Hesed

Hesed is named once, indirectly, in the roster of Solomon's twelve district officers. The text identifies him by his son: Ben-hesed, "the son of Hesed," who is given charge of one of the regions that fed the king's house.

Father of a District Officer Under Solomon

The notice falls in the list of officers Solomon set over Israel: "Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him [pertained] Socoh, and all the land of Hepher);" (1Ki 4:10). Hesed himself is not given a station; he is named only as the patronym fixed to his son, who serves as the officer responsible for Arubboth, Socoh, and the land of Hepher. The form of the name in UPDV — "Ben-hesed" — preserves the Hebrew construction in which the son is identified by the father's name, and through that construction Hesed enters the record.