דברי הימים א, פרק ז׳, פסוק כ״ג

Following a terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of several sons, the birth of a new child brings a complex mixture of grief and continuity to a shattered family. The primary approach among commentators is that the newborn's name, Beriah, was chosen to reflect the bitter reality of the era. He was brought into the world during a period of deep mourning, bearing a name that serves as a permanent reminder of the misfortune that had settled upon the household [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The timing of this sorrow was particularly sharp, as the fatal disaster that struck the older sons occurred very close to the time the father married this wife [רלב״ג, רד״ק].

A different perspective shifts the generational focus, identifying the grieving father not as Ephraim, but as his son Shuthelah. According to this view, the child named Beriah is actually Eran, who is recorded in the Book of Numbers as Shuthelah's sole heir. The underlying meaning of his name underwent a deliberate transformation. Its root letters were reversed to change the association from tragedy to something positive, and an additional letter was added simply to distinguish him from Judah's son, Er. Ultimately, the Torah records only this surviving son as the continuation of the family line, since all the older brothers were completely wiped out in the preceding disaster [מלבי״ם].