Azareel

Azareel is a name borne by five different men in the Hebrew Bible, all in the post-monarchic and post-exilic registers of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The UPDV consistently spells the name "Azarel" where older topical lists read "Azareel"; the underlying Hebrew is the same, and the entries below collect the men gathered under one heading.

The Korahite Who Joined David at Ziklag

The first Azareel is named among the Benjamite warriors who came over to David while he was still a fugitive at Ziklag. He appears in a short cluster of Korahite kinsmen: "Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites" (1 Chr 12:6). He is classed as an Aaronite of the family of Korah, located within the priestly Levitical line that traces back through Korah to Aaron.

The Eleventh Lot Among Heman's Sons

A second Azareel appears in the temple-music rosters of David's organization. Among the sons of Heman the Chronicler lists "Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth" (1 Chr 25:4). When the lots are cast for the twenty-four divisional courses of singers, "the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve" (1 Chr 25:18). This Azareel is identified as the same man called "Uzziel" in the earlier list of Heman's sons, an identification the lists themselves leave the reader to make by counting positions in the two parallel rolls.

The Danite Captain Under David

A third Azareel served as tribal leader for Dan in David's administrative scheme. Among the captains over the tribes of Israel the record reads, "of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel" (1 Chr 27:22). Where the Korahite of 1 Chronicles 12 stands in the priestly Levitical line, this Azareel stands at the head of one of the secular tribes.

A Son of Bani in Ezra's Reform

A fourth Azareel appears in Ezra's list of those who had married foreign wives during the early restoration and who are named among the men required to put them away. He is one of the sons of Bani: "Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah" (Ezra 10:41). The verse names him without further patronymic detail; his significance is positional, as one of the household heads accountable in the public reform.

The Priest in Nehemiah's Jerusalem

A fifth Azareel is identified as a priest in Nehemiah's repopulated Jerusalem and is named twice. In the list of those who lived in the city, the genealogy of Amashsai threads through him: "and his brothers, chiefs of fathers' [houses], two hundred forty and two; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer" (Neh 11:13). At the dedication of the wall, an Azarel marches in the second company of musicians: "and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them" (Neh 12:36). Whether the priest of Nehemiah 11 and the wall-dedication musician of Nehemiah 12 are the same man, the text does not say; they are grouped under one heading.