Metaphysical meaning of Beriah (mbd)
Beriah, be-rl'-ah (Heb.)--evil; calamity; misfortune; in evil; a son of evil.
a Son of Asher, and head of the Berites (Gen. 46:17). b A son of Ephraim. Ephraim named this son Beriah because of the evil that had come to his house in that several of his sons had been slain by the men of Gath and their cattle had been taken away from them (I Chron. 7:23). c Beriah was also the name of a Benjamite and of a Levite (I Chron. 8:13; 23:10). The Benjamite named Beriah helped to put to flight the inhabitants of Gath.
Meta. Gath means wine press, and Beriah suggests the seeming inharmony or evil that accompanies the sifting processes in consciousness that a wine press signifies. The little self, or personal man, who is limited and selfish in his thought and expression, experiences what appears to him to be evil when he is forced to let go his limitations that the individual may be raised to a higher level. But the crossing out of self results in good to the whole man, and man realizes this good after his faculties have gone through the cleansing process. The sons of Ephraim (the will) are overcome by the men of Gath, but the Benjamites drive them out. Thus faith, and not will power alone, must be exercised in overcoming the errors that the Philistines of Gath represent.
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Preceding Entry: Beri
Following Entry: Beriites
