🔼The name Bunni: Summary
- Meaning
- Built
- Etymology
- From the verb בנה (bana), to build.
🔼The name Bunni in the Bible
There are three men named Bunni in the Bible, solely mentioned by Nehemiah. Note that the name Bunni is spelled the same as the name Bani (בני), which was also a popular name in that same time:
- A post-exilic Levite, who stood on the Levite platform with his colleagues after the reading of the Law and just prior to the great sermon which preceded the signing of the sealed document (Nehemiah 9:4).
- A man who co-signed the sealed document (Nehemiah 10:15). He is mentioned among the leaders of the people, as opposed to the Levites, so this is another Bunni.
- The great-great-great-grandfather of Shemaiah, who was one of Levites in charge of the restoration of the outside of the temple (Nehemiah 11:15, spelled בוני). It's probably safe to assume that this Bunni is not the same as the one who stood among the Levites just prior to the signing of the sealed document.
🔼Etymology of the name Bunni
The name Bunni derives of the verb בנה (bana), meaning to build:
בנה
The verb בנה (bana) means to build, mostly of stone buildings and thus of houses and thus of families and dynasties: hence the association between this verb and the nouns אבן ('eben), stone, and בן (ben), son.
Noun בניה (binya) means a building in the sense of a structure. Noun מבנה (mibneh) means building in the sense of place of building. Noun תבנית (tabnit) means building in the sense of the act of building: a construction, pattern or image.
Noun תבן (teben) means straw (the stems of grains), which was inserted into clay to enhance the structural integrity of the building. We do the same today with carbon fibers.
🔼Bunni meaning
For a meaning of the name Bunni, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Erected and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Built. BDB Theological Dictionary does not interpret the name Bunni.