CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Topical Bible: Besai</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/topical/b/besai.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newtopical.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="/topical/vmenus/ezra/2-49.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcde/b/besai.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="/">Bible</a> > <a href="/topical/">Topical</a> > Besai</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="/topical/b/berzelus.htm" title="Berzelus">◄</a> Besai <a href="/topical/naves/b/besai--one_of_the_nethinim.htm" title="Besai: One of the Nethinim">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">Jump to: <a href="#hit" title="Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary">Hitchcock's</a> • <a href="#smi" title="Smith's Bible Dictionary">Smith's</a> • <a href="#isb" title="International Standard Bible Encyclopedia">ISBE</a> • <a href="#cnc" title="Multiversion Concordance">Concordance</a> • <a href="#thes" title="Bible Thesaurus">Thesaurus</a> • <a href="#heb" title="Strong's Hebrew Concordance">Hebrew</a> • <a href="#sub" title="Subtopics">Subtopics</a> • <a href="#rel" title="Related Terms">Terms</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><a name="te" id="te"></a><div class="vheading2">Topical Encyclopedia</div><b>Introduction:</b> <br>Besai is a name found in the Old Testament, specifically within the context of the post-exilic period of Israel's history. The name is associated with a family or group of individuals who returned from the Babylonian exile and were involved in the service of the temple.<br><br><b>Biblical References:</b> <br>The primary reference to Besai is found in the book of Nehemiah. In <a href="/nehemiah/7-46.htm">Nehemiah 7:46</a>, Besai is listed among the Nethinim, a group of temple servants who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel. The verse states: "The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, Hasupha, and Tabbaoth, the descendants of Keros, Sia, Padon, Lebanah, Hagabah, Shalmai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Meunim, Nephusim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah, and Hatipha."<br><br><b>Historical Context:</b> <br>The Nethinim were a group of temple servants assigned to assist the Levites in the more menial tasks associated with the temple service. Their origins are somewhat obscure, but they are believed to have been non-Israelites who were integrated into the religious life of Israel, possibly as captives or converts. The return of the Nethinim, including the descendants of Besai, was crucial for the reestablishment of proper worship practices in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.<br><br><b>Role and Significance:</b> <br>The inclusion of Besai among the Nethinim highlights the importance of every group and individual in the restoration of Israel's religious and communal life after the exile. The Nethinim, though not of Israelite descent, played a vital role in the functioning of the temple, ensuring that the Levites could focus on their priestly duties. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God's inclusive plan, where individuals from various backgrounds are brought into His service.<br><br><b>Genealogical Considerations:</b> <br>The mention of Besai in the genealogical records underscores the meticulous nature of the post-exilic community in preserving their heritage and religious identity. These records were essential for maintaining the purity and order of temple service, as well as for affirming the continuity of the covenant community.<br><br><b>Theological Implications:</b> <br>The presence of Besai and the Nethinim in the biblical narrative serves as a reminder of God's faithfulness in restoring His people and the centrality of worship in their communal life. It also illustrates the theme of redemption and the gathering of diverse peoples into the worship of the one true God, a theme that resonates throughout the Scriptures.<br><br><b>Conclusion:</b> <br>While the specific details about Besai are limited, the mention of this name within the context of the Nethinim provides insight into the post-exilic community's dedication to reestablishing their religious practices and the inclusive nature of God's plan for His people.<a name="hit" id="hit"></a><div class="vheading2">Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary</div><span class="encheading">Besai</span><p>a despising; dirty<a name="smi" id="smi"></a><div class="vheading2">Smith's Bible Dictionary</div><span class="encheading">Besai</span><p>(<i>sword</i>). "Children of Besai" were among the Nethinim who returned to Judea with Zerubbabel. (<a href="/ezra/2-49.htm">Ezra 2:49</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/7-52.htm">Nehemiah 7:52</a>)<a name="isb" id="isb"></a><div class="vheading2">International Standard Bible Encyclopedia</div><span class="encheading">BESAI</span><p>be'-si (becay, "downtrodden"): The descendants of Besai (Nethinim) returned with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem (<a href="/ezra/2-49.htm">Ezra 2:49</a> <a href="/nehemiah/7-52.htm">Nehemiah 7:52</a> = Basthai, 1 Esdras 5:31).<p><a name="heb" id="heb"></a><div class="vheading2">Strong's Hebrew</div><a href="/hebrew/1153.htm"><span class="l">1153. Besay -- one of the Nethinim</span></a><br><b>...</b> 1152, 1153. Besay. 1154 . one of the Nethinim. Transliteration: Besay Phonetic<br> Spelling: (bes-ah'-ee) Short Definition: <b>Besai</b>. <b>...</b> <b>Besai</b>. <b>...</b> <br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/hebrew/1153.htm</font><font color="#ff6600" size="-1"> - 6k</font><a name="thes" id="thes"></a><div class="vheading2">Thesaurus</div><a href="/topical/b/besai.htm"><span class="l"><b>Besai</b> (2 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia <b>BESAI</b>. be'-si (becay, "downtrodden"): The <b>...</b> 5:31).<br> Multi-Version Concordance <b>Besai</b> (2 Occurrences). Ezra 2:49 <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/b/besai.htm - 7k</font><p><a href="/topical/n/nephishesim.htm"><span class="l">Nephishesim (1 Occurrence)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Nephishesim (1 Occurrence). Nehemiah 7:52 The children of <b>Besai</b>, the children<br> of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim, (KJV JPS DBY WBS YLT). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/n/nephishesim.htm - 7k</font><p><a href="/topical/n/nephussim.htm"><span class="l">Nephussim (2 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> children of Nephusim; (See NIV). Nehemiah 7:52 the children of <b>Besai</b>, the<br> children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim; (See NIV). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/n/nephussim.htm - 6k</font><p><a href="/topical/n/nephushesim.htm"><span class="l">Nephushesim (1 Occurrence)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Nephushesim (1 Occurrence). Nehemiah 7:52 The children of <b>Besai</b>, the children<br> of Meunim, the children of Nephushesim, (WEB ASV BBE NAS). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/n/nephushesim.htm - 7k</font><p><a href="/topical/n/nephush'esim.htm"><span class="l">Nephush'esim (1 Occurrence)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Multi-Version Concordance Nephush'esim (1 Occurrence). Nehemiah 7:52 the children<br> of <b>Besai</b>, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim; (See RSV). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/n/nephush'esim.htm - 6k</font><p><a href="/topical/m/meunim.htm"><span class="l">Meunim (5 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Nehemiah 7:52 The children of <b>Besai</b>, the children of Meunim, the children<br> of Nephushesim, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/m/meunim.htm - 8k</font><p><a href="/topical/m/me-u'nim.htm"><span class="l">Me-u'nim (3 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Nehemiah 7:52 The children of <b>Besai</b>, the children of Meunim, the children of<br> Nephushesim, (See RSV). Meunim, Me-u'nim. Meunites . Reference Bible. <br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/m/me-u'nim.htm - 7k</font><p><a href="/topical/p/pase'ah.htm"><span class="l">Pase'ah (4 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> These are the men of Recah. (See RSV). Ezra 2:49 the children of Uzza, the children<br> of Paseah, the children of <b>Besai</b>; (See RSV). Nehemiah <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/p/pase'ah.htm - 7k</font><p><a href="/topical/p/paseah.htm"><span class="l">Paseah (4 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV). Ezra 2:49 the children of Uzza, the children<br> of Paseah, the children of <b>Besai</b>, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE WBS YLT NAS NIV). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/p/paseah.htm - 8k</font><p><a href="/topical/p/phaseah.htm"><span class="l">Phaseah (2 Occurrences)</span></a><br><b>...</b> Multi-Version Concordance Phaseah (2 Occurrences). Ezra 2:49 the children of<br> Uzza, the children of Phaseah, the children of <b>Besai</b>, (DBY). <b>...</b><br><font color="#ff6600" size="-1">/p/phaseah.htm - 7k</font><p><a name="res" id="res"></a><div class="vheading2">Resources</div><a href="/concordance/">Bible Concordance</a> • <a href="/dictionary/">Bible Dictionary</a> • <a href="/encyclopedia/">Bible Encyclopedia</a> • <a href="/topical/">Topical Bible</a> • <a href="/thesaurus/">Bible Thesuarus</a></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><a name="cnc" id="cnc"></a><div class="vheading2">Concordance</div><span class="encheading">Besai (2 Occurrences)</span><p><span class="rtext"><a href="/ezra/2-49.htm">Ezra 2:49</a></span><br />the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of <span class="boldtext">Besai</span>,<br /><span class="source">(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)</span><p><span class="rtext"><a href="/nehemiah/7-52.htm">Nehemiah 7:52</a></span><br />The children of <span class="boldtext">Besai</span>, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephushesim,<br /><span class="source">(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)</span><a name="sub" id="sub"></a><div class="vheading2">Subtopics</div><p class="pspc"><a href="/topical/b/besai.htm">Besai</a></p><p class="pspc"><a href="/topical/naves/b/besai--one_of_the_nethinim.htm">Besai: One of the Nethinim</a></p><a name="rel" id="rel"></a><div class="vheading2">Related Terms</div><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/n/nephishesim.htm">Nephishesim (1 Occurrence)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/n/nephussim.htm">Nephussim (2 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/n/nephushesim.htm">Nephushesim (1 Occurrence)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/n/nephush'esim.htm">Nephush'esim (1 Occurrence)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/m/meunim.htm">Meunim (5 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/m/me-u'nim.htm">Me-u'nim (3 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/p/pase'ah.htm">Pase'ah (4 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/p/paseah.htm">Paseah (4 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/p/phaseah.htm">Phaseah (2 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/b/berzelus.htm">Berzelus</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/b/basthai.htm">Basthai</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/u/uzza.htm">Uzza (10 Occurrences)</a></p><p class="pspc2"><a href="/topical/b/beseech.htm">Beseech (85 Occurrences)</a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="/topical/b/berzelus.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Berzelus"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Berzelus" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="/topical/naves/b/besai--one_of_the_nethinim.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Besai: One of the Nethinim"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Besai: One of the Nethinim" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"><script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></div></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <br /><br /> <div align="center"> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>