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Jedaiah

JEDAIAH (Heb. יְדַעְיָה; "YHWH has noted," or "YHWH has favored"), the name of two priestly ancestral houses mentioned in the list of heads of ancestral houses during the term of office of Joiakim the high priest. One is in the 17th place on the list (Neh. 12: 19) and the other in the last place (ibid. 21). The former is mentioned after the house of Joiarib (Jehoiarib), and it is possible that he is the one associated with Joiarib in other texts (I Chron. 9:10; 24:7); in Nehemiah 12:6 Jedaiah is listed as Joiarib's son. The other house of Jedaiah presumably includes (1) the sons of Jedaiah of the house of Jeshua, who total 973 (Ezra 2:36; Neh. 7:39), and head the list of four ancestral houses of priests that returned with Zerubbabel; and (2) Jedaiah who is last on the list of 23 heads of priestly houses that returned with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:7); this list is, in fact, merely one of ancestral houses. However, the relationship between these two lists of priestly houses that returned with Zerubbabel is unclear.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

W. Rudolph, Ezra und Nehemiah (1949), S.V. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. Hutton, in: ABD, 3:653–55.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.