The name Beeri (Hebrew: בְּאֵרִי) appears in the King James Version of the Bible referring to two distinct individuals who lived centuries apart. Though little is known of their personal lives, their identity is secured in scripture through their connection to figures of greater historical and prophetic significance.
The Meaning of the Name
The name Beeri is derived from the Hebrew word meaning “a well” or “of the well.” Like the earlier name Beerah, this name relates to a source of water, a vital resource in the ancient world, which often symbolized life or revelation.
I. Beeri, Father of the Prophet Hosea
The most prominent Beeri in scripture is the father of the prophet Hosea, whose words open the first book of the Minor Prophets. This Beeri is mentioned only once in the prophetic text:
“The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.” (Hosea 1:1, KJV).
- Role in Prophecy: While Beeri himself was not a prophet, his role as the father of Hosea is crucial. His lineage grounds the prophet in his generation, assuring the reader that the powerful messages delivered by Hosea—concerning Israel’s spiritual adultery and God’s persistent love—originated from a recognizable family and historical context during a turbulent time for both the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
- A Witness to History: The dating of Hosea’s ministry places Beeri in the 8th century B.C. His son preached against the idolatry and moral decay that preceded the devastating Assyrian captivity, an event that carried away the leaders of the Reubenites, such as the previously studied Beerah.
II. Beeri, the Hittite Father-in-Law of Esau
A separate individual named Beeri appears centuries earlier in the Book of Genesis as the father of one of Esau’s wives. This Beeri was a Hittite, identifying him as a member of the pagan inhabitants of Canaan, whose daughters the patriarchs were warned not to take as wives.
“Which took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:” (Genesis 26:34, KJV, emphasis added).
- Source of Grief: Esau’s marriage to the daughters of the Canaanites, including the daughter of Beeri, brought great distress to his parents, Isaac and Rebekah, demonstrating a lack of spiritual discernment on Esau’s part.
- Theological Contrast: The fact that the first Beeri’s son was a great prophet of the Lord, while this Beeri was a Hittite whose daughter caused grief to the covenant family, highlights the Bible’s precision in tracking lineage and moral consequences across time.