BEELIADA

(Be·e·liʹa·da) [Baal (that is, Master or Owner) knows].

A son of David born after his coming to Jerusalem. (1 Chron. 14:3-7) Without the first two letters of Beeliada, the contracted form Eliada (“God knows”) occurs at 2 Samuel 5:16 and 1 Chronicles 3:8.

This difference in the spelling of the name has been the subject of much discussion. Some say that “Eliada” was probably the original form, that it is improbable David named a son after the pagan god Baal, and note that “Beeliada” appears only in the most recent of the three listings of David’s sons, and that in this verse (1 Chron. 14:7) the Septuagint reads E·li·a·deʹ and the Syriac Peshitta (Lamsa’s) says “Eliada.”

On the other hand, there are those who take the position that the literal meaning of baʹʽal is not offensive, that it simply means “master” or “owner,” and that in this good sense David himself used the name, for example, when he called the place of battle “Baal-perazim.” (2 Sam. 5:20) Possibly, they say, David named this son in commemoration of the great victory Jehovah gave him at that place. There are several manuscripts that confirm “Beeliada” in the Masoretic text. The Codex Alexandrinus of the fifth century, which reads Bal·li·a·daʹ, the Friderico-Augustanus of the fourth century, where Ba·leg·da·eʹ is given, and the Vulgate, which reads Baaliada, all support the Masoretic. Those who say the name originally was “Beeliada” account for the shortened form “Eliada” as a later scribal change made out of deference to David at a time when baʹʽal had taken on an odious meaning. This, however, may be just another example where the Hebrews shortened a name simply for brevity’s sake, a common practice even today the world over.