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H278 · Hebrew · Old Testament
אֶחִי
Echi
Proper noun, masculine
Echi (unity / my brother)

Definition

The Hebrew proper name Echi (אֶחִי) is related to echad (one, unity) or ach (brother), meaning "unity" or "my brother." It appears in the list of the sons of Benjamin who went down to Egypt with Jacob's family (Genesis 46:21). The name represents the tribal heritage of Benjamin and the continuation of Israel's family line into Egypt and ultimately toward the Exodus.

Usage & Theological Significance

The genealogy of Jacob's descent into Egypt (Genesis 46) is more than a family register — it is a theology of divine preservation. Every name, including Echi, represents a life that God sovereignly carried through famine into Egypt, and whose descendants He would bring out in the great Exodus. Paul meditates on this: "those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified" (Romans 8:30). Not one name on Jacob's list was an accident. The concept of echad (unity/oneness) embedded in this name points forward to Israel's unity as a people and ultimately to the one new humanity in Christ (Ephesians 2:15).

Key Bible Verses

Genesis 46:21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.
Genesis 46:8 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob and his descendants) who went to Egypt.
Genesis 46:26 All those who went to Egypt with Jacob — those who were his direct descendants, not counting his sons' wives — numbered sixty-six persons in all.
Deuteronomy 26:5 A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

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