Berachah

The name Berachah (UPDV: Beracah, "blessing") attaches to a man and to a valley in the UPDV. The man is one of David's Benjamite supporters at Ziklag; the valley is the place where Jehoshaphat's people blessed Yahweh after the victory over the coalition of Moab and Ammon. The two references are unrelated, but they share the root sense of blessing that gives the name its weight.

Beracah Among David's Warriors at Ziklag

The roster of men who joined David while he was still hiding from Saul lists archers and slingers from Saul's own tribe of Benjamin: "The chief was Ahiezer; then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite, and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite," (1Ch 12:3). Beracah stands among Azmaveth's sons in the line of warriors who came over to David at Ziklag.

The Valley of Beracah

The other reference is to a place that is named for what happened there. After Jehoshaphat's army watches Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir destroy each other, the people gather to bless Yahweh: "And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Yahweh: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to this day" (2Ch 20:26). The valley takes its name — "blessing" — from that act, and the etiology is preserved in the verse itself: the people blessed Yahweh there, and so the place was called Beracah.