Anaiah

Anaiah appears twice in Nehemiah, both times in moments of public covenant renewal in restored Jerusalem.

Standing Beside Ezra at the Reading

When Ezra reads the Law publicly from a wooden platform built for the occasion, Anaiah is one of the men flanking him: "And Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchijah, and Hashum, and Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam" (Ne 8:4). Anaiah is named on the right-hand side, in the inner ring of those standing with the scribe as the law is read to the assembly.

Sealing the Covenant

Anaiah's name returns in the list of leaders who put their seal to the written covenant of the people: "Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah," (Ne 10:22). The signatories pledge to walk in God's law and to observe its ordinances; Anaiah is recorded among them, in the same group of community leaders that the public reading had gathered.