Beeri

The name Beeri appears in biblical genealogical and prophetic contexts rather than as a mythic origin tale. One bearer is named in Genesis 26:34 as a Hittite identified as the father of Judith, one of Esau’s wives, situating him in the patriarchal/ancestral narrative. Another bearer is recorded as the father of the prophet Hosea in the Book of Hosea; later Jewish tradition holds that this Beeri uttered only a few prophetic words, which tradition links to Isaiah 8:19–20. Reference works offer differing etymologies for the Hebrew בְּאֵרִי (Bə’êrî): Wilhelm Gesenius glosses it as “belonging to a fountain,” the Holman Bible Dictionary as “well,” and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia as “expounder.” Some traditions or commentators have at times identified Beeri with Beerah (1 Chronicles 5:6), though such identifications are not unanimous in the sources provided.

The sources supply no physical description of Beeri. The name functions as a personal identifier in genealogical and narrative contexts; there are no extant physical or iconographic descriptors in the supplied materials.

No supernatural powers are attributed to Beeri in the provided sources. In Jewish interpretive tradition the father of Hosea is said to have spoken a small number of prophetic words; these brief utterances are considered by that tradition to be insufficient for a separate prophetic book and are therefore traditionally linked to passages in Isaiah 8:19–20. Beyond this characterization as a minor prophetic voice, the sources attribute no characteristic behaviors or abilities to Beeri.