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Tim Maas
Supporter
The movie version of Ben-Hur was based on the novel of the same name by Lew Wallace, who had been a Union general in the American Civil War, and who wrote Ben-Hur (which Wallace subtitled "A Tale of the Christ") in 1880. The full name of the title character was Judah Ben-Hur. (Wallace later wrote that he chose the name Ben-Hur for his title character "because it was biblical, and easily spelled, printed, and pronounced.") In addition to being a work of fiction (although it incorporated historical events and characters), the novel (as indicated by its subtitle) was set in the time of Christ, hundreds of years after the reference to the individual named Ben-Hur who was mentioned in the verse cited in the question. (The Ben-Hur mentioned in the Bible was the name of one of King Solomon's twelve district governors.)
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
Great question, Wendy! I saw that good movie, and Ben Hur might have been a "son of Hur", which is what Ben-hur means). But the Hebrew construct ben hur occurs in 1 Kings 4:8, where Ben-hur is mentioned among the twelve deputies of king Solomon of Israel. The only detail we know of this Ben-hur is that he was stationed in the region of Ephraim. I studied Hebrew for 3 years at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas, and the noun בן (ben) means son. Or son of. Son of Hur.
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