BERIAH (bē-rīa, Heb. berî‘âh, meaning uncertain, perhaps gift or evil)
This name is given to a son of Asher the father of Heber and Malkiel (Gen.46.17; 1Chr.7.30). The Beriites were descended from him (Num.26.44).Ephraim called one of his sons Beriah “because there had been misfortune in his family” (1Chr.7.23). Men of Gath had killed a number of men in the land when they made a raid on the cattle there. If Beriah means “a gift,” he was so named because in the face of Ephraim’s losses, this son was regarded as a gift from the Lord.One of the descendants of Benjamin (1Chr.8.13, 1Chr.8.16). He with his brother “drove out the inhabitants of Gath.” Apparently from him and Shema, his brother, were descended the people of Aijalon (1Chr.8.13).A Levite, the son of Shimei of the Gershonites. His children, being few, were counted with those of his brother, Jeush (1Chr.23.7-1Chr.23.11).
BERIAH, BERIITES bĭ rī’ ə, bĭ rī’ īts (
בְּרִיעִֽי). 1. A son of Asher and the father of Heber and Malchiel (
Gen 46:17); the ancestral head of the family of the Beriites (
Num 26:44).
2. A son of Ephraim, called Beriah by his father because trouble had fallen upon his house (1 Chron 7:23). Four other sons of Ephraim were put to death by the men of Gath while cattle raiding.
3. A son of Elpaal, a Benjamite of Aijalon, who helped put to flight the inhabitants of Gath (1 Chron 8:13, 16).
4. A Levite, son of Shimei the Gershomite; both he and his brother Jeush had few sons, and “therefore they became a father’s house in one reckoning” (1 Chron 23:10, 11).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
be-ri’-a, be-ri’-its (beri`ah, "in shouting," probably derived from a Hebrew root meaning "to make noise," or "in evil," from another Hebrew root):
(1) A son of Asher and father of Heber and Malchiel (Ge 46:17; 1Ch 7:30,31; the head of the family of the Beriites, Nu 26:44 ff).
(2) A son of Ephraim, called Beriah by his father because "it went evil with his house" (1Ch 7:23).
(3) A descendant of Benjamin (1Ch 8:13,16).
(4) A Levite in the line of Gershon (1Ch 23:10 f).
