גִּדְעֹנִי

𐤂𐤃𐤏𐤍𐤉

Gideoni

H1441 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Gideonite; an individual descended from or bearing the name 'Gideoni.' In context, specifically refers to Gideoni, a clan head of the tribe of Benjamin in the wilderness generation. This is a patronymic formed from a personal name, used to indicate membership in a family line or clan, and is not to be confused with 'Gideonite' (the demonym for inhabitants of Gibeon, גִּבְעוֹנִי Gibeonites).

Semantic Range

descendant of Gideoni, personal or clan name; member of the family or lineage of Gideoni; (by extension, leader of an Israelite tribal group, specifically Benjamin)

Root / Etymology

The name derives from the root גָּדַע (gada‘), meaning 'to cut off' or 'to hew,' combined with a probable patronymic/formative suffix. גִּדְעֹנִי (Gidʻônîy) thus designates a descendant of or belonging to Gideon (Gidʻon), itself a name possibly meaning 'hewer' or 'cutter.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

The term appears in Numbers 1:11, 2:22, 7:47, and 10:24 as the patronym of Abidan, leader of the Benjaminite tribal contingent in the wilderness census lists. Despite superficial resemblance, this word is entirely unrelated to the Gibeonites (גִּבְעֹנִיִּם), but the two are sometimes confused in English Bibles. The definition as 'warlike' is speculative and not directly supported by context; the ancient usage is purely onomastic, denoting family lineage. Later translations using 'Jew' or 'Jewish' for descendants of Gideoni are anachronistic and do not reflect the original tribal or ethnic context of the references, which are from early Israelite texts before the tribal distinction between Israelite and Judahite crystallized. The meaning does not shift across periods as it is limited to genealogical lists; the name is not found in narrative or poetic portions of the Hebrew Bible.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

lemma גִּדְעֹני missing vowel, corrected to גִּדְעֹנִי; from גָּדַע; warlike (compare גִּדְעוֹן); Gidoni, an Israelite; Gideoni.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

גדע (g-d-ʿ) — to cut off, to hew, to chop down

Root גדע to cut off, to hew, to chop down
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1438 גָּדַע I will cut down
H1439 גִּדְעוֹן Hewer
H1440 גִּדְעֹם Cutting-Off Place

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H1441-01 גִּדְעֹנִֽי gideoni HNp of Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni 5

Occurrences in Scripture

5 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H1441-01 Numbers 1:11 גִּדְעֹנִֽי gideoni HNp of Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni
H1441-01 Numbers 2:22 גִּדְעֹנִֽי gideoni HNp of Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni
H1441-01 Numbers 7:60 גִּדְעֹנִֽי gideoni HNp Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni
H1441-01 Numbers 7:65 גִּדְעֹנִֽי gideoni HNp Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni
H1441-01 Numbers 10:24 גִּדְעוֹנִֽי gideoni HNp of Gideoni Gideoni-descendant Gideoni