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בֵּדְיָה

𐤁𐤃𐤉𐤄

Bedeyah

H912 noun

SILEX Entry

Root עבד to serve, work, be a servant

Definition

A personal name used of an Israelite in the post-exilic period, likely meaning 'Yahweh is my servant' or 'in the service of Yahweh.' The semantic range includes usage exclusively as a proper name with possible theophoric connotation, referencing an individual in the post-exilic genealogies.

Semantic Range

proper name (Israelite male); reference to an individual in post-exilic genealogies; likely theophoric name meaning 'Yahweh is my servant' or 'in service to Yahweh'

Root / Etymology

Derived from the likely root עבד ('to serve, work') and יהּ (a shortened theophoric element for 'Yahweh'), with the initial ע (ʿayin) dropped, a common feature in post-exilic Hebrew names. Thus, it is a probable abbreviation or variant of עֹבַדְיָה (ʿObadyah, 'servant of Yahweh').

Historical & Contextual Notes

בֵּדְיָה (Bêdᵉyâh) appears only once in the Hebrew Bible (Nehemiah 11:17) in a genealogical context, listing post-exilic Israelites involved in the community's religious life. The form reflects developments in late biblical Hebrew toward shorter theophoric names, often by abbreviation or contraction. The use of the divine element -yāh (a form of the tetragrammaton) affirms its Israelite religious context. Although some English versions render the name as 'Bedeiah' or similar, these do not carry the original theophoric or servant connotations apparent in the Hebrew. There is no evidence for secular or non-personal use; the name is strictly proper and limited to a specific historical and literary context.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

probably a shortened form עֹבַדְיָה; servant of Jehovah; Bedejah, an Israelite; Bedeiah.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

עבד (ʿ-b-d) — to serve, work, be a servant

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4566 מַעְבָּד their deeds
H4567 מַעְבָד his deeds
H5647 עָבַד he served
H5648 עֲבַד you did
H5649 עֲבַד servant

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H912-01 בֵדְיָ֖ה vedeyah HNp Bedeiah Servant of Yah 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H912-01 Ezra 10:35 בֵדְיָ֖ה vedeyah HNp Bedeiah Servant of Yah
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