Careah is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Careah was the father of Johanan, a military leader among the remnant of Judah who remained in the land after the Babylonian conquest. He appears only in 2 Kings 25:23, and only by reference to his son: “Johanan the son of Careah.” Beyond this single mention, Scripture records nothing of Careah’s own life, words, or deeds. His significance in the biblical narrative is entirely bound up with his son, who is named among the “captains of the armies” who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah.
The setting is the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had carried away much of Judah into exile and appointed Gedaliah as governor over those left in the land. When the captains of the scattered forces heard this, they and their men came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—among them Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Careah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite. These were men of standing, leaders of armed companies who had survived the war and now sought to submit to the appointed governor.
Careah himself did not appear at Mizpah; it was his son who stood among the captains. Yet the text preserves the father’s name as part of Johanan’s identity, a reminder that even those who never step into the story’s foreground belong to its record. Scripture says nothing more of Careah—no blessing, no failure, no further mention—only that he was Johanan’s father.
The Name
The name Careah (also rendered Kareah in some translations) is a Hebrew name whose meaning is not clearly recoverable from the text itself. Proposed connections have been suggested—some have linked it to a root meaning “bald” or “shorn”—but no meaning for this name is well established, and Scripture offers no explanation of it. It is best to say plainly that the meaning is uncertain rather than to assign one confidently. What is certain is that the name belonged to a real man whose son played a role in Judah’s fragile remnant.
A Closing Thought
Careah never speaks in Scripture, never acts, never receives a word of praise or blame. He is remembered only as someone’s father. Yet that is no small thing. God’s story often moves through ordinary people whose faithfulness—or simply whose existence—shapes the next generation. Johanan stood among the captains at Mizpah, and behind him stood a father whose name God saw fit to preserve. If your life feels hidden, take heart: the Lord keeps His own record, and being a faithful link in a chain you cannot see is a calling worthy of quiet devotion.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 2 Kings 25:23 — And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the …