What Does Nehemiah 7:52 Mean in the King James?
The children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
These three households are named as branches of a shared people, even though the verse tells us nothing else about them.
THE MEANING
The verse names three households through their descent and holds them together in one shared list. No deeds or explanations accompany the names; their presence in the line marks them as part of the people being counted. Their names remain in the record even when their stories are not supplied.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
bənê
GROWS FROM
בנה
Build; establish. This root is traditionally associated with בֵּן (ben, “son”).
The verse’s בְּנֵי (bənê, “sons or children of”) is the construct plural of בֵּן (ben, “son”), traditionally linked with בָּנָה (banah, “build”). That association lets the phrase carry a household across generations: Besai, Meunim, and Nephishesim appear as lines within one people, not as isolated names.
ALSO GROWS
banah: Build
בָּנָה
The traditional link with בֵּן (ben, “son”) presents descendants as part of a household carried forward.
ben: Son; descendant
בֵּן
This is the singular behind בְּנֵי (bənê, “sons or children of”), the phrase repeated for each named group.
binyan: Building; structure
בִּנְיָן
It echoes the building image associated with the root, while the verse presents each family line as part of a larger people.
THE PATTERN
A people becomes visible through named lines of descent carried within a shared lineage.
And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.The children of Asnah, the children of Mehunim, the children of Nephusim,Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;THE THREAD
The children of Asnah, the children of Mehunim, the children of Nephusim,Ezra repeats the same Hebrew בְּנֵי (bənê, “sons or children of”) construction found here. The repeated phrase carries each name as a line within a shared people.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us