What Does Nehemiah 7:55 Mean?
The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Temah,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
The children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Tamah,THE KEY
The repeated “children of” is the verse’s quiet architecture of continuity: each name is carried forward by a living line.
THE MEANING
These names remain present through the people who carry them now; belonging reaches beyond one life. Even without deeds attached to these families, the verse gives each line a place in the shared record.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A name matters only when it belongs to someone famous or individually celebrated.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
bĕnê
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
build, construct
The Hebrew בְּנֵי (bĕnê, “children of”) is often connected with בָּנָה (bānâ, “build”). That link lets the family list carry an image of continuity: each generation helps build what bears the name forward.
ALSO GROWS
bānâ: build
בָּנָה
It shares the consonants associated with “children,” making descendants part of the image of a family being built across generations.
bēn: son, child
בֵּן
This singular form underlies בְּנֵי (bĕnê), “children of”; the repeated phrase ties each family name to those who carry it forward.
THE PATTERN
Belonging takes shape as lives are joined into a people carried forward through generations.
Look, children are the LORD's portion; and the fruit of the womb is a wage.The book of the origin of Jesus, the anointed one, son of David, son of Abraham.You also, as living stones, are built up into a house of breath, a set-apart priesthood, to carry up sacrifices of breath, well received by God through Jesus, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, the LORD has held me shut from bearing. Go in, I pray you, to my handmaid. Perhaps I may be built through her. And Abram heard and responded to the voice of Sarai.The Hebrew behind “obtain children” uses בָּנָה (bānâ, “build”), often linked with בֵּן (bēn, “son, child”), the word behind “children” here. Sarai speaks of being built through descendants; Nehemiah’s repeated family names show that continuity already standing in a people.
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