Bera (Bible)
According to Gen 14.2 EU, Bera is king of Sodom in the Old Testament .
etymology
The Hebrew personal name בֶּרַע bəra ' , German ' Bera ' is probably an artificial education. It is made up of the noun רַע ra ' "malice" and the preposition בֶּ bə "in / an / at / through / with". The name therefore means "through malice". This means that the name of the king of Sodom has the same structure as that of the king of Gomorrah: Birscha (בִּרְשַׁע birša ' ) is composed of the noun רֶשַׁע ræša' "outrage" and the preposition בֶּ bə . The name therefore means "by sacrilege". Both names are supposed to characterize their namesake. It is neither proven nor refuted whether the people are fictitious.
The Septuagint gives the name as βαλλα balla , the Vulgate as Bara , the Samaritan Pentateuch as Bāra .
Biblical narration
In Gen 14 EU a war of kings is reported. " Amrafel , the king of Shinar , Arjoch , the king of Ellasar, Kedor-Laomer, the king of Elam, and Tidal, the king of the peoples against Bera, the king of Sodom, Birscha, the king of Gomorrah, Shinab, the king of Adma, Schemeber, the king of Zebojim, and the king of Bela. ”The battle was fought in the Siddim valley.
Targum pseudo-Jonathan
The Targum pseudo-Jonathan notes that Bera's actions were evil. This is a nod to the meaning of the name.
literature
- Art. בֶּרַע, In: Gesenius, 18th edition 2013 , p. 180.
- Benjamin Ziemer: Amrafel. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.