Arah

Arah is the name of two men in the UPDV. The first is an Asherite listed in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles. The second is the head of a family among those who returned from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel; this returnee is probably identical with the Arah named in Nehemiah 6 as grandfather of the wife of Tobiah the Ammonite.

Son Of Ulla, In The Genealogy Of Asher

In the Asherite line preserved in Chronicles, Arah appears among three sons of Ulla: "And the sons of Ulla: Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia" (1 Ch 7:39). The notice is purely genealogical, with no narrative attaching to him beyond this placement in the tribal record.

Head Of A Family Among The Returnees From Babylon

A second Arah is named as the ancestor of one of the family-groups that came back from exile under Zerubbabel. The two parallel return-lists give differing totals for his descendants. Ezra's roster reports, "The sons of Arah, seven hundred seventy and five" (Ezr 2:5); Nehemiah's roster reports, "The sons of Arah, six hundred fifty and two" (Ne 7:10). In both lists the family is counted among the lay Israelites whose names are preserved as part of the restoration community.

Grandfather-In-Law Of Tobiah The Ammonite

The returnee Arah is identified with the Arah named in Nehemiah's account of Tobiah's entanglements in Judah. Tobiah's reach into the province is explained in part by family alliance: "For there were many in Judah sworn to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as wife" (Ne 6:18). In this notice Arah's son Shecaniah is Tobiah's father-in-law, which places Arah himself a generation further back as the grandfather of Tobiah's wife. The verse links the household of a returnee family-head to the Ammonite opponent of Nehemiah's wall-building, and so accounts for some of the internal Judean support Tobiah enjoyed.