Adaiah

Adaiah is the name borne in the UPDV by several Israelite figures distributed across the monarchy and the post-exilic restoration. Seven distinct men are gathered under the umbrella: a maternal grandfather of Josiah from Bozkath, a Levitical musician in the Gershomite line, a priest resettled in Jerusalem, a Benjamite among the sons of Shimei, the father of one of Jehoiada's covenanting captains, two sons of Bani in the post-exilic foreign-wives list, and a Shilonite ancestor in the Judahite settlement of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.

Grandfather of Josiah

The earliest Adaiah appears in the regnal notice that opens Josiah's reign, where he is named as the maternal grandfather of the king through Jedidah of Bozkath: "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath" (2 Kings 22:1). The notice fixes him geographically (Bozkath) and dynastically (father of the queen mother) but supplies no further biography.

The Levitical Musician

In the Chronicler's genealogy of the Levitical singers appointed by David, Adaiah occupies a link in the Gershomite line that runs up to Asaph. The chain reads: "the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah," (1 Chronicles 6:41). Here Adaiah is positioned three generations above Ethni in the ascending pedigree of an Asaphite singer, identified by patronymic position rather than by independent narrative.

The Priest in Jerusalem

A second post-exilic figure named Adaiah is enrolled among the priests who resettle Jerusalem after the return. The Chronicler's list reads: "and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;" (1 Chronicles 9:12). Nehemiah's parallel roll preserves the same line through Jeroham and Pashhur but extends it further back through Pelaliah, Amzi, and Zechariah: "and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty and two; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah," (Nehemiah 11:12). The two pedigrees converge at Pashhur the son of Malchijah and identify the same priest, with Nehemiah's roster also fixing the size of the priestly cohort doing the work of the house at eight hundred twenty-two.

The Benjamite

A Benjamite Adaiah appears in the genealogy of Shimei among the heads of houses dwelling in Jerusalem: "and Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimei," (1 Chronicles 8:21). He is registered alongside his brothers Beraiah and Shimrath as a son of Shimei within the Benjamite household lists.

Father of Maaseiah

In Jehoiada's seventh-year coup against Athaliah, an Adaiah is named only through his son Maaseiah, who is one of the five captains of hundreds drawn into the covenant: "And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him" (2 Chronicles 23:1). Adaiah here functions as a patronymic anchor for one of the five officers Jehoiada draws into the covenant against Athaliah.

Two Sons of Bani

In Ezra's enrollment of those who had married foreign women, the name Adaiah appears twice within the same chapter, attached to two different filial groups. The first is among the sons of Bani: "And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth" (Ezra 10:29). The second occurs later in the chapter in a short cluster of three names: "and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah," (Ezra 10:39). Both notices place an Adaiah among those who had taken foreign wives in the post-exilic community.

Son of Joiarib

The final Adaiah in the umbrella appears in Nehemiah's roster of the sons of Perez who dwell in Jerusalem, where he is named as a Shilonite ancestor in the pedigree of Maaseiah the son of Baruch: "and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite" (Nehemiah 11:5). The line places this Adaiah between Hazaiah above and Joiarib below within the Shilonite-Perez pedigree of a Jerusalem householder.