Bible Dictionary
Bebai
Bebai was the ancestor of a family that returned from exile and included men who had taken foreign wives. Another Bebai was a leader who sealed Nehemiah’s covenant.
Definition
Bebai is associated with a family whose descendants returned to Jerusalem after the exile. The name also belongs to a chief who sealed Nehemiah’s covenant and to an otherwise unidentified town mentioned in Judith.
Biblical Usage
Members of the family returned with Zerubbabel and with Ezra; some had married foreign wives. Bebai himself is listed among the leaders who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah.
Historical Background
The recorded number of those returning with Zerubbabel differs between the cited lists: Ezra gives 623, while Nehemiah gives 628. The supplied material also notes that some descendants were required to address marriages to foreign wives.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(fatherly).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>be'-ba-i, beb'-a-i (bebhay; Septuagint Bebai, "fatherly"):</p><p>(1) Descendants of B: returned with Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezr 8:11 called Babi; 1 Esdras 8:37); one of these is Zechariah, the son of Bebai (Ezr 8:11, Zaeharias; 1 Esdras 8:37). 623 returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (Ezr 2:11; 1 Esdras 5:13; Ne 7:16 gives the number 628); some of these had married "strange wives" (Ezr 10:28; 1 Esdras 9:29).</p><p>(2) A chief of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah (Ne 10:15).</p><p>(3) An unknown town (Judith 15:4). Omitted in Codex Vaticanus and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A. D.)</p>