Person Old Testament
Bela
Also known as Bela =ESV, NIV, KJV; Belah =KJV, Belaite
Bela was a son of Benjamin and the head of the Belaite clan within the tribe of Benjamin. Mentioned in 7 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 46:21.
Why it matters. Son of Benjamin, head of the Belaite clan
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Bela
Bela is mentioned in several passages (Gen.46.21; Num.26.38, 40; 1Ch.7.6, 7; 8.1, 3) as one of the sons of Benjamin, the youngest son of Israel (or 'Jacob'). He is consistently listed as the first among Benjamin's sons, suggesting his prominence within the family. In the census of the Israelites in the wilderness (Numbers 26), Bela is named as the head of the Belaite clan, one of the clans within the tribe of Benjamin. The descendants of Bela are also mentioned in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles, highlighting the continuity of his lineage. The repeated mention of Bela in these various contexts emphasizes his importance as a progenitor of the Benjamite tribe and the role of his clan in the history of Israel.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Benjamin
Appears in Scripture
Named in 7 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.