelling against Mesopotamian overlords, leading to the battle in the Valley of Siddim and Lot's capture. The unknown root and Septuagint's divergent rendering (Balla) suggest possible non-Semitic origin. Multilingual translations (Bera, Béra) uniformly transliterate, preserving the proper noun for this otherwise unattested ancient monarch whose defeat sets up Abraham's heroic rescue and meeting with Melchizedek. 1×
AR["بَارَعَ"]·ben["বেরার"]·DE["Bera"]·EN["Bera"]·FR["Bera"]·heb["ברע"]·HI["बेर"]·ID["Bera"]·IT["Bera"]·jav["Bèra"]·KO["베라"]·PT["Bera"]·RU["Берой"]·ES["Bera"]·SW["Bera"]·TR["Bera"]·urd["برع"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† בֶּ֫רַע n.pr.m. king of Sodom Gn 14:2 ( √ unknown; 𝔊 Βαλλα).