I. Name

The root brq is common to the Semitic languages, where the nominal form refers to the meteorological phenomenon of lightning; the corresponding verb means ‘to flash lightning’ and is probably derived from the noun. The root occurs in the onomastica of numerous Semitic languages. As for Hebrew proper names, Bārāq was the Israelite commander immortalized in the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5.2–31; see v 12). Josh. 19.45 mentions bĕnê bĕraq (lit., ‘sons of Beraq’, apparently a geographical design…