בֵּן

𐤁𐤍

Ben

H1121 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Male child, son; by extension, a male descendant, member of a group, or bearer of a particular quality. The primary lexical meaning is 'son,' but in broader usage, it encompasses: (1) a son as a direct male offspring; (2) a male descendant more generally (i.e., grandson); (3) a member or representative of a group (e.g., b'nei Israel, 'children of Israel'); (4) a person characterized by a certain quality or situation (e.g., 'son of valor' for a brave man, 'sons of light'); and (5) used in various construct phrases to mean people of a category, community, or geographical/national origin.

Semantic Range

son, male child, male descendant, grandson, member of a group, tribe member, ethnonym (e.g., 'Israelite'), figurative bearer of a quality (e.g., 'son of peace'), person characterized by a state or quality; in construct: people, children, inhabitants, representatives

Root / Etymology

From the root בנה (b-n-h), which means 'to build.' The noun בן derives from the concept of 'one who is built,' i.e., a child as the result of building a household or lineage. The root conveys the idea of constructing, particularly in the metaphorical sense of consolidating or continuing a family or group.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In early Israelite and monarchic periods, בן refers primarily to a direct male descendant, but usage quickly broadened: collective expressions like 'sons of Israel' encompassed all members of the community, not just literal males. By extension, it could designate subgroups (tribes: e.g., 'sons of Levi' for Levites), members of nationalities (e.g., 'sons of Babylon' for Babylonians), bearers of specific qualities ('sons of strength'), or even abstract categories ('sons of wickedness'). In genealogical lists, בן marks generational succession, but poetic and prophetic literature often use it metonymically or figuratively. Although בן most often refers strictly to sons, it can be used generically for children, especially in construct phrases, and occasionally—contextually—for descendants irrespective of gender, though בת (bat, 'daughter') is the usual feminine counterpart. In some cases, English translations (e.g., KJV and later versions) have rendered as 'sons,' 'children,' or even national/ethnic identifiers. The usage as a marker of group identity or quality is a regular idiom in Biblical Hebrew.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from בָּנָה; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.); [phrase] afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-) ite, (anoint-) ed one, appointed to, ([phrase]) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-) ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, [phrase] (young) bullock, [phrase] (young) calf, [idiom] came up in, child, colt, [idiom] common, [idiom] corn, daughter, [idiom] of first, [phrase] firstborn, foal, [phrase] very fruitful, [phrase] postage, [idiom] in, [phrase] kid, [phrase] lamb, ([phrase]) man, meet, [phrase] mighty, [phrase] nephew, old, ([phrase]) people, [phrase] rebel, [phrase] robber, [idiom] servant born, [idiom] soldier, son, [phrase] spark, [phrase] steward, [phrase] stranger, [idiom] surely, them of, [phrase] tumultuous one, [phrase] valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

Bantu Hebrew

Language Bantu Word Transliteration Meaning
Bemba Bana Children
Bemba Bene sons of, children of, belonging to
Kinyarwanda Bana bange my children
Kinyarwanda Bene nyina those who have blood relationship with their son's mother
Kirundi bana children

See all 16 languages →

Root Family

בנה (Bayit) — to build, construct, establish

Root בנה to build, construct, establish family
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1004 בַּיִת in the houses
H1005 בַּיִת the built-house
H1122 בֵּן son
H1123 בֵּן sons of
H1124 בְּנָא the ones building

Word Forms

120 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H1121-14 בְּנֵ֣י beney HNcmpc sons of sons of sons of 1283
H1121-09 בֶּן ben HNcmsc son of son son 1282
H1121-107 בֶן ven HNcmsc son of son of son of 284
H1121-109 בְנֵי veney HNcmpc sons of sons of sons of 283
H1121-81 וּ/בְנֵ֖י uveney HC/Ncmpc and the sons of and sons of and sons of 209
H1121-47 לִ/בְנֵ֣י liveney HR/Ncmpc to the sons of to sons of to the sons of 188
H1121-19 בְּנֽ/וֹ beno HNcmsc/Sp3ms his son his son his son 156
H1121-04 בָּנָ֔י/ו banayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms his sons his sons his sons 117
H1121-08 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons 96
H1121-18 בְּנִ֕/י beni HNcmsc/Sp1cs my son my son my son 80

Occurrences in Scripture

4942 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H1121-99 Genesis 3:16 בָנִ֑ים vanim HNcmpa children sons sons
H1121-19 Genesis 4:17 בְּנ֥/וֹ beno HNcmsc/Sp3ms of his son his son his son
H1121-09 Genesis 4:25 בֵּ֔ן ben HNcmsa a son son a son
H1121-09 Genesis 4:26 בֵּ֔ן ben HNcmsa a son son a son
H1121-08 Genesis 5:4 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:7 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:10 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:13 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:16 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:19 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:22 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-08 Genesis 5:26 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-09 Genesis 5:28 בֵּֽן ben HNcmsa a son son a son
H1121-08 Genesis 5:30 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-09 Genesis 5:32 בֶּן ben HNcmsc a son of son son
H1121-109 Genesis 6:2 בְנֵי veney HNcmpc sons sons of sons of
H1121-14 Genesis 6:4 בְּנֵ֤י beney HNcmpc sons sons of sons of
H1121-99 Genesis 6:10 בָנִ֑ים vanim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-75 Genesis 6:18 וּ/בָנֶ֛י/ךָ uvaneykha HC/Ncmpc/Sp2ms and your sons and your sons and your sons
H1121-98 Genesis 6:18 בָנֶ֖י/ךָ vaneykha HNcmpc/Sp2ms of your sons your sons your sons
H1121-09 Genesis 7:6 בֶּן ben HNcmsc was son son
H1121-73 Genesis 7:7 וּ֠/בָנָי/ו uvanayv HC/Ncmpc/Sp3ms and his sons his sons and his sons
H1121-96 Genesis 7:7 בָנָ֛י/ו vanayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms of his sons his sons his sons
H1121-14 Genesis 7:13 בְּנֵי beney HNcmpc the sons sons of sons of
H1121-96 Genesis 7:13 בָנָ֛י/ו vanayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms of his sons his sons his sons
H1121-75 Genesis 8:16 וּ/בָנֶ֥י/ךָ uvaneykha HC/Ncmpc/Sp2ms and your sons and your sons and your sons
H1121-98 Genesis 8:16 בָנֶ֖י/ךָ vaneykha HNcmpc/Sp2ms of your sons your sons your sons
H1121-73 Genesis 8:18 וּ/בָנָ֛י/ו uvanayv HC/Ncmpc/Sp3ms and his sons his sons and his sons
H1121-96 Genesis 8:18 בָנָ֖י/ו vanayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms of his sons his sons his sons
H1121-04 Genesis 9:1 בָּנָ֑י/ו banayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms his sons his sons his sons
H1121-04 Genesis 9:8 בָּנָ֥י/ו banayv HNcmpc/Sp3ms his sons his sons his sons
H1121-109 Genesis 9:18 בְנֵי veney HNcmpc sons of sons of sons of
H1121-14 Genesis 9:19 בְּנֵי beney HNcmpc sons sons of sons of
H1121-19 Genesis 9:24 בְּנ֥/וֹ beno HNcmsc/Sp3ms his son his son his son
H1121-14 Genesis 10:1 בְּנֵי beney HNcmpc of the sons sons of sons of
H1121-08 Genesis 10:1 בָּנִ֖ים banim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-14 Genesis 10:2 בְּנֵ֣י beney HNcmpc sons of sons of sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:3 וּ/בְנֵ֖י uveney HC/Ncmpc And the sons of and sons of and sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:4 וּ/בְנֵ֥י uveney HC/Ncmpc And the sons of and sons of and sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:6 וּ/בְנֵ֖י uveney HC/Ncmpc the sons and sons of and sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:7 וּ/בְנֵ֣י uveney HC/Ncmpc and the sons of and sons of and sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:7 וּ/בְנֵ֥י uveney-2 HC/Ncmpc and the sons of and sons of and sons of
H1121-109 Genesis 10:20 בְנֵי veney HNcmpc the sons of sons of sons of
H1121-14 Genesis 10:21 בְּנֵי beney HNcmpc the children/sons sons of sons of
H1121-14 Genesis 10:22 בְּנֵ֥י beney HNcmpc sons sons of sons of
H1121-81 Genesis 10:23 וּ/בְנֵ֖י uveney HC/Ncmpc and the sons and sons of and sons of
H1121-99 Genesis 10:25 בָנִ֑ים vanim HNcmpa sons sons sons
H1121-14 Genesis 10:29 בְּנֵ֥י beney HNcmpc sons of sons of sons of
H1121-109 Genesis 10:31 בְנֵי veney HNcmpc [are] the sons of sons of sons of
H1121-14 Genesis 10:32 בְּנֵי beney HNcmpc of the sons sons of sons of